Cape Town - The family of anti-apartheid activist Imam Abdullah Haron say they are steps closer to achieving closure following the appointment of Judge Daniel Thulare to preside over the reopened inquest into his death.
In an announcement on Saturday, Imam Haron Foundation said the inquest would take place in an open court at the Western Cape High Court from November 7 to 18.
The Imam died in detention on September 27, 1969 after 123 days in solitary confinement and interrogation. Apartheid’s security police claimed he died from injuries he sustained after falling down a flight of stairs.” An inquest into his death in 1970 concluded that the Imam had slipped on a flight of stairs and the likely cause of death was a “myocardial ischemia”.
The family have been fighting to unearth the truth. “We believe that he was interrogated by South Africa’s notorious Security Branch (SB) and, based on other related cases, we will argue that known members of the SB used malicious and intolerable means in their attempt to extract information from our father.
“Leaving that aside, 53 years have elapsed and we have not been officially informed how our father died at the hands of the SB on September 27, 1969. Despite the time that had passed by, we – the imam’s children and grandchildren – are still determined to obtain the truth of our father’s murder.
“We remain optimistic that the 1970 inquest findings, which reached questionable conclusions, will be overturned after the November inquest is reopened.”
Haron’s son, Muhammed Haron, told the Cape Argus on Sunday: “For us, the magistrate and forensic experts were all in support of an illegal apartheid system and conclude that whatever findings they issued were in line with what the system wanted, so any inquest opened in post-apartheid period should demonstrate otherwise…”
He said they hoped the present inquest would differ from the 1970 finding, based on the advancement of expert evidence.
“We would want it to be (different) and assume that it will be based on ‘expert’ evidence and legal arguments,” Haron said.
Apartheid Era Victims’ Families Group (AVFG) have also welcomed the decision: “We are pleased that a date has been set for the inquest, which shows progress in the matter.
“However, it remains a shame that so much further into the establishment of our democracy, families still remain unanswered about the death of their loved ones,” the group said.
The announcement comes after the NPA’s application for the inquest to be reopened was approved by Justice Minister Ronald Lamola in May.
Advocate Nicolette Bell, Western Cape director of public prosecutions, welcomed the appointment of a judge, saying: “The successful application to have the 1970 inquest of the late Imam Haron reopened with the recent allocation by the Judge President of the Western Cape High Court, of a judge to preside over the proceedings is what the organisation believes is a small victory on the road towards the truth, which we can only trust would inspire the families with hope and comfort that they have not been forgotten.”
At the time of the announcement, Department of Justice spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said: “The renewed investigation into the apartheid crime will consider expert reports from a state pathologist and an aeronautical engineer and trajectory expert will provide a new perspective into the probable cause of the death of Imam Haron.”