TRC Final Report

Volume 2

Chapter 6

Part Part6

Subsection 4

Death of Vincent Sefako and killing of Susan Maripa

26 Former MK operative Mr Vincent Sefako died in mysterious circumstances in Tladi Section, Soweto, in October 1987. He is listed in the ANC’s submission as an MK cadre who infiltrated the country but was not heard of again. His real name was Veli Tshabalala, his travelling name Vuyisile Sefako, and he was also known as ‘Comrade V’ or ‘Mshoshovi’.

27 The facts surrounding Sefako’s death remain unclear. The Commission obtained neither the inquest docket into Sefako’s death nor the findings and submissions of a 1979 ANC commission of enquiry into his death. The available evidence, however, lends some support to the version given to the Commission by former MK operative Mr Thami Hlatswayo, that renegade MK members killed Sefako. It is not, however, clear whether the ANC enquiry corroborated other aspects of witness allegations regarding Madikizela-Mandela’s and Mr Peter Dlamini’s alleged involvement in this incident and the subsequent murder of Ms Susan Maripa on 29 October 1987. ANC records may confirm or deny the proximity of Madikizela-Mandela and these cadres to the alleged incidents.

28 Susan Maripa reputedly witnessed Sefako being deliberately knocked down by a car which drove off the road onto the pavement. She ran to call an ambulance and found on her return that the body was gone. Later, Maripa was herself killed. Maripa’s inquest finding shows that she was killed by multiple gunshot wounds from an AK-47 and at least one shot from a Makharov pistol. The police have warned Hlatswayo that he is a suspect in this matter. He applied for amnesty, but not in connection with this matter. Access to a full ballistics report will be necessary to determine whether or not a Makharov in the possession of Hlatswayo was used in the attack.

29 The evidence of Thami Hlatswayo and one other MK cadre implicated Peter Dlamini in her murder. Hlatswayo testified that Ms Madikizela-Mandela informed him that she had seen the body of ‘Comrade V’ at the mortuary and that he had a bullet wound on the back of his head. He also informed the Commission that there had been a feud between ‘Comrade V’ and Madikizela-Mandela over control of the MK unit, and that, she had been unhappy with the fact that ‘Comrade V’ had spent the night in the Mandela home. Hlatswayo testified further that, four days after this, Peter Dlamini had taken him at gunpoint to the home of Susan Maripe. He said he was given a Makharov and that Peter Dlamini shot Maripa dead. Hlatswayo testified that he believed that Madikizela-Mandela, Dlamini and Mr Percy Peterson were involved in the murder of ‘Comrade V’. Hlatswayo reported the matter to the ANC in Lusaka, as did Ms Catherine Mathibe, Maripe’s neighbour. Percy Peterson was recalled to Lusaka by the ANC, where he was placed under arrest and interrogated about these incidents. The Motsuenyane Commission report found that the ANC investigation into the death of ‘Comrade V’ resulted in Peterson being detained without trial and repeatedly tortured by the ANC’s security department. The ANC did not make the findings of their own commission of enquiry available to the Commission.

30 Ms Madikizela-Mandela has denied knowledge of the incident and of any of the individuals involved, with the exception of Sefako, whom she knew as ‘Comrade V’. She categorically denied any involvement in either killing.

THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT ‘COMRADE V’ WAS KILLED BUT THAT THE IDENTITY OF THE PERSON OR PERSONS WHO KILLED HIM IS NOT CLEAR. THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT MK MEMBERS PERCY PETERSON AND PETER DLAMINI DEFECTED FROM THE UNIT THEY BELONGED TO AND BEGAN FREQUENTING THE HOME OF MS MADIKIZELA-MANDELA AT ORLANDO WEST. THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT, ON A BALANCE OF PROBABILITIES, PETER DLAMINI AND THAMI HLATSWAYO, BOTH MK CADRES, WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE KILLING OF MS SUSAN MARIPE AND THAT SHE WAS PROBABLY KILLED BECAUSE SHE WITNESSED THE INCIDENT IN WHICH A MOVING CAR DELIBERATELY KNOCKED DOWN VINCENT SEFAKO.

Killing of Sicelo Dhlomo

31 Mr Sicelo Dhlomo was abducted and found dead in Soweto on 25 January 1998. The security forces were assumed to be responsible for his death. However, according to an amnesty application, Sicelo Dhlomo was killed by members of an MK unit led by Mr John Itumeleng Dube, allegedly because the MK unit suspected him of being a police informer.

32 Ms Xoliswa Falati alleged that Ms Madikizela-Mandela was involved in this incident. Madikizela-Mandela has denied any knowledge of or involvement in it.

THE COMMISSION FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF MS MADIKIZELA-MANDELA’S INVOLVEMENT AND AWAITS THE AMNESTY HEARING OF JOHN ITUMELENG DUBE.

Assaults on Phumlile Dlamini

33 Ms Phumlile Dlamini, sister of the late Mr Kenneth Thole Dlamini (one of the original members of the MUFC, who was later killed by Mr Sizwe Sithole) told the Commission that she was assaulted by Ms Madikizela-Mandela and members of the MUFC in August and September 1988. Phumlile Dlamini was introduced to MUFC members by her late brother. She also claims that she had a relationship with Mr Johannes ‘Shakes’ Tau, a driver for Madikizela-Mandela. She alleged that Tau advised her that he had a relationship with Madikizela-Mandela, who confronted him upon learning of his relationship with Dlamini. Phumlile Dlamini told the Commission that she was pregnant when she was taken by Madikizela-Mandela and Tau into the Mandela home on the pretext that they were looking for her brother Thole. She said that she was then assaulted by Madikizela-Mandela. A week later she was allegedly picked up again by Madikizela-Mandela and other MUFC members, as Tau had disappeared, and again assaulted by Madikizela-Mandela. Later, she was repeatedly assaulted by MUFC members for a period of five hours which only stopped when Ms Zindzi Mandela-Hlongwane intervened. Mr Jerry Richardson confirms that he took her home.

34 When Phumlile advised her brother that she intended reporting the matter to the police, he begged her not to do so as he feared the reaction of Madikizela-Mandela and the MUFC. She did report the matter to Ms Dudu Chili.

35 Ms Madikizela-Mandela denied knowledge of or involvement in this incident.

THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT MS PHUMLILE DLAMINI WAS A CREDIBLE WITNESS AND THAT HER ALLEGATIONS OF ASSAULT AT THE HANDS OF MS MADIKIZELA-MANDELA AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE MUFC IS CONSISTENT WITH THE MODUS OPERANDI OF OTHER INCIDENTS OF ASSAULT THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE AT THE MANDELA HOUSE. THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT, IN ALL PROBABILITY, DLAMINI WAS TAKEN FROM HER HOME ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION IN AUGUST 1988, THAT MADIKIZELA-MANDELA HAD KNOWLEDGE OF THIS AND THAT SHE AND MEMBERS OF THE MUFC WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR ASSAULTING MS DLAMINI.