By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@FFHR.
Justice and Constitutional Development Minister, Ronald Lamola, has requested the Western Cape Division of the High Court to reopen the inquest into the death of anti-apartheid activist and Muslim cleric, Abdullah Haron.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development announced this in a statement on Tuesday.
Haron died in police detention on 27 September 1969 after he was held incommunicado for 122 days.
The court’s original finding was that Haron died as a result of falling down a flight of stairs.
The department explained that the reopening of the case follows an “application by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for the reopening of the inquests”.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) National Director Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Advocate Shamila Batohi, said a unit within the institute has been formed to deal solely with cases arising from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), as a matter of urgency.
Batohi was updating the National Assembly Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services on these prosecutions on Wednesday.
She explained that a dedicated TRC component now runs under the Deputy NDPP, where prosecutors in the unit are focused solely on these cases.
“It is an absolute travesty of justice that victims of these atrocities committed in the apartheid era are still waiting for justice either in the form of prosecutions or in the form of inquests that are reopened so that they can understand what happened to their loved ones.”
The security branch detained him in terms of Section 6 of the Terrorism Act and he died at Caledon Square police station in Cape Town.
The apartheid regime held an inquest in 1970, and the findings were primarily based on reports from medical experts and police witnesses, the department said.
The renewed investigation will consider expert reports from a state pathologist, an aeronautical engineer and a trajectory expert, who will provide a new perspective into the probable cause of Haron’s death, according to the department.
In 2014, Haron was posthumously awarded the Order of Luthuli in Gold by the South African government for his work “exceptional contribution to raising awareness of political injustices”.