The reopened inquest into the death of Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli returned to the Pietermaritzburg High Court for the state’s closing arguments.
Chief Luthuli died on July 21, 1967, and it was widely reported that he died after he was hit by a goods train.
Subsequent to his death, an inquest held in September 1967 found no evidence showing any criminal culpability on the part of any of the employees of the South African Railways or anyone else.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, said that in April 2025, the prosecuting unit, through the Director of Public Prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal, advocate Elaine Harrison, had the inquest reopened.
“During the closing arguments which began on October 13, 2025, the state went through the evidence led at the original inquest, showing the inconsistencies therein. The state also referred to the evidence led in the reopened inquest, where witnesses for the state examined the evidence from the initial inquest, finding inaccuracies and improbabilities,” said Ramkisson-Kara.
She added that the state requested that the court find that Chief Luthuli was murdered.
Furthermore, alongside this grave assertion, Ramkisson-Kara said the state has called for an extensive investigation into the disappearance of Mbhemu Mnyandu, an alleged eyewitness whose silence in the years following Luthuli’s death raises further intrigue.
She said evidence presented suggests that Mnyandu’s vanishing could be directly linked to his knowledge of events surrounding the chief’s fatal incident, which adds layers of complexity to an already intricate case.
The matter was postponed to October 30, 2025, for judgment.
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
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