Pretoria – The nephew of slain anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol has recommended to the court that a sculpture should be erected outside Johannesburg Central police station to pay tribute to all political detainees who died during the apartheid era.
Imtiaz Cajee was testifying before Judge Billy Mothle on Monday during an inquest into the death of Timol.
He suggested to the judge that the 10th floor of the police station should be turned into a memorial and shrine for political detainees who were tortured or killed during apartheid.
"This could be in a form of a museum or educational centre, open to the public, which tracks the history of security detention and it's abuse.In particular room 1026 and other interrogation rooms should be faithfully restored to how they were in 1971."
He also said files pertaining to political detainees of the apartheid government must be made easily accessible to those seeking answers about their fate.
Cajee explained that his journey to get to the bottom of the truth, began after Timol's brother, Mohammad Timol, went into exile in 1978 without bidding him farewell.
Imtiaz Cajee, nephew of Ahmed Timol, after testifying during the inquest into the death of his uncle in 1971 while in police custody.
"At the age of twelve, I remember being confused and angry. I had many questions that needed answers. The sudden unannounced departure of uncle Mohammad troubled me. Why did he leave the country. I began asking questions and probing my family to find out about uncle Mohammad and uncle Ahmed. I began reading the newspaper cuttings that the family had kept from the news on uncle Ahmed’s death and the subsequent inquest that was held."
He intensified in his efforts of seeking justice was after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1996 where his grandmother testified .
"At that moment, I made a vow to preserve my uncle's legacy from that day onwards. I was no longer going to just talk about uncle Ahmed but I was going to do something constructive. I wanted the full truth to be exposed," Cajee said.
A 1972 inquest found that Timol had committed suicide at the infamous John Vorster Square police station, now known as the Johannesburg Central police station.
However, this has been contested by the activist’s family and associates for decades, who believe he was murdered by police.
Jaoa Roderigues, a retired police officer was the last person to see Timol alive, told the court that he saw Timol diving out of the 10th floor of John Vorster.
His testimony has been scrutinised after two separate witnesses told the court that the incident occurred in the morning, contradicting Roderigues's version of events who claimed that it happened in the afternoon.
The judge requested that Roderigues be brought back to court to be re-examined.
He is expected to take the stand on Wednesday after another witness who claims to have more information has testified.
The matter was stood down to Wednesday.