Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The next sitting of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the KwaZulu-Natal region is to be at the Durban Christian Centre, over three days, from Wednesday August 28 to Friday August 30.
The Durban Christian Centre is housed at a building which used to be the Alhambra Theatre near the main campus of the Natal Technikon, at the bottom end of West Street. Hearings will commence at 9 am each day.
Testimony about the KwaMakhutha massacre, which has been in the headlines ever since General Magnus Malan and about 19 other people appeared at the Durban Supreme Court charged with killing the 13 people, mostly women and children, who were mercilessly butchered whilst sleeping in a house in KwaMakhutha in 1987, will be heard by the Truth Commission for the very first time.
Two prominent Durban businessmen whose human rights were grossly violated will also appear before the commission. The reign of terror in Chesterville township by the notorious A-Team, a vigilante group that was extensively used by the security forces to crush enemies of the state in the township, as well as the bloody battle between the IFP and ANC in KwaMakhutha township, are scheduled to feature prominently during these hearings at the Durban Christian Centre.
All in all, the commission is scheduled to listen to at least 35 cases of gross human rights violations during its three-day sitting in Durban.
Mrs Khanyisile Ethel Ntuli 52, the owner of the KwaMakhutha house where her husband and three daughters were among the 13 who were killed, will publicly tell her side of the story for the first time.
Mrs Ntuli will also ask the commission to investigate the death of her son, Victor, who was the intended target when the massacre was carried out. Victor was not at home at the time, but was killed at a later stage by a group of alleged IFP supporters.
Mrs Ntuli also intends to appeal to the commission to assist in evicting people who illegally took possession of her house when the family left the area soon after the massacre. The people who have forcibly occupied her house ever since, are said to be refusing to move out.
The two businessmen who will be testifying before the commis- sion, are 81-year-old Mr Jacob Dlamini whose son was murdered and he personally was excessively harassed and ultimately driven out of his business, the Umlazi Cinema, and bankrupted after he permitted the use of his cinema by ANC-aligned organisations to hold meetings and sometimes their funeral services in Umlazi, which at the time was still an IFP stronghold.
Mr Dlamini will also relate an incident where he was assaulted after an exchange of words with the IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
The other businessman is Mr Obed Sibonelo Mthembu who, together with his wife miraculously survived one of the most brutal attacks. The seriously injured couple crawled out of a fiercely burning house, into the hands of their assailants who repeatedly shot them and left them for dead. They survived and will tell their story to the commission.
Most other cases include those of murder, torture, disappearances, kidnappings, excessive harassment and assault.
MEDIA ACCREDITATION
All members of the media who will be covering these hearings, even those who have been accredited by the TRC in the past, are requested to confirm either telephonically or by fax that they will be coming so that we know the numbers we need to cater for in the media centre at the venue.
FROM: Mdu Lembede (TRC Media Spokesman) Phone 031 3076745 / Fax 031 3076742 / Cellular 082 458 8464
26 August 1996