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This morning saw the opening stages of a momentous case that is being heard before the South Gauteng High Court – the reopening of the inquest into the death of freedom fighter Ahmed Timol.
The case is being heard by Judge Billy Mothle, and is expected to run until the August 11 in three separate sittings.
But why is this case so important?
The circumstances surrounding the death of Timol have long been speculated to have been questionable, after it was ruled by apartheid era Magistrate JJ de Villiers that Timol had died as a result of suicide.
His family disputed these claims, with a belief so strong that they hired a private investigator to look into the matter.
What exactly were the circumstances surrounding Timol’s death?
On the evening of October 22 1971 Timol, who was 30 years old at the time, was stopped at a police roadblock in Coronationville while he was with friend and medical student Saleem Essop.
Both Timol and Essop were arrested and taken to the Newlands Police Station where they were separated and later taken to what was known as John Vorster Square Police Station, now the Johannesburg Central Police Station. Timol was held for four days and 19 hours, until it was alleged he jumped to his death from the 10th floor of the building.
Essop had survived, after being tortured to an inch of his life.
What did the apartheid-era magistrate rule?
That the cause of “probable cause of death” was as a result of serious brain damage and loss of blood sustained when he jumped out of a window of “Room 1026” and “fell to the ground of on the southern side of the building. He committed suicide”. The magistrate also ruled that “no living person” was responsible for Timol’s death.
What is the Timol family disputing?
On May 30, Imtiaz Ahmed Cajee, Timol’s nephew, said that their immediate priority was to have the “apartheid era inquest finding of nobody to blame reversed.” The family believed that Timol was tortured to death and then thrown from the building or pushed to his death.
For Cajee, the reality that he and his family have been living with still haunts them.
This morning’s proceedings saw the opening comments from advocate Howard Varney, who is representing the Timol family, followed by Dr TP Pretorius on behalf of the state.
The first witness who was called to the stand was investigating officer Captain Bel Nel. Nel revealed that three of the 23 officers allegedly involved in the death of Timol were still alive.
In attendance was human rights lawyer George Bizos, who was most prominent during the Rivonia trial and fought for the rights of many anti-apartheid activists.
When Essop was called to the stand to testify, he was given the space to give his entire background, from his educational background to his involvement in politics, as he recounted his five-year sentence to Robben Island and subsequent release.
Before court adjourned for lunch, Essop had barely begun to touch base about his relationship with Timol, saying that Timol was someone who “would be proud of the free South Africa we have today.”
“If you ask me about Ahmed as a political person, he was not afraid,” Essop said.
More than anything, the family sought to restore dignity to the name of Timol, who played an instrumental role in fighting the injustices of the apartheid-led government.
“This is an important step in setting historical records straight. The truth of what had happened to Timol following his arrest must be uncovered. The correct representation of facts will restore the dignity of this very brave anti-apartheid activist in the public record,” Cajee said.
The first of three sittings will continue until June 30.
