Mission to prove Aggett was suicidal failed, inquiry hears
Former apartheid special branch policeman Paul Erasmus says he was on a mission to prove anti-apartheid doctor and unionist Neil Aggett was suicidal from childhood.
Aggett was found hanging in his cell at John Vorster Square, now Johannesburg Central Police Station, in February 1982 after being in police custody for 70 days.
He was the first white person to die in police custody.
Aggett's death was ruled a suicide, but his family and fellow activists believe he died at the hands of the security branch.
The inquest into Aggetts death continued in the High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
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Erasmus told the court the outrage that followed Aggett's death placed unwanted attention on the security branch.
He was placed on a mission with another of his seniors, Lieutenant Steven Whitehead, to dig up Aggett's past to prove that he had been suicidal from a young age.
"We drove down to Grahamstown to his former school and we found nothing. He was a straight student who happened to join politics at some point in his life but nothing pointed to suicide."
Erasmus said Aggett's death needed to be understood in the context of what was happening at John Voster at the time.
He detailed how prisoners were tortured in different ways including sleep deprivation, forced exercise, waterboarding and electrocution