Nokwanda Dlangamandla | kzn@radioislam.org.za

2 min read | 01:00 CAT

Photo Credit: IOL

Ahmed Timol, a resistance hero, was assassinated by the apartheid security police 51 years ago and is remembered today.

Timol, a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the Communist Party of South Africa, was said to have committed suicide by throwing himself out the window of room 1026 of John Vorster Square, the infamous police headquarters in the heart of Johannesburg. His relatives, however, believed that the security police had tortured and killed him. Everyone who was against the apartheid state at the time, shared this opinion.

Imtiaz Cajee, Timol’s nephew, told Radio Islam International that the court is taking too long to provide a decision. He is still uncertain whether there was a political agreement not to pursue those responsible for the apartheid killings more than five years after a landmark decision was made in the reopened inquest into his death, which changed the original verdict of suicide to murder.

A former Security Branch police officer Joao Rodrigues was formally charged with killing Timol due to the second inquest’s conclusions. He did, however, contest the accusation and ask for a delay in the prosecution. In June 2019, the High Court’s entire bench denied this application.

The High Court rejected the request for leave to appeal this judgement on September 18, 2019. The Supreme Court of Appeals is now hearing the case (SCA). According to Cajee, Rodrigues’s attorney argued that he should not be indicted because a covert agreement between the African National Congress and a nationalist party exempted him from punishment for his part in Timol’s murder.

According to Cajee, the long-term disregard for Rodrigues’s situation was done on purpose. Siblings of Timol released a statement asking that the case be closed so that they can mourn; however, Cajee stated that he would pursue justice for his uncle’s murder until it is served.

Listen to the interview with Sulaiman Ravat and Imtiaz Cajee on Sabahul Muslim.