“A big burden has been lifted off our souls and in our hearts”.
These were the words of Ahmed Hafejee, the brother of anti-apartheid activist, Dr Hoosen Mia Haffejee whose death in police detention 46 years ago, was on Wednesday ruled a murder.
Members of the notorious apartheid police’s Security Branch have been named and directly implicated in killing the 26-year-old doctor in cells at the Brighton Beach Police station in Durban on August 3, 1977.
A 1978 inquest into Dr Haffejees death by Magistrate TL Blunden had found that his death had been self-inflicted.
On Wednesday, Judge ZP Nkosi, presiding in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, officially set aside the 1978 finding and said: ”The cause of death of Dr Hoosen Mia Haffejee is attributable to either of the following two possibilities: (a) Hoosen died following a cardiac incident while under torture; alternatively, (b) Hoosen died from a cardiac incident caused by ligature constriction applied by the Security Branch members either while less conscious, unconscious or debilitated after torture”.
Dr Hafejee’s brother, Ahmed, speaking to IOL in the wake of the judgment, said that Wednesday’s proceedings was a road to closure for nearly five decades.
“We have always known that out brother was not guilty of committing suicide, and it came as a huge relief to us knowing that it took all this effort from everybody in people believing in my brother to make this happen,” Ahmed said.
“The fact that the entire case was reopened and people stood up and supported us, including the Human Rights Commission, is overwhelming. We owe a lot of gratitude to everybody that supported us and who also believe in the fact that my brother most did commit suicide, and was murdered.
“The big thing is going forward and I acknowledge that a lot of people have passed away in terms of who perpetrated the murder, but there are still individuals who were accomplices and accessories after the fact that I think need to account for their wrongdoing.
“We are not looking for vengeance, but I think that the process of justice and I know the wheels take long to turn, but I think that it's now time for the wheels to turn on those individuals and for them to account for the atrocities that they did,” he said.
The Pietermaritzburg court's investigation also led to a revised timeline of events of Haffejee’s death.
Contrary to previous beliefs, Judge Nkosi pinpointed the time of death to be “late on the night of 2 August 1977, the most likely time range being between 22h23 and 23h00”.
The judgment named Captain Petrus Lodewikus du Toit and Lieutenant James Brough Taylor as the primary culprits from the Security Branch, holding them responsible for “torturing and murdering Hoosen”.
The court did not stop there. Several other officers, including Brigadier Steenkamp, Colonel Ignatius Gerhard Coetzee, Major Joseph Benjamin, Lieutenant Vic MacPherson, and others, were implicated in the interrogation, torture, and subsequent cover-up of the events surrounding Haffejee's murder.
The judgment also cast a spotlight on the former SAP uniform branch members stationed at Brighton Beach Police Station.
These individuals, as per Judge Nkosi, “turned a blind eye and helped to facilitate the Security Branch cover-up,” thereby “defeating the ends of justice and are accessories after the fact to murder”.
While many of the implicated officers, including Du Toit, Taylor, Vic MacPherson, and Joseph Benjamin, have since died, the court's recommendations for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) was clear.
Charges should be considered against surviving members, such as Mohan Deva Gopal for murder and potential perjury, and Veera Ragalulu Naidoo, whose exact involvement requires further scrutiny.
Furthermore, Derek Hugh Naude and Johannes Meyer face recommendations for charges as accessories to Haffejee's murder and potential perjury.
Matheevathinee Benjamin, too, is under the lens for potential perjury charges based on her testimony.
Ahmed said that he followed Wednesday’s proceeding online from Pretoria, while his brother, sister and nieces were present in court.
“When the honourable judge was talking about how they found my late brother Hoosen in the cell, it became too overwhelming for me sitting in Pretoria, and I saw the effect on my brother (who was in court) who basically fainted and he was taken to hospital in an ambulance.
“And the judge actually stopped the proceedings and wanted to know from us whether we should reconvene, and my family that was there, my sister that was there and my nieces that were there, indicated that we'd waited a long time for this. And I think he said we had about 30 pages left to read. We said ‘no, it must be done today’,” he said.
Ahmed said that Wednesday’s court judgment was an “emotional road, a long, hard emotional road”.
“Not just for my sister and my brother and us, but also for my father and my late mother, and my late brother Essop who passed away also. All these years we have been wanting justice, wanting justice and for the people that did those wrong deeds to account for them,” he added.
Judge Nkosi expressed his gratitude to all involved in bringing the truth to light, stating: “I convey my deep gratitude to all counsel involved for their invaluable and professional hard work to get this re-opened inquest concluded and the truth be exposed to afford the Haffejee family some semblance of closure”.
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