Johannesburg - Two survivors of the illegal rendition that led to the suspension of two top Hawks, Lieutenant-General Anwa Dramat and Major-General Shadrack Sibiya, have broken their silence.
Living in hiding since 2011, Maqhawe Sibanda and Shepherd Tshuma spoke exclusively to The Star this week, saying they had no option because public sentiment was swinging in support of the two senior senior police generals, aided by the DA championing the suspended cops.
They said they were scared they might be discovered and handed back to Zimbabwean police if Dramat successfully overturned his suspension.
Dramat was suspended with Sibiya and fellow Hawks Colonel Cowboy Maluleke following a probe into their alleged involvement in the illegal rendition of Zimbabweans suspected of killing a Chief Superintendent Chatikobo in Bulawayo.
Sibanda and Tshuma said Sibiya, Maluleke and Detective-Sergeant Paul Radebe arrested them in Diepsloot, north of Joburg, in November 2010. Maluleke had a list and was looking for Gordon Dube, Witness Ndeya, John Nyoni, Pritchard Tshuma and Mthelisi Sibanda.
The Hawks found Ndeya and Nelson Ndlovu. The four were then held for the weekend at Orlando police station in Soweto, but not before Sibiya ordered that Ndeya be taken away for questioning.
“When he returned, he had been so severely beaten that he was unable to walk. Witness told us he was beaten up by the police, who were forcing him to point out another suspect in Soweto,” Sibanda said.
At the police station, officers spoke in hushed voices, saying they would be taken to Zimbabwe and killed. “We just could not believe it until one of the prisoners asked Nelson to give him his jacket, because we was going die anyway when he gets to Zimbabwe. He said he overheard police talking, saying we were involved in the murder of a cop in Zimbabwe,” a tearful Sibanda said.
On the Monday after spending the weekend at the police station, Ndeya, Tshuma, Sibanda and Ndlovu were driven to Zimbabwe.
“Cowboy was driving a van. He was with another officer. When we got to the freeway in Bronkhorstspruit, we were separated. They told me and Witness to climb into Cowboy’s van. They joined our hands with handcuffs. Nelson and Maqhawe remained in the (other) van,” Tshuma said.
Sibanda added: “Cowboy instructed the two officers to take us to Diepsloot to get our passports, and then take us to Zimbabwe.”
He said that when Maluleke was out of sight, the officers dropped the two off on the freeway and told them to “find a place to hide because we would be killed if we go to Zimbabwe”.
“That’s how we survived,” Sibanda explained.
Tshuma and Ndeya were taken to Zimbabwe.
Tshuma said that when they got to the Zimbabwean side, Maluleke handed them over to the police, who were waiting for them.
“Cowboy removed his handcuffs, and the Zimbabwean police handcuffed us and put us in leg irons. We were then driven to a police station in Bulawayo,” he said.
He added that they were tortured three times a day and starved.
“They asked us if we knew anything about the murder of the cop. We told them we did not know anything. They made us lie on the table and tied our hands and legs to the table, and then give us 13 lashes with a sjambok and a cane.”
After a week of interrogation, Tshuma said he and Ndeya were separated. It was the last time he would see him alive.
The next day, the police asked him if wanted to go to his family. “They gave me R80 taxi fare and told me they would come a few days later to check up on me. I think they thought I was going die, because I was very weak.
“When I got home, my family told me they had heard that we had been arrested for killing a cop. I decided to run away because the community was talking about how I had killed a cop.
“I was scared that the police would come and finish me off. So I ran away. When I arrived in South Africa, I heard that Witness had died,” he said.
Hawks spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi said Police Minister Nathi Nhleko was dealing with the matter. Sibiya’s lawyer, Victor Nkwashu, refused to comment, Radebe referred The Star to the Hawks, while Maluleke’s phone went unanswered.
Mulaudzi said no enforcement agency, including the Hawks, had the authority to deport anyone without due legal processes. “It is tantamount to human trafficking and is punishable by law.”
Rendition in a nutshell
According to Wits Law Clinic Professor Cathi Albertyn, rendition happens outside of the legal process and is an unlawful handover.
“The term has been used often about the last 10 years. For example, Americans have done this with suspected terrorists,” she said on Thursday.
Albertyn said forced rendition was an unlawful handing over of suspects outside of due process. “There are only two ways to hand over people from one country to another: either deportation or extradition,” she said.
With deportation, the person would be taken through the correct procedure legally, and proper documentation would be required.
In extradition, though complicated, the process is well controlled between two countries. A proper legal process is followed where formal requests and hearings are done. Shrien Dewani’s extradition followed the correct legal steps.
In South African law, a person cannot be handed over if a death penalty will be imposed on that person in the country that requires the extradition.
Human rights lawyer David Cote said that in order for a handover to be legal, it needed to be done diplomatically. He said there were many different elements in the Extradition Act that were needed to hand over a suspected person legally, including the nature of the crime.
“A magistrate takes a decision to grant the extradition and the minister of justice will make the final decision to see the process through,” he said.
In a forced rendition, the suspects are generally taken to a border and handed over without following any processes. – Mpiletso Motumi
The Star