A retired advocate who practised in the 1970s and was present the day Ahmed Timol died at the notorious John Vorster Square in Johannesburg testified how he saw a body “flying” past the window.
Ernie Matthis was the first witness to take the stand during the second leg of the reopening of the Timol inquest yesterday in the High Court in Pretoria.
According to apartheid police, Timol committed suicide by jumping out of a 10th floor window at John Vorster Square. Those who knew Timol, and knew of the barbarism of apartheid police torturers, believed the police version was a lie.
Matthis testified before Judge Billy Mothle that he was either on the fourth or the sixth floor of the building, preparing for a trial, when he suddenly saw a person falling, facing away from the building. He rushed to the window and looked out. The person landed near the street, with one arm stretched out above his head. The person faced towards the motorway when he landed.
“I looked up, but I did not see an open window.” Matthis said he saw no one when he looked up.
He immediately phoned a friend - Harry Schwarz - who was the head of the official opposition in Parliament and told him what he had seen. “He told me this announcement would cause some consternation in government ranks.”
Matthis said he did not recall any police rushing to the scene, nor did he notice an ambulance arriving.
Matthis said he had no idea at the time that it was Timol who had fallen out of the window. He only read about it in the media at a later stage.
“I had no idea at the time what had happened. The entire incident took about a minute,” he said.