Albert Luthuli was killed because he brought worldwide attention to Apartheid: Jeff Radebe

INKOSI Albert Luthuli was killed because the apartheid government hated him for radicalising and militarising the liberation struggle by adding the armed wing, Umkhonto Wesizwe to the ANC. 

Testifying at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday during the continuation of the inquest into the mysterious death of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, ANC veteran Jeff Radebe, who is now the party convenor in KwaZulu-Natal, said that apartheid had been unsuccessful in sabotaging the struggle through incarcerating Luthuli, Nelson Mandela and many others. 

“No one in the ANC and the freedom-loving people believed the fictional story of a train accident,” said Radebe. 

Shortly after Luthuli’s death, an inquest was held and concluded that Luthuli was hit by a train. It was concluded that he may have crossed the railway line without noticing the goods train approaching, or he may have been suicidal. 

However, Radebe said Luthuli’s death was the first of many murders of struggle leaders.

“This cold-blooded killing of president Luthuli marked the beginning of acts of assassination of liberation movement leaders. 

“It was followed by the Frelimo president Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane in 1969 and Amílcar Cabral in Guinea-Bissau in 1973.

“The same year that President Luthuli was killed, the racist parliament passed the Terrorism Act in 1967, which saw Namibian heroes being sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island,” said Radebe. 

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)’s Advocate Ncedile Dunywa furnished Judge Qondeni Radebe with books and historical letters that proved that the apartheid government had reasons to kill Luthuli because it hated him for introducing radical struggle and for enjoying popularity around the world. 

Radebe criticised Magistrate CI Boswell, who presided over the original inquest that was held at Stanger Magistrates Court in 1967, for pre-judging the inquest before it even took place. 

Boswell wrote a letter to the thenSecretary of Justice saying he did not expect his findings to be different from a doctor's report that revealed that the death was accidental and which absolved the state from being held accountable. 

Radebe said Boswell failed to adhere to the principles of the separation of powers by discussing the matter with the Secretary of Justice. 

“The letter written by the presiding officer to another arm of the state, who is the executive, is an affront to this doctrine of separation of powers and totally out of order. 

“Secondly, being a presiding officer who is in charge of an inquest, to prejudge the matter was to destroy the rule of law and subvert the cause of justice,” said Radebe. 

For decades, the original inquest had maintained that Luthuli died after being hit by a goods train on July 21, 1967, in Stanger, but his family and the ANC have maintained he was murdered by apartheid operatives.  

On Monday, Freedom Square in front of the high court was a hive of ANC activities. 

Some party supporters braced the bad weather and sheltered under trees to protect themselves from the light rain. 

Radebe said the adoption of the Freeman Charter on December 5, 1955, made the apartheid regime angry as it realised that the ANC was more resolute in the fight against the oppressive system.

The state reacted by banning the ANC, South African Communist Party, PAC, and other anti-apartheid formations. 

However, this led to Luthuli’s leadership becoming more radical by starting a defiance campaign, boycotting the carrying of the dompas, public burning of the dompas, and forming several multiracial underground structures to continue with the struggle.

“Luthuli and others were arrested and charged with high treason and later sentenced, including house arrests,” said Radebe. 

He said that while the government had created a system of racial segregation, Luthuli’s call for people of all racial groups to unite against the apartheid resonated among all races. 

Radebe said Luthuli used his detention for high treason to plan for the Struggle’s way forward.