Court hears how Luthuli was ‘assaulted’ next to a stationary train

A Durban man has testified in the re-opened inquest into the death of African National Congress (ANC) leader Inkosi Albert Luthuli that he was told by a relative that one of his uncles saw Luthuli being assaulted next to a stationary train on the rail line at Groutville in 1967.

The 1967 inquest found that Luthuli died after being struck by a train as he was walking along a railway track.

The 70-year-old Isaiah Mdletshe has told the inquest at the Pietermaritzburg High Court that Barnabas Mnyandu told him that his younger brother, Phothwayo, saw Luthuli being assaulted.

The court heard that the Mnyandu family was close to Luthuli and that they exchanged letters frequently.

Mdletshe shared with the court what he was told.

“When he arrived at the house of Albert Luthuli, he was told that Albert Luthuli is in the field. He went to look for Chief Albert Luthuli and he saw a goods train that was standing still, not moving. He saw white people from the train hitting Albert Luthuli with a shovel. He saw that these men were looking at him and he was scared and fled form the scene. Phothwayo told me that not long after this day, he heard that the police was enquiring about this person who was there on the bicycle. And they arrived at the family house and took the witness away, telling them that they were taking him to police station to take his statement. They never saw the witness again. He disappeared,” explains Mdletshe.