The Pietermaritzburg high court has declared the late ANC president-general chief Albert Luthuli was beaten to death by apartheid police and did not die after being struck by a goods train in 1967.
Delivering her judgement on the reopened inquest into Luthuli’s death on Thursday, judge Nompumelelo Radebe set aside a ruling by the late Stanger magistrate CI Boswell, saying evidence presented revealed he was murdered.
Evidence presented by locomotive and simulation experts as well as investigating officers showed there was no train accident.
“Evidence presented in the first inquest in 1967 was concocted to set a narrative that Luthuli was killed by a goods train.”
Radebe said injuries sustained by Luthuli were inconsistent with those of people injured by trains.
According to locomotive experts, people injured by trains are usually dismembered. However, Luthuli’s body was intact, and he only had a gash at the back of his head and wounds on his arms.
Radebe said evidence was presented by Mbhemu Mnyandu, who allegedly witnessed the assault on Luthuli by white males.
Luthuli was killed by members of the special branch in collusion with railway staff.
Mnyandu told the court he saw white males assaulting Luthuli with a shovel. “A few days later, after Mnyandu witnessed the assault, he was taken by police for questioning, and he never returned,” she said.
She recommended the director of public prosecutions investigate the circumstances surrounding Mnyandu’s disappearance.
Radebe said though all the people who killed Luthuli are dead, the truth has to come out.
KwaZulu-Natal ANC convenor Jeff Radebe welcomed the ruling. The ANC always maintained Luthuli was killed by the apartheid regime.
Luthuli’s daughter-in-law, Wilhelmina Luthuli, also welcomed the ruling. She said though the perpetrators will not be prosecuted as they are dead, she is happy that the truth has come out.
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