“When they denied us the truth about how he died they also denied us a chance to heal, so that wound will remain open until we know the truth.”
In an exclusive interview with Independent Media, Dr Albertina Luthuli, 85, pleaded for anyone with information regarding how her father, Chief Albert Luthuli,died, to come forward.
On July 21, 1967, Luthuli succumbed to wounds he allegedly sustained in a train accident in his hometown, Groutville, outside Stanger.
However his family believed that something more sinister happened that fateful Friday and want the investigation to be reopened.
The recent reopening of the inquest into the 1971 death of anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol has also given them hope that they could get to the bottom of the circumstances surrounding Luthuli’s death.
“We are engaging with several people. It’s too soon to publish anything, however, we are not giving up.
"We know that it is going to be hard because the government of the day covered its tracks very well but we are not giving up,” said Luthuli.
She was speaking ahead of the week-long commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Chief Luthuli’s death, which will be held in Groutville.
The activities will commence tomorrow with a visit to the home of the Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Luthuli.
On Friday, President Jacob Zuma is expected to unveil a memorial stone. Then on Saturday hundreds are expected to take part in a walk/marathon which will retrace Luthuli’s last steps.
Meanwhile, Gladys Maphumulo, the sister of the late anti-apartheid writer Nat Nakasa, said her family had lost hope of ever knowing the truth about how he died while staying in Harlem, New York, in 1965.
The 28-year old took up a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University in 1964.
After the government refused to grant him a passport, he left on an exit permit, meaning he could not return to his homeland.
He reportedly died after falling from a seven-storey building and his remains were exhumed and returned to South Africa in 2014.
“He died in another country and it took 50 years and immense stress to get his remains back home.
"I don’t see how we could get the investigation reopened and what would that achieve and where would we even begin,” said Maphumulo.
Nakasa’s nephew Siza Nakasa said the family had never found closure because they had multiple questions about what happened in the iconic journalist's last moments.
“It’s a tough one because the costs could run into millions and we don’t have that kind of money.
"But I’m sure he (Nat) would also like us to know the truth especially since his alleged suicide was widely reported,” he said.
The family also want to know what happened to Nat’s younger brother, Moses, who disappeared shortly after Nat’s death. Moses is the only family member who attended his funeral and he was studying at Oxford University at the time.
“We don’t even know where Bab Moses is buried or if he was even buried. Wounds like that never heal, and reopening the investigation could help us find closure. "We are not looking for prosecutions, we just want to know the truth,” Nakasa added.