The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in KwaZulu-Natal, has announced that it’ll reopen the inquests into the deaths of Chief Albert Luthuli and Griffiths Mxenge. The reopening of the inquests follows recommendations that were made to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi, by the National Director of Public Prosecutions.
“The two inquests will take place concurrently, in different court rooms, in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday, 14 April 2025. Evidence will be led by Advocates from the NPA Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Unit in KwaZulu-Natal,” said NPA regional spokesperson, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara.
Chief Luthuli led the African National Congress The Minister reopened the inquests after recommendations from the NDPP. Chief Albert Luthuli is a former president of the African National Congress (ANC). In 1960, he became the first African to be awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, for his role in the non-violent campaign against apartheid in South Africa.He was allegedly run over by a goods train in 1967 in KwaDukuza.
An inquest was held on 19 September 1967 and presided over by Magistrate C.I. Boswell and determined that “there was no evidence which disclosed any criminal culpability on the part of any of the employees of the South African Railways or anyone else.”Mxenge was political activist who spent two years in Robben Island in 1967 for his association with the then banned ANC. After his release, he practiced as a human rights lawyer, representing most of the political activists and was also a founding member of the Lawyers for Human Rights. He was assassinated in Umlazi, Durban, in 1981, after his body was found with 45 stab wounds his throat slit. The perpetrators behind the murder of Mxenge could not be established even though an inquest into his death was held on 15 July 1982.
Mxenge’s killers were arrested years later following a confession but were however granted amnesty by the TRC resulting in the discontinuation of the trial proceedings.
“Following the collaboration between the NPA KZN TRC Unit and the NPA TRC Unit at the National Office, the DPCI and the National Archives, the NPA will be presenting evidence before the court to have the initial findings, into the deaths of Chief Luthuli and Mxenge, overturned. The purpose of inquests is to determine how a person died and if anyone should be held responsible for their death,” explained Ramkisson-Kara.She highlighted that the NPA and its partners will endeavour to address the atrocities of the past.
