For over five decades, the official record stated that Chief Albert Luthuli, the revered former President-General of the African National Congress (ANC) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, died after being struck by a goods train near his home in Stanger (now KwaDukuza) in 1967. On Thursday, that lie was finally and officially shattered.
The Pietermaritzburg High Court, in a landmark ruling, has declared that Luthuli was, in fact, beaten to death by apartheid police. Judge Nompumelelo Radebe set aside the 1967 inquest finding, stating that the evidence presented was “concocted” to support a false narrative and that the truth had been systematically suppressed.
Science and Testimony Overturn a Regime’s Lie
The new inquest, which reopened the investigation into one of apartheid’s most enduring mysteries, relied on modern forensic and locomotive expertise. Judge Radebe highlighted that the injuries Luthuli sustained were completely inconsistent with a train accident.
According to expert testimony, victims hit by trains are typically dismembered by the force of the impact. Luthuli’s body, however, was found intact, with a gash on the back of his head and wounds on his armsinjuries far more consistent with a brutal assault.
The court also heard chilling evidence from the original inquest that had been ignored. A man named Mbhemu Mnyandu had testified that he witnessed white males assaulting Luthuli with a shovel. In a tragic twist that underscored the regime’s ruthlessness, Judge Radebe noted that Mnyandu was taken by police for questioning a few days after his testimony and “never returned.” She has recommended an investigation into his disappearance.
A Measure of Peace for the Family
While the ruling cannot lead to prosecutionsthe perpetrators are long deadit provides a profound moral and historical victory for Luthuli’s family and the nation.
Luthuli’s daughter-in-law, Wilhelmina Luthuli, welcomed the judgment, expressing happiness that the truth had finally been acknowledged, even if belatedly.
The ruling vindicates what the ANC and anti-apartheid activists had maintained for decades: that Luthuli was murdered by the state’s security apparatus in collusion with railway staff. KwaZulu-Natal ANC convenor Jeff Radebe welcomed the court’s findings, which align with the party’s long-held position.
This judgment does more than correct a historical record; it formally recognizes a state-sponsored assassination and represents a crucial, if symbolic, step in South Africa’s ongoing journey toward reconciling with its painful past. The truth, after 56 years, has finally been heard in a court of law.
{Source: TimesLive}
