CAPE TOWN - The finding that anti-apartheid activist Dr Neil Aggett was killed by members of apartheid regime’s security police has once again revived calls for justice for all murdered Struggle martyrs.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said it was giving serious attention to the investigation and prosecution of those behind Aggett’s murder.
Johannesburg High Court Judge Motsamai Makume ordered on Friday that officers who were still alive and knew how Aggett had died, be investigated for their possible roles in his death.
He set aside a prior judgment of the inquest in 1982, which had found that Aggett had committed suicide, saying that inquest was “a massive cover-up for what really happened”.
Judge Makume found that all evidence led during the reopened inquest had pointed to the fact that Aggett, a medical doctor and trade unionist who had dedicated his life to the liberation Struggle, was severely tortured and killed while in detention.
In the early hours of February 5, 1982 after 70 days in police custody, Aggett was found hanging in his cell at the notorious John Vorster Square Police Station.
Before his death, the 29-year-old medical doctor was subjected to about 62 hours of torture – which included electric shocks – at the hands of 14 officers taking shifts. He was also deprived of sleep.
Nearly 40 years later, based on new evidence, a reopened inquest was ordered in August 2019.
In 2020, the resumed inquest saw the family members, experts and political activists testifying about their interactions with Aggett before his death, their experiences under detention without trial, and the interrogation techniques and torture employed by the Security Branch of the South African Police in relation to political activists.
The court also conducted an inspection in loco of the second and 10th floor of the John Vorster Square Police Station, where political activists were kept and interrogated, and where the body of Aggett was found.
From the outset, family members and some of his friends were adamant that Aggett would not have taken his own life.
Several witnesses, including detainees at the time, told the court during the reopening of the inquest, that shortly before his death, they saw Aggett and that he could barely walk.
The court also heard evidence that he would not have been able to climb up a grille to hang himself in his cell after 62 hours of continuous torture and sleep deprivation.
Aggett also filed a complaint against his torturers and abusers, 15 hours before his death.
While the officers maintained during the 1982 inquest that he was suicidal, Judge Makume found that to be a lie.
He concluded that Aggett’s death was a well orchestrated cover-up of all the police there.
NPA regional spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the NPA is studying the judgment, with the aim of determining the course of action to be taken.
“The NPA acknowledges the pain and suffering of the Aggett family, his partner Dr Elizabeth Floyd (Liz), and many others who lost loved ones due to apartheid-era atrocities.
“The NPA is on record having said that the unwarranted delays in bringing perpetrators to book was an injustice to the families of these victims and will work swiftly in applying its mind to implement the recommendations by Judge Makume,” Mjonondwane said.
Author and nephew of Ahmed Timol, Imtiaz Ahmed Cajee said they were not surprised by the verdict that Aggett did not commit suicide.
“The blatant lie that the apartheid regime purported for many decades was that our loved ones committed suicide in police detention. Certainly, the judgment is welcomed and finally after four decades the dignity of Dr Neil Aggett has been restored.
“The onus is now with the NPA to ensure that those security branch officers implicated in the death of Dr Neil Aggett be investigated speedily,” Mjonondwane said.
Muhammed Haron, the son of the late anti-apartheid Stalwart Imam Abdullah Haron said they held the view that all those who were detained by the regime’s security forces were “murdered in cold blood”.
“We thus express our deep disappointment that our democratically elected government did not respond earlier; the units liable for these cases have to take responsibility for not having completed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s unfinished business as expected.
“Nonetheless, we hope that now that the Aggett and Timol cases have been dealt with, the other families’ cases will be opened in the months to come.
“While these re-opened inquests may not bring full closure as desired by each of the families, they help to re-affirm that opinion that the apartheid government and all those who assisted it remain guilty of all the atrocious crimes and horrendous murders,” he said.
SACP central committee member, Dr Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo, said: “This case is similar to the case of Ahmed Timol. We reiterate our solidarity with the Timol and Aggett families, and commend them for the steps that they have taken.
“Clearly, those who were in charge of the apartheid security branch and those who committed the apartheid crimes, like the murder of Dr Neil Aggett, must be held accountable.These and other similar cases involving apartheid crimes must be pursued to the end,” Mashilo said.
Cape Times