Luthuli did not commit suicide, daughter-in-law tells inquest

The daughter-in-law of the late ANC president-general Chief Albert Luthuli has rejected claims he may have committed suicide in 1967.

The apartheid government claimed Luthuli was hit by a goods train at Gledhow station on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal.

During the National Prosecuting Authority-led inquest into the death of Luthuli at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Wednesday, Wilhelmina May Luthuli said he was always in high spirits despite being subjected to harassment by the apartheid government.

“He was a God-fearing man who lived through the principles of the Bible and he knew very well that taking your own life is ungodly, because it is only God who can take someone’s life,” she said, adding Luthuli was a deacon at his church.

Wilhelmina — who was 20 when Luthuli died — said on the day he died he left home in high spirits eager for his daily routine of opening his general dealership and going to his sugar cane farm.

She said Luthuli did not look like someone who was suicidal, adding he was a brave man who could withstand any difficult situation.

Wilhelmina also disputed claims her father-in-law was partially blind and deaf.

She was responding to claims he may not have seen or heard the train which hit him.

“Even though he once had an operation on one of his eyes, his sight was good. He was able to read a Bible at night using candle light, so it can’t be claimed he couldn't see a train if he could read small font. 

“I also dispute he was deaf because he is the one who would wake up my mother-in-law when my child Mthunzi was crying at night [from the next room]. If he can hear a child crying it cannot be true that he cannot hear the sound of a goods train,” she said.

She said he urged the family to remain calm after their house was ransacked by members of the special branch.

Wilhelmina said Luthuli’s wounds were inconsistent with those that would have been caused had he been struck by a train.

She said he had a deep wound at the back of his head and one of his arms was injured.

Wilhelmina said Luthuli died while trying to speak to them in hospital.

KwaZulu-Natal ANC spokesperson Fanle Sibisi said Wilhelmina’s testimony was clear and rebuffed claims Luthuli was partially blind and hard of hearing.

He said the first inquest conducted in 1967 was meant to protect the apartheid government.

“That is why we are here today, because we are not satisfied with the initial inquest done at the Stanger magistrate’s court in 1967,” he said.

The inquest continues on Thursday.

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