Date
29-05-2013
This
is my last message out of the civic prison of Glenmore.
I
am Vellie Ben Mafani. My Afterlife Long Ago…
Road
to the freedom, my historical background on this world. On behalf of my will I
would like to say to all of the people who helped me, well done, we made it.
Mr.
Whisson Prof. Tel. 046 6223382
Mr.
David McGreger Daily Dispatch Cell. 082 335 4764
Mr.
Jock Adv. Cell. 083 444 8231
Mrs.
Johnson. Mother of mother. Cell. 082 268 0223
Mr.
Paddy. Father of the father. Cell. 076 916 1166
Miss.
Michelle. Well done. Go forward to your career. God Bless you.
I
request all my assistants to bury me after life. I have no insurance, I am
disadvantaged. I have no one to bury me because all of my family died. So I
request all my friends, God’s voice to help me. Also Miss Michelle you must
deliver this letter to all these people I mention in the letter. I request you
to contact all my chosen children namely:
·
Monde Willton 071 029 9081
·
Nomeliknaya
073 247 844
·
Rubbin Pin-Pin Mafana
·
Nolekie 073 510 5456
·
Nonto Pheta
·
Mabuti Pheta
All
these people after my life you must contact. They are all my friends and they
must follow these cases and also put pressure on the government with regards to
the people that died in the Fish River. The government must dig up the innocent
people otherwise they will have no rest and no freedom. All these cases
reference as following.
All these cases I submitted to the Presidential Office
Pretoria Hot Line (17737). Case references:
1. No.
273514
2. No.4953901
3. No.
3405891
4. No.
3406132
5. No.
3492168
My
ID. Number is 5312275537086
My
Cell Number is 083 541 0535
Place,
Ngqushwa Munipality at Glenmore. Any person must follow up on all these cases
after my life has ended. The terrible crisis and murder, the corruption in
Glenmore Township.
You
call the Hot Line (17737) and wait for instructions. Give them my Id. No. and
Cell No. Place, Ngyushwa Municipality.
Me,
Ben Mafani, never met Piet Kloornhof, he died in 2006, at the age of 82 years.
But I hope to come face to face with Kloornhof in the after-life because I have
a question. Why did the Apartheid cabinet minister forcibly remove us from the
land where God knows we were born and we belong with God? I want to know why my
family and thousands of other people were forcibly removed from the white South
Africa three decades ago and dumped in plank houses at Glenmore on the edge of
the Ceskie. It has been my question from that day in April 1979 when the police
arrested me at my house in Coega near Port Elizabeth and officially destroyed
my home and trucked away my family and my people. During this time Kloornhof
was the minister of what was euphemistically called the Department of Co-operation
and Development and as such bore political
responsibility for the forced removal programme. Kloornhof was no stranger to
forced removals, in 1971 after a visit to one of the most notorious dumping
grounds in the Eastern Cape he declared there would be no more Dimbazas. I am
not prepared to have in humane treatment on my conscience I said. But it was also
on record that I say South Africa was a white man’s land and that instilling in
the Bantu a longing to join his own people in the homelands was a white man’s
patriotic duty to President Thabo Mbeki, to the Department of Justice and to
the Public Protector.
The
replies have always been vague on my eyes playing hide and seek. Nobody took
this crisis in Glenmore seriously so in 2004 I decided on illegal action as a
way of drawing attention in the High Court. I took a 47km taxi ride to
Grahamstown and stood in High Street and threw a rock through the window of the
High Court. I was arrested and spent several months in prison awaiting trial
but the case was dropped. I was denied my day in court. I contemplated over the
matter for several years.
In
September in 2007 I went back to the high court and threw another brick and
again in 2008. This one I have now is carefully painted black to show that the
people of Glenmore are sitting in a black Civic Prison, painted with red
showing that I cry the blood of my family and people of Glenmore. People
comment and complain. They say in the
eyes of the law I am a convicted criminal but to the people of Glenmore, of the
forgotten community that was dumped in the veld during Apartheids forced
removals 30 years ago, I returned home, welcome, after being tested for
insanity and jailed for months.
I
tirelessly campaign for a better life for my people. Long ago I earned the
reputation of the Mandela of Glenmore. I say sorry, I am no Mandela. I am the
son of God, son of blood, son of the nation. I lost everything I treasured, my
wife and my children, my cars, wealth, cattle, dignity and eventually my
freedom after I was dumped in the former Ciskei until now. I visited to the Ngqushwa municipality on the 20 May
2013 and the person dealing with the matter Mr. M. Voko (040 6733095 – fax –
040 6733771) said, “attention Mr. Vellie Ben Mafani: Glenmore site – ERF 355
according to our records the abovementioned ERF is registered under Ceskei
government”. I refused to give up the fight for justice on which I have spent
decades and all the money I had lobbying Presidents Premier and anyone else I
could think of that may create change with no success.
However,
some of the top legal brains rallied behind me when I held a symbolic protest
by smashing three small windows at the Grahamstown High Court and I waited
patiently to be arrested in September 2007. After languishing in jail and facing a stint in a psychiatric hospital I
grabbed headlines when the presiding magistrate was moved to say in his
judgement that he hoped doors would now finally open for the forgotten
community in the eyes of the community. He said that the hero had finally
scored a major victory by finally telling the world about their heart-wrenching
plight although only 47km from Grahamstown.
I
am mainly desperately poor. Supporters could not attend my trial and I kept up
with a lone crusade by sharing snippets from dog eared newspapers. Arriving at
the dustbowl in an open Bukkie on Tuesday I was immediately whisked off to a
community meeting without even being given a chance to wash or unpack my bag.
Hailing me as a hero, rich and poor from across the political sphere. Flocked
to the Glenmore community and plotting a way forward for the whole community
and praising me. ANC ward committee member Xolisile Khaas said to the Daily
Dispatch that I was an unsung hero who had the support of the community. “The
people of Glenmore salute you. We thank you for your struggle and we hope that
you carry on for us.”
The
Mafani ordeal moved one elderly man so much that he said he was prepared to dig
into his own pocket to try to fund the fight for justice. “I am poor but will
give whatever money I can to try and help you fight for justice for all of us.”
During the meeting it was agreed that a delegation be sent with Mafani to land
affairs in East London to get the case by handing over documentation, their plight
of being forcibly removed at gunpoint in 1979. Many of the elderly people who
turned up for the welcome had expressed shock when they first heard that only
one section of the community from Klipfontein had been included in land claims.
Several other communities in Glenmore had apparently missed the deadline even
though a delegation allegedly made the application on behalf of the whole
village 10 years ago. What about Coega, Colchester and the others? We are all
here together and must all be included in the land claim. My focus is on all
the people of Glenmore that were forcibly removed. If you were moved in 1979
you must be part of the claim.
Retired
Rhodes University anthropology professor Michael Whisson, who helped run food
parcels through to Glenmore when 3500 people were dumped in tomato box shacks
under minister Piet Kloornhof orders, vowed to continue the fight for people to
go home. Whisson said it was hoped a commission of enquiry would be held into
the forgotten people of Glenmore. He also urged a delegation to accompany
Mafani to Land Affairs in East London to hand over the documents relating to their
plight. The magistrate pushed open the door and said “it is up to you and the
leader to go through. It is said Ben Mafani is a leader like Mandela,” he said
to murmurs of approval from the crowd. While some hoped for financial
compensation the community however was divided on whether they should leave the
rural hamlet and return to their rightful homes. Those who wanted to stay
called for investment in the area to help properly farm the lands.
I
do not want to be here alive but I remember my children and my wife and all the
children of Glenmore and I cry. My heart is in pain. I dream of those people in
the graveyard and they talk to me in my sleep. They say “why do you leave me
like this? and where did I get my backbone? I cannot rest as one of my concerns
is that the graveyard is in the Fish River and will be washed away in a flood.
But the dreams are more complex and raise the question of development and
unfulfilled promises. I am a devout member of the old apostle church where I
serve as a brother encouraging the community to attend church. I believe God
has given me the power to keep going despite only reaching standard 6 (grade
8).
Mafani he will be found at his tiny two room
home at his table from 10pm to midnight penning letters to all and sundry
demanding they visit to Glenmore and bring development. One of my requests is
for young girls and boys to be lured away from the shabeens and be given
recreational programmes to be productive. My letters have frequently asked President
Zuma and Eastern Cape Premier to simply visit. I have also demanded that there
needs to be a full inquiry into corruption and maladministration. But not a
single government official has visited and most of them do not respond to my
letters. My list is also aimed at ordinary members of the public. Books for the
three schools, rugby and soccer balls and stuff to keep teenage girls
entertained.
Occupied
Glenmore has a complex history; its residents have been seen as outsiders since
the day they arrived. R26 million which was budgeted for development has gone
missing. My actions were carefully planned and thought out coming as they did
after more than thirty years of peaceful resistance to the attack on my
community. The campaign has drained me from holding a good post as a security
supervisor at the Port Elizabeth Airport. The forced removal to Glenmore has
reduced me to a casual labourer doing odd jobs. I owned a car and a township
home in Port Elizabeth. Both were sold to finance for the campaign. It has been
so hard that neighbours occasionally have to give me a plate of food. But I got
out there. Not just to the politicians, I fired off letters to the Human Rights Commission, the Scorpions, the
Public Protector, the National Prosecuting Authority, it’s quite a list. I do not
see myself as a trouble maker or criminal. I say I will accept help from
anyone.
My
last words and message to all of South Africa:
I
am going to die in the prison of my life. Thank you. God bless all of them.
From
Villie Ben Mafani
