A South African court has concluded that the death of Nobel laureate Albert Luthuli in 1967 was the result of an “assault” by apartheid police, reversing previous assertions that claimed it was an accident. An inquest conducted during the apartheid era determined that Luthuli, the first African Nobel Peace Prize winner, died when he was struck by a freight train while walking along railway tracks. However, both family members and activists expressed skepticism about these findings over the years.
In April of this year, South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority reopened investigations into Luthuli’s death, influenced by suspicions that apartheid authorities were involved in his death and had possibly concealed the truth. During the recent proceedings, Judge Nompumelelo Radebe stated that evidence from the reopened inquest contradicted the conclusions of the 1967 investigation. The judge reported that Luthuli died due to a fractured skull, cerebral hemorrhage, and brain concussion linked to an assault.
Judge Radebe indicated that the assault was perpetrated by members of the security branch of the South African police, collaborating with personnel from the South African Railway Company. She identified seven individuals, whose current locations are unknown, as potentially complicit in the act, indicating they could face criminal charges if located.
The ruling has been met with approval from Luthuli’s family and the African National Congress (ANC), which praised it as a crucial step toward rectifying historical inaccuracies. This court decision is part of broader initiatives by South African authorities to seek justice for victims of apartheid crimes and provide closure to affected families. Additionally, there are ongoing efforts to investigate other apartheid-era cases, such as that of anti-apartheid leader Steve Biko, who died in police custody in 1977.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c874yqvdr13o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss