Timol case closure sought

THE FAMILY of anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol have appealed to the National Prosecuting Authority to act without further delay against the former policemen, identified by Pretoria High Court Judge Billy Mothle, who apparently played a role in the cover-up of Timol’s death.

The National Prosecuting Authority in turn said it had received the case dockets, but that it was sent to the Priority Crimes Investigation Unit for further investigation. The NPA assured Timol’s family it had not turned a blind eye to the court’s recommendations, but said there was a process which had to be followed.

Judge Mothle, during his judgment last year into the reopening of Timol’s inquest, found that Timol did not commit suicide. He concluded that the finding of the 1972 inquest, during which a magistrate found it was suicide and that “no living person is responsible for his death”, was wrong.

The judge recommended that Jan Rodrigues, 80, the officer who claimed to have been there when Timol fell from a window on the 10th floor of the notorious John Vorster Square building in Johannesburg in 1971, should be investigated with a view of prosecuting him on a charge of perjury and being an accessory after the fact.

Although Judge Mothle found that Timol did not jump, but was pushed, Rodrigues maintained that he had committed suicide.

The judge also recommended that former security branch officers Neville Els and Seth Sons (both 82) should be investigated for misleading the court. They maintained that they knew nothing about the assault of detainees and that they had only read about it in the media.

Timol’s nephew, Imtiaz Ahmed Cajee, said the family had heard nothing from the NPA since October, when Judge Mothle gave his judgment.

NPA spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku at the time said the judge’s order was clear that there must be an investigation and possible prosecution.

He added that there had to be a full investigation before anyone was criminally prosecuted.

Mfaku confirmed yesterday that the dockets had been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions in Joburg. It was in turn referred to the Priority Crimes Investigation Unit for further investigation.

Mfaku also confirmed the NPA was looking at other matters similar to that of Timol, where families were anxiously awaiting the reopening of the inquests into the death of their loved ones who died during the apartheid era. These include the families of Steve Biko and Matthews Mabelane.

Mfaku did not want to divulge at this stage which matters they were looking into reopening. “All I can say is that these matters are not dead and that we will institute proceedings in the near future. Some of these are already at an advanced stage.”

Cajee meanwhile urged the NPA to act in haste regarding the possible prosecution of the three officers implicated in Timol’s case. “They are not young men and time is therefore of the essence. The truth will assist others families seeking to put the record straight about the death of their loved ones at the hands of the apartheid police.”

Cajee said his family would take no joy in seeing the elderly officers going to jail. We need to ensure that justice is restored.”

THE FAMILY HAD HEARD NOTHING FROM THE NPA SINCE OCTOBER LAST YEAR