Judgment in Neil Aggett inquest expected on Friday
The family of late anti-apartheid activist Neil Aggett is desperate to find out the truth behind the unionist's death in 1982.
Aggett, who was also a medical doctor, was found hanging in his jail cell at the old John Foster Square prison following days of severe torture.
He had been in custody for 70 days.
An apartheid-era inquest found that he committed suicide, but in 2020 another inquest was established to take a closer look the circumstances leading up to his death.
The inquest saw family members, experts and political activists testifying about their interactions with Aggett before his death, their experiences under detention without trial and the interrogation techniques and torture used by the Security Branch of the South African Police on political activists during apartheid.
The court also conducted an inspection of the 2nd and 10th floor of the John Vorster Square facility, where political activists were kept and interrogated, as well as where the body of Aggett was found.
Aggett's alleged tormentors and the masterminds behind his detention and interrogations died before facing the music.
According to the Foundation for Human Rights, these include Stephen Whitehead, who was in charge of the cruel interrogation of Aggett and Arthur Cronwright, the head of the Security Branch at John Vorster Square.
The legal team acting for the family recommended that other former members of the Security Branch be charged with perjury for making the false statements before this inquest court, including Johannes Nicolaas Visser, Joseph Petrus Woensdregt, Daniel Elhardus Swanepoel, Roelof Jacobus Venter and Magezi Eddie Chauke.
On Friday, Judge Motsamai Makume is expected to deliver judgment at the Johannesburg High Court.
"The reopened inquest has been a very challenging and an emotional roller coaster for the Aggett’s family who waited more than a decade to have the inquests re-opened only to have the hearing interrupted by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in a manner not foreseen by anyone," says the Foundation for Human Rights who have kept a keen watch of proceedings.
ALSO READ:
