Chief Luthuli family ‘vindicated’ by ruling on death
The family of Chief Albert Luthuli says they feel vindicated by a new ruling on his cause of death.
" We received the judgment with a huge sense of relief. What we have always known for almost six decades has finally been confirmed."
The Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday ruled that the former ANC leader was beaten to death. An inquest, reopened in April, overturned an initial investigation that a goods hit him train in Groutville in 1967.
Sandile Luthuli, the grandson of the anti-apartheid activist, says his family has been fighting for this ruling for decades.
" His children bore the heaviest weight together with his wife, our grandmother. As grandchildren, we had to pick up the spear as we grew older to fight on and see to it that this moment finally comes. We are particularly glad that at least two out of the seven children are still alive to bear witness. The truth can never be buried."
The Justice Department's Terrence Manase says Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has commended the NPA for its work.
" This outcome honours the courage and persistence of families who have long sought the truth and restores dignity to those whose stories were suppressed under apartheid."
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Luthuli served as president-general of the ANC from 1952 until his death and led the anti-apartheid movement during one of its most challenging periods, including its banning by the apartheid government.
During his Nobel Prize acceptance ceremony in Oslo in 1961, he made a passionate plea for non-violence.
In a statement, the ANC has called the ruling a victory for every struggle activist whose life was cut short by systemic oppression during apartheid.
The National Prosecuting Authority announced in April it would reopen inquests into the deaths of Luthuli and another anti-apartheid activist, lawyer Mlungisi Griffiths Mxenge, in an "endeavour to address the atrocities of the past".
A Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was created in 1996 to expose crimes committed under apartheid. It held 2,500 hearings over two years with the possibility of offering amnesty.
The process only resulted in a few trials, and rising calls for justice pushed the government to reopen investigations into several cases this year.
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