Luthuli reopened inquest adjourned after witness breaks down

An inquest into the mysterious death of the late ANC president-general chief Albert Luthuli had to be adjourned in the Pietermaritzburg high court on Tuesday after a witness who was giving his testimony became emotional.

Mohomed Manjoo, who was a clerk at Stanger hospital where Luthuli was admitted after he was found injured on a railway line, broke down when he gave his testimony.

Manjoo became emotional when describing a situation at the hospital after Luthuli’s admission. He said one or two nurses cried when they saw Luthuli being stretchered into a ward.

Shortly after describing the nurses’ situation at the hospital at a time, Manjoo broke down. Judge Nompumelelo Radebe ordered the adjournment and asked the court to provide him with water. Manjoo is expected to resume his evidence on Wednesday.

In his earlier evidence, Manjoo told the court he didn’t see any injuries on Luthuli when he was admitted at the hospital.

“Mr Zwane, the ambulance driver who was pushing his stretcher, came past by my desk in the reception; they were about 1m away from me. I stood up and saw that it was the chief who was being stretchered and I also noticed that he had no visible injuries in his body,” said Manjoo.

He disputed a claim by Zwane that Luthuli was hit by a train.

“The condition of Luthuli when he was admitted at the hospital didn’t suggest that he was hit by a train; if he was hit by a train he was going to be in a critical situation,” he said. Manjoo said Luthuli was not conscious when admitted to the hospital.

“He was able to look around him but unable to talk,” he said, adding that he also did not notice any visible injuries on him. He added that there was also no blood on his stretcher.

Manjoo said after he realised that it was Luthuli who was injured, he phoned some ANC comrades in Stanger and an editor of a KZN-based Sunday newspaper, informing them about the matter.

Another witness who took the stand on Tuesday was Nozizwe Mhlongo-Mabaso. Mhlongo-Mabaso regarded Luthuli as her grandfather, because her father was a manager at his spice shop.

Mhlongo-Mabaso said she was 10 when Luthuli died. She told the court that her father was one of the people who cleaned Luthuli’s blood where he was found injured. She said that people who went to the scene also found a plank — the type often used in building — near his body.

Mhlongo-Mabaso also reiterated evidence by earlier witnesses that Luthuli was not partially blind and deaf.

“Mkhulu Luthuli was able to read a bible without any problems, [so] it was unlikely he would not have seen or heard a steam train coming towards him,” she said.

The apartheid government claimed that Luthuli was hit by a goods train in 1967, a claim his family is disputing.

The inquest continues.

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