‘Apartheid cops killed Haron’
The apartheid police’s Special Branch was responsible for the murder of political activist and religious leader Imam Abdullah Haron, a court heard.
Family, former political detainees, politicians, religious leaders, diplomats and members of the public filled Court 20 in the Western Cape High Court yesterday to hear the truth about Haron’s death in police custody on September 27, 1969.
The public gallery broke into shouts of “viva” and thunderous applause as Judge Daniel Thulare set aside the 1970 inquest finding which exonerated the police and attending medical practitioners for Haron’s death.
This was despite the post-mortem report detailing a broken rib and 27 visible bruises.
Judge Thulare said: “The cause of death of Imam Haron is attributable to the cumulative effect of injuries under torture.”
The re-opened inquest was told by the Haron family’s expert pathologists that his death was as a result of torture and the blow to his head with a blunt object, reports Weekend Argus.
Judge Thulare also dismissed the cause of death as being “the fall from a staircase”, a reason often used by the apartheid police for the death of many political detainees.
“What is known to be true must be set out,” said Thulare.
The Haron family welcomed the judgement as bringing some “sort of closure” even though they always believed he was killed by the police.
Haron’s son Muhammad, said: “We hope that other cases still in the queue will have a similar outcome.”
The only surviving policeman who had contact with Haron before his death, Johannes Burger, was a junior officer at the time and the family advised the court that they were not seeking retribution.
Judge Thulare said the conduct of four medical doctors who collaborated with the police would also be referred to the South African Medical and Dental Council for attention.
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