Deputy President Paul Mashatile outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court, where he attended the proceedings of the Chief Albert Luthuli inquest.
Image: Screenshot
Deputy President Paul Mashatile said while everyone should stay in the country, South Africa cannot force those who want to leave on their own accord to remain.
He was referring to the 49 Afrikaners who had left for the US after being granted refugee status.
“On the issue of the Afrikaners going to the US, our position is that South Africa is a democracy. We have set ourselves a standard to believe that it belongs to all who live in it, black and white, but those who decide to leave do so of their own free will. We would like everybody to stay. We want white people in this country, the farmers; we want them to work in this country, but we can’t stop anybody who decides, ‘I do not want to stay in this country’. But we are continuing to build this country,” Mashatile said.
He was speaking outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court, in KwaZulu-Natal, on Monday, where he attended proceedings of the inquest into the death of former ANC President-General and Nobel Peace Laureate, Chief Albert Luthuli.
He said apart from the Luthuli inquest, there will also be inquests into others who may have been killed or died mysteriously during the apartheid regime.
“When I spoke to the family, they said they are pleased with the work that has been done. Yes, we started a bit late, but we are there, we are on top of it, we are going to get to the truth. I think we should commend the National Prosecuting Authority for having started with this work,” Mashatile said.
The Chief Albert Luthuli inquest is a re-examination of the circumstances surrounding his death in 1967. Luthuli was a prominent anti-apartheid activist, traditional leader, politician and served as the President-General of the ANC from 1952 until his death on July 21, 1967, near his home in Groutville.
The official account at the time was that he was struck by a goods train while walking on a railway line.
An inquest held in 1967 concluded that his death was due to a fractured skull, cerebral hemorrhage, and contusion of the brain sustained when he was accidentally struck by a train, finding no criminal culpability on the part of the South African Railways or anyone else.
However, this version of events has long been disputed by his family and supporters, who suspected the apartheid government was involved in his death.
Last month (April 2025), the NPA announced the reopening of the inquest into Chief Luthuli's death.
The NPA stated that recent representations highlighted that the original inquest failed to consider critical mathematical and scientific principles. New forensic analysis suggests it was highly unlikely that Luthuli was struck by a train in the manner described. Evidence to be presented aims to expose alleged collusion between security police, district surgeons, pathologists, prosecutors, and magistrates during the initial inquest.
Last week, steam train expert Lesley Labuschagne told the court that the driver of the train that allegedly killed Luthuli may have violated basic safety rules.
“Had the driver blown the whistle before entering the bridge, in this particular case, Chief Albert Luthuli or any other pedestrian would have known that there was a train coming,” said Labuschagne.
gcwalisile.khanyile@inl.co.za