KWAZULU-NATAL. – Adv. Elaine Harrison, die direkteur van openbare vervolging in die provinsie, het die doodsondersoeke van hoofman Albert Luthuli en Griffiths Mxenge heropen.
Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, woordvoerder vir die NVG in KZN sê in ‘n verklaring die doodsondersoeke na die dood van Luthuli en Mxenge word in terme van Artikel 17A(1) van die Wet op Geregtelike Doodsondersoeke 58 van 1959 heropen: “Die minister van justisie en grondwetlike ontwikkeling kan, op aanbeveling van die prokureur-generaal, te eniger tyd na die vasstelling van ’n geregtelike doodsondersoek en indien hy/sy dit nodig ag in belang van geregtigheid, ’n regterpresident van ’n provinsiale afdeling van die hooggeregshof versoek om enige regter van die hooggeregshof van Suid-Afrika aan te wys om die geregtelike doodsondersoek te heropen, waarna die geregtelike doodsondersoek heropen word.”
Ramkisson-Kara sê na aanbeveling van die nasionale direkteur van openbare vervolging is die geregtelike doodsondersoeke na die afsterwe van Luthuli en Mxenge dus heropen. Die heropening is ‘n poging om die aanvanklike bevindinge van beide se afsterwe om te keer. Familielede van die afgestorwenes is deurentyd op hoogte gehou. Die geregtelike doodsondersoeke-getuienis sal op 14 April gelyktydig in die Pietermaritzburg-hooggeregshof deur advokate van die NVG-WVK-eenheid in die provinsie in verskillende hofsale gelei word.
“Na die samewerking tussen die NVG KZN WVK-eenheid en die NVG WVK-eenheid by die Nasionale Kantoor, die Valke en die Nasionale Argief, sal die NVG getuienis voor die hof aanbied in ‘n poging om die aanvanklike bevindinge oor die dood van hoofman Luthuli en Mxenge om te keer. Die doel van geregtelike doodsondersoeke is om vas te stel hoe ‘n persoon gesterf het en of iemand verantwoordelik gehou moet word vir hul dood. Die aanklaers in KZN het gereelde opdaterings aan beide die Luthuli- en Mxenge-families gegee oor die verwikkelinge in hierdie aangeleentheid. Ons het hierdie benadering op alle WVK-aangeleenthede toegepas.”
Hoofman Albert Luthuli het in1960 die Nobel-vredesprys ontvang en het ferm gestaan vir rasgelykheid. Hy het op 21 Julie 1967 gesterf, nadat ‘n goederetrein hom volgens rapportering getref het. Tydens die ondersoek is geen kriminele skuld bewys nie.
Mlungisi Griffiths Mxenge was vir twee jaar ‘n gevangene op Robbeneiland, maar het na sy vrylating op 8 Februarie 1969 daarin geslaag om sy LLB-graad te voltooi. Hy was egter eers na 1974 toegelaat om as prokureur te praktiseer. Mxenge het ANC-lede verteenwoordig en was aktief deel van die vrylating van Nelson Mandela, asook ‘n lid van Prokureurs vir Menseregte. Hy sterf in November 1981 aan 45 steekwonde en sy keel wat afgesny is. Verdagtes in Mxenge se moord is jare later deur die Kommissie vir Waarheid en Versoening amnestie toegestaan.
Lees meer oor beide Luthuli en Mxenge deur Ramkisson-Kara hier onder:
Chief Albert Luthuli
Chief Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli was born in 1898, He became a public figure in 1937 when he was appointed by the then Department of Native Affairs as the Chief of the Zulu tribe in Groutville. In 1944 he became a member of the African National Congress (ANC) and later became the President General of the same organisation. In showing resistance against Apartheid legislation in force at the time, Albert Luthuli (Chief Luthuli), Nelson Mandela and other leaders of the ANC organised various protests including the Defiance Campaign of 1952. The actions of Chief Luthuli were considered to be those of a terrorist by the then Government and as a result, his appointment as a Chief was revoked.
After being stripped of his title, he was then placed under various banning orders which ultimately restricted his movements to Groutville where he could not be in the company of more than one person at a time, except that of his immediate family members. Despite the revocation of his title by the then Government, he was still referred to as Chief Luthuli by local and international communities at large. In 1960, Chief Luthuli was awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. He continued to advocate for equal rights amongst all race groups within South Africa through various speeches and writings until his untimely death on 21 July 1967. It was widely reported that he died soon after being struck by a goods train. An inquest was held on 19 September 1967 and was presided over by Magistrate C.I. Boswell. The court found that there was no evidence which disclosed any criminal culpability on the part of any of the employees of the South African Railways or anyone else.
Mlungisi Griffiths Mxenge
Mlungisi Griffiths Mxenge was born on 27 February 1935. On 29 March 1966, Mxenge was detained for 180 days, where the security police informed him that it was not their intention to charge him. They required him to give evidence against two people with whom he had contacted, namely Mr. Arenstein and Mr. MD Naidoo. Mxenge refused to give evidence. He was then charged with furthering the interests of a banned organisation, namely the African National Congress (ANC) in contravention of Act 44 of 1950 (The Suppression of Communism Act). He was convicted on 09 February 1967 and sentenced to a two-year term of imprisonment on Robben Island. He was released on 08 February 1969 but placed under various banning orders. He managed to complete his LLB degree in the same year.
In 1970, he enrolled as an articled clerk at a law firm in Durban but upon completion of his articles, the then Government refused for Mxenge to be admitted as a practicing attorney based on his previous conviction and banning orders. It was only in 1974, after numerous applications to the then Minister of Justice, that Mxenge was admitted as a practicing attorney. In 1975, he opened his own legal practice in Durban. He represented members of the ANC such as Joseph Mdluli and members other political formations. He was an active member of the Release Mandela Committee and served as a member of Lawyers for Human Rights. Mxenge was a founding member of the South African Democratic Lawyers Association.
In November 1981, Mxenge was assassinated in Umlazi near Durban. He had been stabbed 45 times and his throat slit. The perpetrators behind the murder of Mxenge could not be established even though an inquest into his death was held on 15 July 1982. The perpetrators who killed Mxenge were revealed nine years after his death through a confession drafted by Butana Almond Nofemela. In 1997, Nofemela together with David Tshikalange and Dirk Coetzee were found guilty of the murder of Mxenge, however they were granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission before they could be sentenced by the High Court sitting in Durban. This resulted in the discontinuation of the trial proceedings.
“Die NVG en sy vennote sal poog om die gruweldade van die verlede aan te spreek en te help om die families van die slagoffers van hierdie misdade af te sluit.”
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