Africa-Press – South-Africa. The reopened inquest into the 1982 death of anti-apartheid activist Dr Neil Aggett has found he did not die by suicide, but was killed by the police while in custody.
On Friday, Judge Motsamai Makume handed down judgment in the inquest that spanned two years.
Aggett, who was 28 at the time, was found hanging in his cell at the infamous John Vorster Square police station, now Johannesburg Central police station, after being detained there for 70 days on suspicion of treason.
A 1982 inquest, chaired by magistrate Pieter Kotze, cleared the apartheid government and ruled his death a suicide.
In his judgment, Makume found Kotze was biased and not interested in finding out what had happened to Aggett, but rather why he had killed himself.
“Dr Neil Aggett did not commit suicide. He was killed by the members of the Security Branch… When Neil didn’t regain consciousness [after he was tortured], they took him back to his cell, propped him up and hanged him.”
After Aggett’s death, Security Branch members visited his family home in the Western Cape to find evidence that corroborated the claim he had killed himself.
Makume asked:
The judge said he was appalled by how Kotze had ignored testimony that Aggett was tortured on numerous occasions and had even filed a complaint.
In one incident, just days before his death, he was interrogated for 62 hours.
“The finding that Neil consented to 62 hours of sleep deprivation boggles my mind,” said Makume.
He added the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) should pursue criminal charges against those involved in Aggett’s death.
The NPA welcomed the judgment that set aside the initial inquest into Aggett’s death.
“The NPA commends the teamwork of investigating officers Colonel Mathipa and Warrant Officer Frank Kgamanyane, retired Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions advocate Jabulani Mlotshwa and senior state advocate Shubnum Singh.
“This team worked tirelessly with law firm Webber Wetzel to ensure that witnesses were traced and could testify in this inquest hearing, following the authorisation to hold the hearing by Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola in 2019,” its spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, said.
Mjonondwane added it acknowledged the pain and suffering of the Aggett family.
“His partner, Dr Elizabeth Floyd, and many others lost loved ones due to apartheid-era atrocities. The NPA is on record of having said that the unwarranted delays in bringing perpetrators to book was an injustice to the families of these victims and we will work swiftly in applying its mind to implement the recommendations by Makume,” she said.
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