Latest news with #InkosiAlbertLuthuli
IOL News
2 days ago
- IOL News
The inquest into Albert Luthuli's death: A family's search for truth
A reopened inquest into Inkosi Albert Luthuli's death on July 21, 1967, is being held at the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Image: Supplied The National Archives Advisory Council chairperson, Sibongile Mnyandu-Nzimande, described at the inquest into Inkosi Albert Luthuli's death this week how her father died heartbroken because of her uncle's disappearance without a trace at a young age after being kidnapped by apartheid police. Mnyandu-Nzimande, who was born in 1957, said police kidnapped her uncle after he had witnessed white men assaulting Luthuli at the Umvoti River railway bridge, Groutville, outside Stanger in the north coast on the morning of July 21, 1967. She was testifying at the reopened inquest, which the National Prosecuting Authority established to dispel findings of an initial inquest held in 1967, shortly before Luthuli's death from injuries a few hours after being brought to the Stanger Provincial Hospital. The initial inquiry has concluded that Luthuli had died after being hit by a goods steam train through his failure to avoid it while walking on the bridge, and that there was no one to be held accountable. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ She said she was never told about the name of her kidnapped uncle, although her father said his parents and siblings loved him. The former head of the Department of Arts and Culture said her father, Phothwayo Barnabus Mnyandu, had succeeded her grandfather, Thomas Mnyandu, to be traditional leader at La Mercy on the north coast. 'My father lived and died with a heavy heart from the disappearance of his brother at the hands of the police.' She said years before his death, his father, Mnyandu, who was the last born among Thomas's children, told the family about the disappearance of his brother, which also left her grandfather heartbroken until his death. Mnyandu-Nzimande said she was told that there was no case opened about her uncle's disappearance, and it was seldom talked about as the family feared that should they do that, they would face police brutality. 'It was a deep, cutting feeling of helplessness and despair as the family feared losing more lives at the hands of the police. 'This may also be because at the time, which was in the 1960s, the police were seen as a symbol of authority who could do no wrong in upholding the law in its purest form. 'When the police had committed a wrong, even as deep as killing a relative, the fear of consequences (when reporting it) was palpable.' She said it was when she was an adult and working that her father shared with her the story of how her uncle disappeared. The story started with her uncle delivering a letter from her grandfather to Luthuli using a bicycle. She said before being taken away by the police, the uncle told the family that on his arrival at Luthuli's home, he was told that Luthuli was working at his sugarcane field. As he proceeded to the fields, he witnessed a group of white men assaulting Luthuli with a shovel near a goods steam train that was stationed on a bridge. She said her father told her that her uncle reported that after witnessing the attack on Luthuli, he fled on realising that the assailants had seen him and reported to her grandfather what he witnessed. 'The word soon spread that the police were looking for him, and he was advised to go into hiding, though I believe the effort was not well planned. 'Hiding completely was nearly impossible because the community was scarcely populated and everyone knew one another, and the possession of a bicycle at the time was a glaring fact, and people would have known who had a bicycle,' said Mnyandu-Nzimande. She said a few days later, some community members told the family that they had seen the police walking with her uncle toward the Tongaat Police Station. 'Even today, he had never been found nor did the police ever come back to report what happened to him despite my grandfather being induna and well known in the area,' she said. She said she was not certain of the date of her grandfather's death, but her father died at the age of 94 in 2018.
IOL News
21-05-2025
- IOL News
Albert Luthuli's funeral a powerful symbol of defiance against apartheid
A reopened inquest into Inkosi Albert Luthuli's death on July 21, 1967, is being held at the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Image: Independent Media Archives Pictures of Inkosi Albert Luthuli's body lying emotionless in a coffin during his funeral on July 30, 1967, depicted nothing of a person hit by a train, as it had no dismembered limbs or facial scars, the inquest held at the Pietermaritzburg High Court heard. Luthuli, a staunch Christian and prayer warrior, was buried eight days after his death on July 21, the same year. His funeral, attended by scores of people from various racial groups, was held at the Groutville Congregational Church Graveyard. The pictures of his body dressed in a black suit and tie in the coffin were shown on a big screen in the courtroom on Monday during the ongoing reopened inquest. They were another piece of evidence to reject the 1967 findings that he was killed by injuries sustained from being hit by a steam goods train that was running at 40km/h. 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Next Stay Close ✕ Testifying on Tuesday, Thulani Thusi, a heritage educator at the museum named after the iconic ANC president-general and Nobel Peace Prize winner, concurred with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)'s evidence leader, Advocate Annah Chuene, that the elderly man's body appeared intact. 'I see an individual in a casket or a coffin whose body is intact, in other words, there are no missing limbs or any body parts from what I am seeing. Are you seeing the same thing? 'Looking at the facial features of the individual whom you say is Chief Albert Luthuli, on his face, there are no available scars from what I can see on the screen. Is that what you also see?' Chuene asked, to which Thusi responded, 'That is correct, my Lady'. According to evidence accepted by the initial inquest held on September 21, 1967, Luthuli met with the accident at the Mvoti railway bridge at Groutville village in Stanger, the north coast, in the morning. He died at the Stanger Provincial Hospital in the afternoon. It was revealed that before the accident, on that fateful morning, he woke up to take his normal daily routine of going to open his general deal shop, and proceeded to his sugar cane fields using the same route he always used, which was to cross the bridge. Police officers and a medical expert who testified in the current inquest said it was a fallacy that Luthuli died as a result of the train accident. Instead, they presented documented medical evidence that the injuries indicated that he had been attacked and assaulted until he lost consciousness. According to KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health's senior forensic pathologist, Dr Sibusiso Johannes Nsele, who testified last week about his findings after reinvestigating medical reports, Luthuli's injuries on his arms indicated that he was trying to protect himself from his attackers. Nsele believed that during the assault with a blunt object, Luthuli lost consciousness, which might have led the attackers to believe that he was dead. They then carried him to the bridge to create a false impression that he had been hit by the train. In his sworn statement, Thusi said one of the newspapers, which covered the funeral that was held on a Sunday, described the event as 'a theatre for defiance and political dynamism' because of its unusual attendance under the situation created by the apartheid regime. According to the Albert Luthuli Timeline published on the University of Pretoria website, his funeral was attended by over 7 000 people and 'was the first major public gathering since the ANC's banning in 1960'. Describing the funeral, Thusi said the articles that were produced after the funeral reflected what happened at that event. 'This was a day that brought multiracial groups to the funeral of Chief Luthuli,' said Thusi. He said, according to the archives and people who attended the funeral, the funeral was under the watchful eye of the police and special branch members. The NPA's aim of reopening the inquest into Luthuli's death was to provide evidence that would expose collusion between the security police, district surgeons, pathologists, prosecutors, and magistrate CI Boswell, who presided over the initial inquest, in covering up the killing and protecting the killers from being held accountable. Meanwhile, the reopened inquest was initially scheduled to run between April 14 and May 16, but its completion was delayed due to postponements as a result of court officials, including presiding Judge Qondeni Radebe, having to deal with other work-related commitments. The matter was on Tuesday postponed to Wednesday because the next witness to give evidence did not show up in court. It remained unclear when these hearings would be completed. Cape Times
IOL News
20-05-2025
- IOL News
Unveiling the truth: Albert Luthuli's funeral as a symbol of resistance
A reopened inquest into Inkosi Albert Luthuli's death on July 21, 1967, is being held at the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Image: Independent Media Archives Pictures of Inkosi Albert Luthuli's body lying emotionless in a coffin during his funeral on July 30, 1967, depicted nothing of a person hit by a train, as it had no dismembered limbs or facial scars, the inquest held at the Pietermaritzburg High Court heard. Luthuli, a staunch Christian and prayer warrior, was buried eight days after his death on July 21, the same year. His funeral, attended by scores of people from various racial groups, was held at the Groutville Congregational Church Graveyard. The pictures of his body dressed in a black suit and tie in the coffin were shown on a big screen in the courtroom on Monday during the ongoing reopened inquest. They were another piece of evidence to reject the 1967 findings that he was killed by injuries sustained from being hit by a steam goods train that was running at 40km/h. Testifying on Tuesday, Thulani Thusi, a heritage educator at the museum named after the iconic ANC president-general and Nobel Peace Prize winner, concurred with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)'s evidence leader, Advocate Annah Chuene, that the elderly man's body, which had grey hair and a beard, appeared intact. 'I see an individual in a casket or a coffin whose body is intact, in other words, there are no missing limbs or any body parts from what I am seeing. Are you seeing the same thing? 'Looking at the facial features of the individual whom you say is Chief Albert Luthuli, on his face, there are no available scars from what I can see on the screen. 'Is that what you also see?' Chuene asked, to which Thusi responded, 'That is correct, my Lady'. According to evidence accepted by the initial inquest held on September 21, 1967, Luthuli met with the accident at the Mvoti railway bridge at Groutville village in Stanger, the north coast, in the morning. He died at the Stanger Provincial Hospital in the afternoon. It was revealed that before the accident, on that fateful morning, he woke up to take his normal daily routine of going to open his general deal shop, and proceeded to his sugar cane fields using the same route he always used, which was to cross the bridge. Police officers and a medical expert who testified in the current inquest said it was a fallacy that Luthuli died as a result of the train accident. Instead, they presented documented medical evidence that the injuries indicated that he had been attacked and assaulted until he lost consciousness. According to KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health's senior forensic pathologist, Dr Sibusiso Johannes Nsele, who testified last week about his findings after reinvestigating medical reports, Luthuli's injuries on the arms indicated that he was trying to protect himself from his attackers. Nsele believed that during the assault with a blunt object, Luthuli lost consciousness, which might have led the attackers to believe that he was dead. They then carried him to the bridge to create a false impression that he had been hit by the train. In his sworn statement, Thusi said one of the newspapers, which covered the funeral that was held on a Sunday, described the event as 'a theatre for defiance and political dynamism' because of its unusual attendance under the situation created by the apartheid regime. According to the Albert Luthuli Timeline published on the University of Pretoria website, his funeral was attended by over 7 000 people and 'was the first major public gathering since the ANC's banning in 1960'. Describing the funeral, Thusi said the articles that were produced after the funeral reflected what happened at that event. 'This was a day that brought multiracial groups to the funeral of Chief Luthuli,' said Thusi. He said, according to the archives and people who attended the funeral, the funeral was under the watchful eye of the police and special branch members. The NPA's aim of reopening the inquest into Luthuli's death was to provide evidence that would expose collusion between the security police, district surgeons, pathologists, prosecutors, and magistrate CI Boswell, who presided over the initial inquest, in covering up the killing and protecting the killers from being held accountable. Meanwhile, the reopened inquest was initially scheduled to run between April 14 and May 16, but its completion was delayed due to postponements as a result of court officials, including presiding Judge Qondeni Radebe, having to deal with other work-related commitments. On Tuesday, it was postponed to Wednesday because the next witness to give evidence did not show up in court. It remained unclear when these hearings would be completed. [email protected]
IOL News
15-05-2025
- Health
- IOL News
Inkosi Albert Luthuli: A victim of racial segregation in South African healthcare
A reopened inquest into Inkosi Albert Luthuli's death on July 21, 1967 is being held at the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Image: Independent Media Archives Had he not been a black person, the critically injured Inkosi Albert Luthuli would have been given better treatment and his life would possibly have been saved at the racially divided Stanger Provincial Hospital, Dr Sibusiso Johannes Nsele said on Thursday. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health's senior forensic pathologist was continuing to give evidence at the reopened inquest into the cause of Luthuli's death held at the Pietermaritzburg High Court. He said that in the years of Luthuli's life and after his death, the hospital, like all government institutions in the country, applied policies of racial segregation. Responding to a question from evidence leader Advocate Ncedile Dunywa from the National Prosecuting Authority that Luthuli, who was partly unconscious on arrival at the hospital, should have been given better medical care than what he was offered, Nsele said, 'Yes, that is correct'. Luthuli died at Stanger Provincial Hospital a few hours after he was found semi-conscious on the morning of July 21, 1967, on the railway bridge of the Mvoti River in Groutville, Stanger. The findings of an initial inquiry held the same year Luthuli died, stated that Luthuli was involved in a fatal goods steam train accident. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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Nsele said during the apartheid system, the hospital was divided into two sections - one 'which was for a particular race (white) and the other sections, which also belonged to different race groups (Africans, Coloureds and Indians)'. He painted a scenario of the medical team at the hospital that neglected their duties of giving Luthuli urgent attention, even after they had realised the severity of his injuries. An ambulance brought Luthuli to the hospital at 11.45 am, where he was immediately attended to by senior medical superintendent Dr Gwendoline Mary Gregarsan, who was not a specialist in the field of neurosurgery. Luthuli was only attended to by neurosurgeon Dr Mauritus J. Joubert at 2.20 pm, which was five minutes before he passed away at 2.25 pm. 'When one looked at the time at which Inkosi (Luthuli) was admitted, from the records, Dr Gregarsan immediately attended to Inkosi, the description from the records were that there were many injuries around the head, and she further made an observation that there was a scalp fracture. 'That alone would have guided her to realise that immediate care at a specialist level was required. 'The expectation would have been that the neurosurgeon, Dr Joubert, would have been consulted much earlier, soon after Dr Gregarsan had assessed the patient,' he said. When Dunywa asked him if that meant that Luthuli's life would have been saved had it not been for the effect of the apartheid government's racial segregation, Nsele said he was aware that state resources in various spheres, including in the health sector, were not dispersed equally (among racial groups). 'The funding with regard to services and resources that would be given to the African or black communities was inferior to that given to the European or white communities,' said Nsele. On Thursday, Nsele said Luthuli's condition required that he be transferred to the better-equipped King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban. Both hospitals are 83,4 km and an hour away from each other. 'Stanger Provincial Hospital was not, and even as we speak today, suited to manage patients who need neurosurgeons,' he said. Nsele said Dr Gregarsan was, according to the records, aware that Luthuli's conditions needed to be handled by a neurosurgeon, which was not available at Stanger Hospital. 'The injuries he had sustained warranted that he receive specialised care. 'But Chief Albert Luthuli was nevertheless made to remain at Stanger Provincial Hospital,' Dunywa said. Nsele concurred with Dunywa's observation that at Stanger Hospital, Luthuli was not given proper care while he was alive and even after he had died, as the medical practitioners did not do due diligence in handling him. Nsele said that Dr Jakobus Johannes van Zyle, who was junior doctor at the time, had 90 minutes after declaring Luthuli dead, hurriedly produced a postmortem report, which was substandard.
IOL News
14-05-2025
- IOL News
Inkosi Albert Luthuli's death: A forensic pathologist critiques the post-mortem findings
Inkosi Albert Luthuli's death on July 21, 1967, remains a mystery. Image: Independent Media Archives DESPITE being an internationally acclaimed statesman, Inkosi Albert Luthuli was treated like a commoner in his death, with his post-mortem being conducted hurriedly by a doctor who was inexperienced in conducting a forensic examination and who produced a substandard death report. This was revealed by senior KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health's Dr Sibusiso Johannes Nsele, who reviewed the 1967 post-mortem report, which was conducted by Dr Jakobus Johannes van Zyle. Nsele, who introduced himself as a 'very senior' forensic pathologist in the province with 18 years in the medical health sector, said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) instructed him on December 15, 2020, to help with the evaluation of Luthuli's post-mortem report compiled in 1967. Luthuli died at Stander Provincial Hospital a few hours after being allegedly hit by a goods steam train on the morning of July 21, 1967, at Mvoti River in Groutville, Stanger. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ The outcome of Nsele's review highlighted a lack of professionalism in the work done by three doctors who dealt with Luthuli before and after his death. 'We found a paucity of details on the post-mortem report, injuries were documented only under the heading of chief post-mortem findings, and there was no mention elsewhere in the body of the post-mortem report,' he said. He said the conclusion of Luthuli's death was cerebral haemorrhage and brain injuries. He said, according to medical reports, the post-mortem was conducted and concluded approximately 90 minutes after Luthuli was declared dead, and it lacked mention of the possible cause of the injuries. He said there was also no reconstruction of the scene of the accident. 'The interpretation of injuries, as indicated in the post-mortem report, did not resonate with injuries that should have been expected in a railway train/pedestrian collision,' he said. He said he found it odd that the train accident was compiled by Van Zyle on July 21, 1967, the same day Luthuli was declared dead, after conducting an autopsy on his body. Van Zyle attended to Luthuli at the emergency room soon after he had died. He said van Zyle had recorded head, hands, and body injuries on Luthuli's body and concluded that the cause of death was the head and brain injuries. 'The further shortcomings evident on the post-mortem report have been noted (such as) the injuries were grouped without providing specific and distinctive details, such as wound measurements. 'It is not known how many and how big the scalp lacerations were, but they were only described as multiple,' he said. He said that although Luthuli had sustained injuries on the hand and chest, such information was not sufficiently detailed. 'Depiction of injuries on the diagram was absent (whereas) the presentation of injuries assists in properly illustrating the observations made during the post-mortem examination. 'No specimens were collected for further examination (and) the post-mortem was performed approximately 90 minutes after Mr Luthuli was declared deceased, while the body was still warm,' he said. Nsele said it appeared that the post-mortem was hurried, 'given the status of Mr Luthuli in the society'. 'At the time of his demise, he was a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in the field of human rights. 'This alone gave Mr Luthuli an international reputation within the society, and he was the ANC president-general and a traditional leader. 'There seemed to have been no cultural and religious reasons to necessitate the examination as soon after demise,' he said. Nsele said it was inappropriate that Luthuli's body was not examined by a specialist forensic pathologist or 'at least a better competent district surgeon'. 'Since Dr van Zyle was not a specialist pathologist who was an appropriate one to conduct such an examination, given the extensive knowledge which was required. 'The need for a specialist in this matter at a time cannot be overemphasised, given the deficiency in the report compiled by Dr JJ van Zyle,' he said. Nsele also picked up some discrepancies in the sworn statements presented by two other doctors who examined the body and gave reports, which contradicted each other, but they all concluded that Luthuli died from head and brain injuries. He told the court that there was also no evidence that Luthuli had been hit by the train, as there was no sign that he was dragged on the railway line, or his clothes, which did not have blood stains, were torn apart. He said there were also no signs that Luthuli was thrown a distance away as a result of the train's impact. He said the fact that the X-ray revealed that Luthuli only sustained a single rib fracture on the chest meant that he was not hit by the train. 'One has considered the possibility that Mr Luthuli had been hit by the train, but it was difficult to reconcile with such context as presented by the nature and position of the injuries 'Generally, a person hit by a train would have multiple fractures in different positions. 'In addition, a person hit by the train would sustain abrasions, bruises, and/or lacerations,' said Nsele. The inquest continues.
