JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A South African court has ruled that Nobel Peace Prize winner and anti-apartheid icon Chief Albert Luthuli was killed by apartheid police in 1967, overturning the long-standing official version that he died in a railway accident.
The Pietermaritzburg High Court on Thursday found that Luthuli — who was the president of the then-banned African National Congress (ANC) — died from injuries sustained in an assault by members of the apartheid regime’s notorious security police.
“It is found that the deceased died as a result of a fractured skull, cerebral haemorrhage and concussion of the brain associated with an assault,” ruled Judge Nompumelelo Radebe, rejecting the apartheid-era inquest that claimed Luthuli had been hit by a freight train.
Radebe said evidence presented during the reopened inquest pointed to an “assault by members of the security special branch of the South African police, acting in concert and in common purpose with employees of the South African Railway Company.”
The judge named seven men believed to have been involved in Luthuli’s death, though their current whereabouts are unknown. Prosecutors could pursue criminal charges if any are located.
Luthuli’s family welcomed the judgment, describing it as “the first part of finally getting justice.”
Historical correction
Luthuli, the first African recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, was honoured in 1960 for leading the non-violent struggle against apartheid.
At the time of his death in 1967, he had been confined to his home in Groutville, KwaZulu-Natal, under strict banning orders imposed by the apartheid government.
The 1967 inquest’s conclusion — that he was killed by a passing train — was long rejected by his relatives, activists, and historians who accused authorities of covering up a political assassination.
ANC national spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu hailed Thursday’s ruling as a “historic correction,” saying it “brings justice, truth, and dignity to the memory of one of South Africa’s greatest sons.”
“This ruling corrects a long-standing distortion of history and honours all those who suffered under apartheid brutality,” she said.
Renewed accountability for apartheid crimes
The judgment marks a significant step in South Africa’s ongoing efforts to revisit unresolved cases of apartheid-era abuses.
Several similar inquests have been reopened in recent years as prosecutors and the National Prosecuting Authority face growing pressure to pursue long-delayed cases of political murders and police torture during white-minority rule.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously acknowledged failures by successive democratic governments to prosecute apartheid-era crimes, calling for renewed commitment to truth and accountability.
For Luthuli’s family and supporters, Thursday’s verdict closes one of apartheid’s darkest chapters — and reaffirms the struggle for justice that defined his life’s work.
