Jeff Radebe tells inquest how Albert Luthuli defied the apartheid regime

Despite the strict banning orders were meted out by the apartheid regime on the ANC president-general Chief Albert Luthuli, he continued to defy them, which apparently led to his murder.

State prosecutor Annah Chuene, who led evidence in the Pietermaritzburg high court on Wednesday at the inquest into the death of Luthuli, provided the court with evidence that confirmed the apartheid regime was hell-bent on suppressing the late ANC leader.

Chuene said the apartheid government started by banning Luthuli for 12 months, but extended the ban to two years and later to five years. “All these banning orders were between 1954 and 1959, and it seems as if Luthuli defied them all,” she said.

She asked ANC veteran Jeff Radebe, who was in the witness box, what his comment was on that evidence. Radebe responded by saying that indeed the apartheid government had tried to suppress Luthuli but failed, hence, they decided to kill him.

Radebe said Luthuli was not allowed to be in the company of more than one person, but he defied that as he was holding secret meetings. He said Luthuli was also not allowed to address gatherings, but his speeches were read out in gatherings.

Radebe added that Luthuli wrote a book titled Let My People Go while he was still banned.

Radebe told the court that the apartheid regime thought that by killing Luthuli, they would kill the ANC. He said Luthuli once warned them that the road to freedom was via crucifixion. 

The government at the time claimed Luthuli died when he was hit by a goods train, a claim the ANC and his family denied.