TESTIMONY_GIVER:
So on the - he left on the 6th of February 1989, sayingto me he is getting to Johannesburg, because this organisation doesn't haveenough funds in the Free State and they have promised to help them with theireducation. So he said in order to meet us halfway he is going to Johannesburgto get funds from the organisation in Johannesburg. And he had got a telegramthat was signed Joe - signed by Joe, that he was coming. So when this Joe camethey came in the morning. There were two of them in an Opel Kadett car. Whenthis Joe came there were two of them, and I can't remember what he said thisother one's name was. But normally he used to take me to work, so this otherone, the one who died with him, accompanied him and they took me to work. Butthis other one remained home and said he was tired, so Mpho prepared his bedroomfor him for him to sleep there whilst they were taking me to work. At 4 o'clockwhen I knocked off Mpho, together with this one ... (incomplete - end of SideA, Tape 6) ... all three of them were there. They had supper and they left.During the night - we hadn't locked the back door for them to come in, so thatthey don't disturb us. During the night at about 9.00 pm I heard thatthere was somebody in the house, so I got up, switched on the light. This otherone who had said he was tired when they came in the morning was sitting in thelounge on the couch in darkness. Then I switched on the light and asked him,"Why are you sitting in darkness?" He said, "No, I don't want to disturb you."But what I noticed was that he was hiding his face, he didn't want me to beable to see him. Then I asked him where the other two were. He said they werecoming. All right, I left him and I got back to bed. At about 12 midnight Icould hear that Mpho and the other were in too. Then I asked Mpho, "Are youhere?" He said, "No, Mum, I didn't want to disturb you. We are leaving now."That was the last I saw of him. In fact I heard from him. The following daywhen I came back from work I asked if Mpho hadn't phoned, and they said he hadn'tphoned. Then I suspected that there was something, because he never used toleave home and not phone for such a long time. Then I started asking his friends,"Where do you think Mpho is?" None of them knew, and then I said to them, "Okay,I am now going to the police for them to help me look for Mpho." And what theysaid was, "Please, Mama, don't go to the police, because the minute you go tothe police Mpho will be harassed. Every time there's something he'll be takento gaol." And from what people used to say, people who had been in gaol, thenI felt I would rather not go to the police, because I didn't want him to gothrough what the people said they go through when they are in gaol. We startedtrying to look for Mpho until towards the end of February. Unfortunately I can'tremember the date well.  In The Sunday Times there was an article that three schoolchildren,three students, were killed. The names were there, but fortunately Mpho's namewas wrongly written, so I didn't recognise it. Then that Friday we got a telephonecall from Nelspruit SACC offices to say we should please come to the SACC officesat Nelspruit. So that Friday night we drove over to Nelspruit. When we got toNelspruit we got there Saturday at about 11.00 am, so when we got there thosegentlemen who helped us said they think they have a clue as to where Mpho is,but now we would have to go over to Swaziland, and because it was a weekendwe couldn't go, it had to be the Monday. We had driven over to Nelspruit beingfour. It was my husband, myself, and a friend of mine, a Mrs Ramagaga, and whenwe got to Virginia we picked up another gentleman who's my friend's husband.So we all drove over to Nelspruit. So on noticing that we had to stay over forthe weekend my husband and this gentleman from Virginia came back, and I remainedwith Mrs Ramagaga. The Monday morning we left for Swaziland. When we got tothe border I couldn't cross over, I didn't have a passport, so they said wecould get emergency passports at the offices, which were about two kilometresaway. We drove back to those offices. When we got there they said they didn'thave forms for emergency passports. Then I remained at Nelspruit Hospital. Ihad a colleague there I knew. Mrs Ramagaga and these two gentlemen from theSACC offices of Nelspruit crossed over to Swaziland. I stayed in the hospitalthat whole Monday, until in the evening when they hadn't come back they prepareda bed for me and I slept in the nurses' home. Tuesday morning at about 9 o'clockMrs Ramagaga came in.  They said they couldn't come to me the previous day becausethey came back very late from Swaziland. So I asked her if she had found Mpho,and she said ... (incomplete)