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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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'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.
IOL News
29-04-2025
- General
- IOL News
How KwaZulu-Natal is rebuilding after the devastating April 2022 floods
The April 2022 floods left more than 400 people dead and caused a trail of destruction to infrastructure, businesses, homes and communities. Image: Doctor Ngcobo/ Independent Media Three years on since the floods which saw torrential rains batter KwaZulu-Natal, causing death to over 400 people, damage to infrastructure, loss to property, businesses, and dislocating families, the province is still on the road to recovery. The floods exposed infrastructure fragility and the consequences of inadequate planning and maintenance, as roads buckled, bridges collapsed, and essential services like water and electricity were severely disrupted. The eThekwini Metro and the South Coast were amongst the hardest hit areas. The disaster highlighted the deep-seated social and economic vulnerabilities within the province, with informal settlements, often located in high-risk areas, bearing the brunt of the devastation. eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Mandla Nsele said following the devastating floods in April 2022, the city has significantly progressed in restoring and upgrading its electricity infrastructure. "The current replacement cost of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality's infrastructure is estimated at R461 billion," he said. 'Five distribution substations were condemned and are slated for replacement. Major substations have been replaced, cleaned up, and energised after passing pressure tests. At the Mariannridge High Voltage Substation, the equipment installation is complete, commissioning is underway, and is expected to be completed by the end of July 2025. "At the Toyota substation, the temporary mobile switchgear has been installed, permanent 11kV switchgear procurement is in the final stages, expected delivery early next year, and civil structure repairs at affected other substations have been completed,' Nsele said. "After the April 2022 floods, the Durban Coalition was established to collectively build a united and coordinated participatory civil society movement designed to strengthen civil structures and to engage constructively with local and other spheres of government to respond to social and environmental justice issues," he said. Nsele added that the Durban South Basin was amongst the severely impacted areas during the April 2022 floods. "The uMlazi Canal was one of the major infrastructures that was affected, and its repairs are currently underway. The city is driving a multi-stakeholder collaboration to upgrade the uMlazi Canal through the support of the Presidential eThekwini Working Group. "The collaboration seeks to promote alignment, sharing resources towards the development of disaster-resistant urban infrastructure," he said. 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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Image: Theo Jeptha/Independent Media "The eThekwini Municipality, which has a large and complex infrastructure base through which it provides essential services to communities, has over the last eight to ten years experienced recurring heavy floods, which carry a heavy cost on people, the economy, and infrastructural resources," Nsele said. He added that eThekwini Municipality's stormwater systems are designed to cope with a one-in-10-year storm event flow at critical points. However, the 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2023 floods were greater than the 1:100-year flood in certain parts of the city. 'Some of the proactive initiatives the city is implementing to reduce flooding risks include the Sihlanzimvelo pilot programme, where the city maintains approximately 500km of streams in high-risk areas. The city is also revising the flood lines to incorporate the projected climate impact of a 15 percent increase in rainfall intensity,' he said. According to Nsele, the Disaster Management Centre, in consultation with the relevant stakeholders, has prepared the winter and summer season contingency plan to ensure preparedness and the state of readiness to respond. Martin Meyer, KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Public Works, said they are researching more resilient building methods, but this is dependent on client Departments, 'but we are carrying out education with client departments to promote the use of more client-resilient building methods. 'We are looking at and reaching out to private role players and other foreign role players like the European Union to see how we can improve on flood defenses, but these are almost non-existing in KZN and we are spending a lot of time and effort to see how we can improve flood defenses to protect our infrastructure. The Premier (Thamsanqa Ntuli) has also announced a Climate Change Committee that will meet regularly,' Meyer said. Thulasizwe Buthelezi, KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, said that through the Cogta disaster housing programme, they aim to restore the damaged public infrastructure and services and rebuild communities in a manner that enhances resilience to future hazards. "This includes integrating risk reduction measures, improving land use planning, and building climate-resilient infrastructure. The province has responded to wildfires, flooding, snowstorms, and lightning incidents," he said. 'To strengthen the province's disaster response capability, MOUs have been signed with various social partners who are contributing expertise and resources to enhance our disaster response and mitigation strategies,' Buthelezi said. Siboniso Duma, KZN MEC for Human Settlements and Transport, said whilst they were in the process of providing dignity to the victims affected by the 2022 floods, the province was again struck by devastating rainfalls. 'We are in the process of coming up with ways and means to respond to climate change. This includes exploring building new technology and learning through practice from other countries,' Duma said. Dr Msizi Myeza, a town planner and chief executive of the Council for the Built Environment (CBE), said the floods brought to the fore several significant town planning oversights and vulnerabilities that need urgent attention. He said these include inadequate flood risk assessment, poor land-use planning that allowed development in high-risk flood zones, and worsening the impact of the devastation. He added that the insufficient infrastructure, stormwater systems, and water management systems made matters worse, with roads, bridges, and drainage systems unable to cope. "There are vital changes that need to be made to our urban planning to mitigate such damage in the future," he added. 'We need detailed flood risk mapping for the entire KwaZulu-Natal to inform development decisions, and the zoning regulations must be implemented to restrict building in high-risk flood zones. Crucially, our infrastructure needs major upgrades—our roads, drainage systems, and bridges must be able to withstand extreme weather events. 'We also need to relook at our existing spatial development frameworks that are flawed, further contributing to such disasters. The lack of enforcement has allowed unregulated development in high-risk zones, with insufficient risk assessments performed for spatial planning decisions,' Myeza said.
