Ismail Haffejee and Sarah Lall Haffejee with a photo of their brother Dr Hoosen Mia Haffejee Photo Rogan Ward/ UnfinishedTRC
South Africa – On August 2, 1977, Dr. Hoosen Mia Haffejee, a prominent anti-Apartheid activist, was forcibly detained by members of the Special Branch of the South African Police (SAP), among them Captain James Taylor and Captain PL Du Toit, as he made his way to work. What followed was a gruesome turn of events. A mere twenty hours after his apprehension, Haffejee was found dead at the Brighton Beach Police Station in his prison cell, hanging by his own pants twisted around his neck. For 46 years, officials insisted it was a suicide, but the Pietermaritzburg High Court has finally provided closure to his family by affirming that his demise was not a suicide but rather murder, contradicting the assertions made by apartheid Security Forces.
The Haffejee family never wavered in their belief that Haffejee ended his own life. Led by his sister Sarah Lall Haffejee and brother Yusuf Haffejee, they sought an inquest. In 1978, Taylor, Du Toit, and several other witnesses, including medical professionals, testified in court. Both Taylor and Du Toit denied any involvement in torturing or killing Haffejee, claiming the injuries he suffered stemmed from a scuffle that occurred when he resisted getting into the car during his arrest.
While the State Pathologist found Haffejee’s death consistent with hanging, Dr David Hobson Biggs, the pathologist hired by the family, found many several factors that were inconsistent with hanging by suicide.
The cause appeared to be suffocation rather than the typical arterial blockage resulting from self-hanging. His neck was contorted at an unusual angle, and he was discovered in a seated position, an improbable posture for self-hanging. Moreover, his hanging location on the lower part of the cell door was inconsistent with suicide, and the presence of over 60 wounds on his body, including the removal of patches of skin, further cast doubt on the initial suicide verdict.
Despite the compelling contradictory evidence presented during the inquest, Magistrate Trevor Blunden, who presided over the case, ultimately ruled Haffejee’s death as suicide, absolving anyone of responsibility for his demise.
The findings of the reopened inquest
In a significant move in January 2015, both the Haffejee family and the family of Neil Aggett, another victim of apartheid-era detention, joined forces in a compelling plea. Together, they made a formal representation to the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), urging the reopening of the inquests into the tragic cases of their respective family members.
In October 2017, an investigation by the Priority Crimes Unit of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), led by Adv Shubnum Singh, would take place into Haffejee’s death. After two years of investigations and the threat of legal action against the NPA, the inquest was reopened.
On Wednesday, Judge Zaba Nkosi handed down his finding two years after the case first appeared in his court in August 2021. In a lengthy and detailed judgement, he set aside the findings made in 1978, labelled Hafejee’s death a murder and recommended that those surviving officers involved in the death be charged by the NPA. He also determined that Hoosen did not die in the early morning but rather late on the night of August 2, 1977, most likely between 10:23 pm and 11 pm.
Judge Nkosi also strongly criticised the NPA for the prolonged delays in reopening the inquest. He said, “Since the winding up of the TRC proceedings, there have been inordinate delays in the pursuit of justice. Families have been left in limbo for years on end. It appears that until recently, there was a State reluctance to prosecute such matters.”
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The weight of 46 years
The path to justice has been marked by sorrow and an enduring sense of grief for the Haffejee family. While a verdict has finally been delivered, the agonisingly prolonged search for answers exacted a heavy toll, with the heart-wrenching reality that both of Haffejee’s parents and his brother, Yusuf, passed away before they could witness the fruits of their relentless pursuit of justice. Only his elderly sister, Lall Haffejee, remains alive. She spoke with a heavy heart, her voice trembling, bearing witness to the profound suffering that has shadowed their family for the past 46 years.
“It was very sad to see my dad, mom and my brother trying to look for justice. He sacrificed his whole life. My parents were never the same again. My mother aged overnight you could say … He [Haffejee] was the most jovial person. Very friendly, always happy, very active and from day one we knew that he could never have killed himself. I’m so happy now that it’s official. We knew from day one he could never do a thing like that. I’m just happy that now it’s out and officially that he was murdered and he did not committ suicide.”
Since his death, Lall Haffejee has not gone a day without thinking about her brother. Praying for him and hoping to see justice served.
Holding those accountable for the death of Haffejee
Taylor and Du Toit, who served as Haffejee’s primary tormentors during his time at the Durban Security Branch, passed away in 2019 and 2008 respectively. Nevertheless, Judge Nkosi emphasised that those who “turned a blind eye without raising the alarm” while Haffejee endured 20 hours of torment should not escape scrutiny. The judge called for a thorough investigation to trace and potentially prosecute those individuals who failed to intervene during this period of brutal torture. He also recommended that Security Branch police officers Mohan Deva Gopal, Veera Ragululu Naidoo, Brighton Beach police officers Derek Hugh Naude and Johannes Meyer be investigated and prosecuted if need be on various different charges.
The Haffejee family has finally received a measure of closure. Haffejee’s tragic demise, once shrouded in a veil of deceit, has now been officially recognised as a murder by the Apartheid Security Forces, not the suicide it was once portrayed as. While Taylor and Du Toit, the chief tormentors, are no longer among the living, Judge Nkosi’s ruling extends a crucial message: those who remained complicit in this heinous crime must be held accountable. This verdict signifies not only a reckoning with the past but also a solemn reminder that justice, though delayed, can and should prevail.
