The historic high court ruling that officially recognised anti-apartheid icon Chief Albert Luthuli was murdered has been described by his family as a “bitter-sweet” victory, with their focus now shifting to a deeper quest: uncovering the political deal they believe protected his killers.
On Thursday, Judge Nompumelelo Hadebe of the Pietermaritzburg High Court overturned the 1967 inquest finding that falsely concluded Luthuli was struck and killed by a goods train near his Groutville home.
After months of reviewing extensive oral and written evidence, Judge Hadebe ruled that the former ANC president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate was, in fact, assassinated.
While the Luthuli family feels vindicated by the ruling, their triumph is dampened by the fact that no one will ever face justice.
The National Prosecuting Authority in KwaZulu-Natal confirmed that the last apartheid police officer responsible for the murder died seven years ago.
“As a family, we feel vindicated,” said Luthuli’s grandson, Mthunzi Luthuli. “We have been saying that Chief Luthuli was murdered by the apartheid government. For many, many years… the truth has been suppressed all this time.”
Mthunzi described the moment as “bitter-sweet”, explaining that while the legal victory is significant, the decades-long delay has ensured the perpetrators escaped accountability.
“We believe that this was the plan all along… just to protect the white people who are guilty of this murder. It’s a very, very unfortunate situation.”
The family’s grief is compounded by a profound sense of betrayal. Mthunzi asserted that the killers “literally got away with murder under the watch of the ANC”.
He expressed deep sadness that the liberation movement his grandfather dedicated his life to allowed this to happen.
This accusation forms the core of the family’s new hope. They believe the next stage of reckoning must lay bare the nature of the political settlement that ushered in South Africa’s freedom, arguing that it involved burying the truth of past atrocities.
“My hope is that all truths will be revealed soon, truths not only behind the apartheid political killings but also the truth behind the political settlement in this country,” Mthunzi said.
“South Africa is living a lie, is living a lie, and the truth has not been told yet.”
The family is hopeful that the continued scrutiny of the Luthuli case will force a national conversation about the compromises made during the transition from apartheid, revealing the players who allowed known assassins to go free in the name of political stability.
In contrast, the ANC in the Ilembe region, which includes Groutville, welcomed the court’s ruling.
In a statement, the party said the decision rectifies past injustices and “clearly demonstrates that indeed the apartheid system was a well-coordinated, barbaric, criminal empire”.
Judge Hadebe’s judgment was unequivocal, finding all the expert witnesses who testified in the reopened inquest to be competent and their opinions reliable.
Their evidence successfully disputed the original, fabricated claims that Luthuli had hearing and eyesight problems that led to the train incident.
For the Luthuli family, the legal record is now set straight. But their fight is not over.
They now hold on to the hope that the legacy of this inquest will be the unearthing of a more painful truth about the price of their grandfather’s freedom and the political settlement that allowed his killers to die as free men.
