Durban - The family of anti-apartheid activist Dr Hoosen Mia Haffejee said they had finally found closure after the Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled that he had not died by suicide and had been murdered by the apartheid government.
Haffejee died at the Brighton Beach police station, on August 3, 1977, after he was detained by Special Branch police officers on suspicion of his involvement in anti-apartheid activities.
Judge Zaba Nkosi delivered a scathing judgment on Wednesday in the re-opened inquest into Haffejee’s death. He found that Haffejee had not died by suicide and that surviving members of the police security branch and others should be held responsible for his death.
Anwar Jessop, the attorney involved in the matter and the family spokesperson, said the family had described the court decision as an overwhelming success, although it had come very late.
“With joy there is also extreme sadness because Haffejee’s late brother Yusuf had for years tried to hold the security branch accountable. Their parents died without a court declaring that he had been murdered in detention.”
Jessop said Haffejee’s sister, Sara Lall, said after the court decision that the family felt a sense of relief. Jessop said the family had asked him to express their gratitude to Senior State advocate Denardo Macdonald, who represented the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the inquest proceedings.
“He was exemplary in the search of the truth and he approached the case with empathy and compassion for the family. The family want the same for the families of Neil Aggett, the Cradock Four and others,” Jessop said.
The judge referred to the first inquest, held by the apartheid governement, as sub-standard and riddled with bias.
It ruled that nobody could be held liable for Haffejee’s death and that it was probably self-inflicted.
Haffejee was found dead in a cell, with his trousers twisted around his neck, suggesting a possible hanging.
The NPA made a request to reopen the inquest, which was granted in 2019.
Judge Nkosi found that Haffejee’s death could be attributed to two possibilities, that he died “following a cardiac incident while under torture, or that he died from a cardiac incident caused by ligature constriction applied by the Security Branch members, either while less conscious, unconscious or debilitated after torture”.
“The Security Branch officers primarily responsible for torturing and murdering Hoosen are Captain Petrus Lodewikus du Toit and Lieutenant James Brough Taylor.” Both are now dead.
Judge Nkosi said others played a role in Haffejee’s interrogation, torture and the cover-up, and associated themselves by not raising the alarm.
They are Brigadier Steenkamp, the commander of the Security Branch, Durban, Colonel Ignatius Gerhard Coetzee, the 2IC of that branch, Major Joseph Benjamin (formerly Moonsamy), Lieutenant Vic MacPherson, Warrant Officer Shunmugam (Schrewds) Govender, Sergeant Veera Ragalulu Naidoo (VR Naidoo), Mohan Deva Gopal, and former constables Johannes Nicolaas Meyer, Derek Hugh Naude and Shadrack Madlala.” He recommended that charges be investigated against Gopal for murder (by common purpose), Naude and Meyer for accessories to the murder, Benjamin for perjury and that Naidoo’s role be probed.
Imtiaz Cajee, the nephew of Struggle activist Ahmed Timol, said: “My thoughts go out to Haffejee’s brother, Yusuf, who persisted for many years to get justice. This was a massive victory.”
Yusuf Bhamjee, a former Umgungundlovu district mayor, whose late brother Hanef had testified in the reopened inquest about Haffejee’s involvement in the Struggle, said had Hanef been alive, he would have welcomed the decision.
“Hoosen has firmly etched his name as a freedom fighter who was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.”