MS MASENYA
On the 18th June 1976 there were riots in Alexandra.  It was black power as we called it.  My father was supposed to go to the Commissioner's office.  They had asked her to come so that she must get funds due to my father from his employers.  The situation was not peaceful even in Tembisa.  She said that it might be possible that this will happen in Alexandra as well.  But when we woke up everything was normal.  Therefore my mother decided to go to the Commissioner to attend to these matters and to be accompanied by my elder brother.  I did try to accompany her, I put my baby on my back. When we got the 13th Avenue bridge we met a Putco bus driver who wanted to know where are we going to.  He just advised us to turn back because the situation is disrupted.  As she was telling me that she
ALEXANDRA HEARING TRC/GAUTENG
3 MASENYA
is tired now I told her that she must balance on me for support until we got home.  I locked her in when we got home. I asked her that she must still stay indoors.  I will just monitor the situation outside.  She did that.  At that time the beer hall was set alight on 13th Avenue.  She wanted to know where are the children because they were at school.  I just told her just take the baby, I will go and look for the other school children.  I gave her the child, Cilo and then I went out.  When approaching 14th Avenue there were Caspers approaching and school children were running down the street and the Caspers were following them.  When she saw that there was burnings she went outside to try and look out for her children because they were too young.  When she was approaching between 129 and 123 she came across Caspers and they were just shooting randomly.  They shot her on an empty stand.  It was a vacant land.  They shoot her at the back.  The bullet penetrated right through her left breast.  She tried to walk.  A lady called Elste told us that our mother has been shot.  I wanted to know how did they shoot her.  And I found her bending on the grass.  She was praying that her ancestors and God must help her pull through.  I managed to get a car in order to take my mother that she would be taken to the clinic and fortunately when we got to the clinic the nurses knew her well and they transferred her to the General Hospital and we did take her there and she did survive but she passed away on the 19th June, on the Saturday.  It was 20 past 11 midnight.