FRIDAY, 6.30PM:
THE Truth Commission is to hold a special meeting on Monday to discuss the implications of claims by a witness (see below)that the commission’s own chief investigator was involved in a brutal attack on a Cape Town pub.
“The holding of the meeting in no way questions the integrity or innocence of our colleague, Mr Dumisa Ntsebeza,” spokesman John Allen said.
Allen confirmed that “intense” long-distance phone discussions on the subject had taken place between TRC chairman Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his deputy Dr Alex Boraine, both of whom are out of the country at the moment.
THURSDAY, 5.30PM:
A WITNESS at Truth Commission hearings on Thursday identified the commission’s own investigative unit head, Dumisa Ntsebeza, as the driver of a getaway car used in an attack on the Heidelberg Tavern in Cape Town in 1993.
The witness, Guguletu gardener Bennett Sibaya, had previously linked Ntsebeza’s car to the attack. But at a hearing on Thursday afternoon, he picked Ntsebeza out of the audience, saying “I don’t know the name but I know the face.” Several Azanian People’s Liberation Army (Apla) cadres have confessed to the attack, but they deny knowing Ntsebeza.
Earlier, Ntsebeza’s lawyer questioned whether a gardener with a Standard 2 education could fully understand the implications of the evidence he was giving.
Sibaya told the amnesty committee he had seen five men in Guguletu loading weapons into a white Audi, registration XA12848, on the evening of the attack. Ntsebeza owns a white Audi with that registration number but has denied his car was used as a getaway vehicle.
In cross-examination, Ntsebeza’s lawyer and law partner, Christine Qunta, accused Sibaya of lying, and suggested Truth Commission investigator John Lubbe had prompted him. Sibaya denied it. “I know that number. It will never leave my mind,” he said.
THURSDAY, 8.30PM:
THE LAWYER for Truth Commission investigative head Dumisa Ntsebeza has revealed that the sole witness, a gardener, owns a house worth R180 000.
The witness, Guguletu gardener Bennett Sibaya, acknowledged that he owned the house, which he said had been given to him by a German businessman as a gift. He also confirmed having R40 000 in a fixed deposit, despite earning only R1 200 per month. Lawyer Christine Qunta said the gardener’s evidence was a “tissue of lies” fabricated by others.