The Western Cape High Court will decide on Monday whether to determine a new cause of death for anti-apartheid campaigner Imam Abdullah Haron, who died in police detention in 1969.
His daughter, Fatiema Masoet, said the family believes the revived inquest into their father’s death will give hope to other families whose loved ones perished mysteriously at the hands of apartheid police.
TRC-related apartheid charges are investigated by a special unit of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
In-person inspection of Imam Abdullah Haron’s Maitland Police Station cell was part of the reopened inquest.
While there was no photographic proof of his postmortem, forensic pathologist Doctor Steve Naidoo stated that his body had at least 27 bruises and a broken rib while in jail.
Masoet said her family hoped to inspire others to strive for truth and justice for their loved ones.
“If this case has a positive outcome for the Haron family, then we stand tall on all our predecessors that have fought for justice, that died for justice, who were incarcerated, who were tortured, who disappeared without a trace, who never came home, whose bodies were never buried.”
A fresh inquest finding on Monday would require rewriting history, she argued.