Africa-Press – South-Africa. The grandson of ANC president-general Chief Albert Luthuli lambasted the ANC over the delays in the reopening of the inquest into his grandfather’s death post-1994.
Albert Mthunzi Luthuli, 58, who is named after his grandfather, continued with his evidence after a short stint in the witness box on Thursday before the start of the Easter weekend.
The apartheid government claimed Luthuli was hit by a goods train at Gledhow station on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal in 1967. Luthuli, who read from an affidavit, alleged there was a deal between the nationalist government and the ANC not to prosecute apartheid cases.
Mthunzi expressed his displeasure about the delays. He said also the explanation given by the train driver surrounding his grandfather’s death was contradictory. The family wants the court to overturn the findings of the initial inquest that ruled Luthuli’s death as an accident.
Last week outside court, Luthuli hinted the family believes the apartheid government may have colluded with an international partner in planning Luthuli’s murder.
“We hoped that soon after 1994, there was going to be something taking place in terms of reconducting an inquest into the death of my grandfather, but nothing happened,” he said.
His statement comes as families of victims and survivors of apartheid-era crimes in January brought charges, suing President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration “to seek justice” with fresh calls for an inquiry.
The lawsuit, filed in the Pretoria high court, claims the government failed to adequately investigate and prosecute apartheid-era political crimes after the TRC process.
The applicants, including survivors of the Highgate Hotel massacre and family members of the Cradock Four, are seeking R167m in damages — not for personal benefit — and are calling for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry to investigate possible political interference that has hindered the prosecution of apartheid-era crimes.
Convener of the provincial task team Jeff Radebe and co-ordinator of the provincial task team Mike Mabuyakhulu didn’t respond to queries about Luthuli’s claims.
Meanwhile, ANC veteran Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said she is convinced the apartheid government had a hand in the mysterious death of Luthuli. Speaking to the media outside court on Thursday, Dlamini-Zuma said there was a lot of whitewashing of issues during the apartheid time.
“They did not reveal the truth in the mysterious death of Luthuli, in fact in my view I believe they have a hand in his death,” she said.
Dlamini-Zuma said they had hidden the truth in the death of many freedom fighters. “I hope these inquests will eventually reveal the truth,” she said.
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