Secretary to the Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry into the August 1 shootings, Virginia Mabiza denied allegations that the commission ignored some of the evidence presented by witnesses. There are concerns from some quarters that the Commission’s report was hurried thereby disregarding the testimonies of eyewitnesses of the killings. Mabiza has refuted those allegations, and she said
People should wait for the full report, as opposed to speculating. It is unfortunate that now I have to disclose something which I should not have done. People will see it for themselves after we have put up a website.
The Human Rights Forum had alleged that their 500-page dossier was not considered in the Commission’s report. On November 26, the Forum chairperson Jestina Mukoko wrote to the Commission. Part of the letter reads
I, hereby, submit video evidence in connection with the violence of August 1, 2018. We note, with concern, that despite the submission of this evidence to the secretariat of the commission of inquiry on October 5 and 12, 2018, this evidence is not before the commission of inquiry and only two of the 18 witnesses covered by this evidence were invited to testify.
Regarding the concerns raised by the Forum, Mabiza said
… Let me say it today, we used quite a lot from their voluminous report which they presented to the commission. I can tell you that the commission relied upon the post-mortem evidence from the forum. So it would be unfair to allege that we ignored them, we did not.
Related:
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Human Rights NGO Forum Dossier Reveals Shocking Details On August 1 Shootings
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Motlanthe Commission Final Report Still Being Polished, Only Mnangagwa Can Make It Public- Spokesperson
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Political Analyst Queries Motlanthe Commission’s “Hurried” Completion Of August 1 Shootings Report