The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has reopened inquests into the deaths of two iconic anti-apartheid figures – former ANC President General Chief Albert Luthuli and renowned human rights lawyer Griffiths Mxenge.

The Witness reports that this follows an announcement by the KZN director of public prosecutions, advocate Elaine Harrison, confirming that the inquests will commence on Monday in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

The cases will be heard concurrently in separate courtrooms and led by advocates from the NPA’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) unit.

The official report stated that Luthuli was hit by a train near Gledhow station, between Durban and KwaDukuza.

In September 1967, an inquest held by the apartheid regime at the magistrate’s court in nearby Stanger (now KwaDukuza), found the evidence ‘did not disclose any criminal culpability on the part of the South African Railways and anyone else’.

Mxenge was found dead on a sports field in Umlazi, outside Durban, on November 19, 1981.

In the wake of his death, an inquest in 1983, conducted under the apartheid regime, failed to identify the perpetrators, despite signs of foul play – including evidence of surveillance on Mxenge’s office and the poisoning of his dogs.

In 1997, The Witness reported that Lieutenant-Colonel Andy Taylor, then already facing trial for the 1981 murder of Mxenge, was named as the commanding officer of a covert Security Branch farm near Camperdown.

The facility operated into the early 1990s as a base for dirty-tricks operations under the guise of an agricultural college.

It was a satellite of the notorious Vlakplaas unit, run by Colonel Eugene de Kock, who was later convicted on 88 charges, including the murder of askari Neville ‘Goodwill’ Sikhakhane.

According to a former askari in hiding, the Camperdown farm housed several askaris – ANC defectors turned police informants – who were allegedly paid between R20 000 and R30 000 for political assassinations.

The killing of Table Mountain chief Mhlabunzima Maphumulo in 1991 was among the assassinations said to be linked to the farm.

The report stated that Sikhakhane was based at the Camperdown farm and allegedly killed in Greytown after being sent on a fake mission by Taylor, who feared Sikhakhane might rejoin the ANC.

Taylor was under investigation for this and other cases, including the disappearance of ANC operatives Charles Ndaba and Mbuzi Shobalana of Operation Vula.

SAPS at the time did not deny the existence of covert facilities and described such operations as standard international policing practice, though they declined to confirm the activities at Camperdown.

Also in 1997, a TRC amnesty applicant told The Witness he had killed 29 people.

A former Security Branch member confessed to being part of a death squad responsible for the murder of 49 people at the height of violence in the Midlands.

After the news of the inquests being reopened, in a statement, the ANC in KZN expressed hope that the process would bring long-awaited closure for the families and comrades of both struggle stalwarts.

“These proceedings bring hope that the families of Luthuli and Mxenge may finally find closure,” the party said.

We remain steadfast in our commitment to justice, truth and the right of families of our fallen heroes to know the full circumstances surrounding their deaths.

The ANC described Chief Luthuli, Africa’s first Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, as a ‘towering and global giant for peace, justice and equality’.

Though officially reported to have died after being struck by a train near KwaDukuza in 1967, the ANC has long maintained that the circumstances surrounding his death were suspicious and warrant renewed scrutiny.

Mxenge, who was brutally murdered in Umlazi in 1981, was hailed as a courageous defender of political detainees and human rights.

Although some of his killers later confessed and were granted amnesty by the TRC, the ANC insists that full justice has not been achieved.

The reopening of these inquests, according to the ANC, is not only about seeking justice for Luthuli and Mxenge, but also about honouring the memory of other victims of apartheid whose deaths remain unexplained.

“We are committed to pursuing those who were neither subjected to the TRC and amnesty processes nor prosecuted for their involvement in apartheid-era atrocities,” said ANC provincial spokesperson Fanele Sibisi.

The ANC further commended the efforts of the NPA, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, the National Archives, and the Ministry of Justice for their co-ordinated work in revisiting unresolved cases of the past.

NPA regional spokesperson Natasha Ramkisson-Kara confirmed that new evidence will be presented in both matters.

“The NPA and its partners will endeavour to address the atrocities of the past and assist in providing closure to the families of the victims of these crimes,” she said.

The ANC believes these inquests represent a vital step toward restoring the dignity of fallen heroes and reaffirming South Africa’s collective commitment to truth, accountability, and healing.

Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel.

Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal.