Justice minister Ronald Lamola has ordered the reopening of an inquest into the death of former ANC leader and Nobel peace prize laureate chief Albert Luthuli, almost 60 years after his death.
He also ordered the reopening of inquest into the deaths of anti- apartheid activist and lawyer Griffiths Mxenge and civic leader Booi Mantyi.
Luthuli was one of three people whose inquests would be reopened, the department announced, after their deaths during apartheid.
“With these inquests,” Lamola said, “we open very real wounds which are more difficult to open 30 years into our democracy, but nonetheless, the interest of justice can never be bound by time, the truth must prevail.”
Luthuli, a teacher by training, lay preacher and chief, became president-general of the ANC in the early 1950s. He was arrested by the apartheid regime for treason and held for a year in prison. He was held almost permanently under severe bans that confined him to his home area, which was only temporarily lifted a few times by the apartheid regime. The last time the ban was temporarily lifted was to allow him to collect his Nobel Peace prize in 1961.
He died in 1967. In that same year, the apartheid inquest found he died after being hit by a train. It found no evidence of “any criminal culpability on the part of South African Railways and anyone else”.
However, numerous recent investigations, including by the Truth and Reconciliation Unit of the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), found crucial aspects were not considered during the 1967 inquest.
“The inquest did not consider certain mathematical and scientific principles,” the department said in a statement on Monday. “This mathematical and scientific reports reveal that it is highly unlikely that Chief Luthuli was struck by a train and died because of that.”
Lamola said it was necessary to reopen the inquest that would take these into considerations.
Mxenge was a civil rights lawyer, who, along with his wife Victoria, ran a law firm in Durban defending victims of apartheid.
Mxenge was a law student when he was convicted for being a member of the then-banned ANC. He served two years on Robben Island. Despite this, he returned and finished his law degree. He subsequently opened his law firm, facing threats, intimidation and harassment from the apartheid regime for defending other victims.
In 1981, Mxenge’s body was found in a sports field, with nearly 50 lacerations. A 1983 apartheid inquest did not identify any perpetrators. However, during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings, it was revealed Vlakplaas head Dirk Coetzee had made the orders to kill Mxenge. Coetzee and his accomplices were granted amnesty.
Despite the confessions, recent investigations found critical information was presented neither to the apartheid inquest nor the TRC. The department has not publicly stated what this information is. Lamola, therefore, found it necessary to begin the process of reopening the inquest.
For both Luthuli and Mxenge, Lamola will ask KwaZulu-Natal judge president Thoba Poyo-Dlwati to reopen the inquests.
Mantyi was a youth civic leader marching with others in the Northern Cape during a placard protest on June 16 1985. This was almost 10 years after the Soweto uprising. He was killed during an alleged altercation with the apartheid police during the protest.
However, an inquest some months after found no-one responsible.
Recent information, however, identified an eyewitness who had not testified at the inquest. Lamola will approach Northern Cape judge president Pule Tlaletsi to reopen the inquests.
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