Ahmed Timol ‘gave his life for a better South Africa for all’

FOR the family of murdered anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol, it had taken decades for the truth to emerge.

In October last year, Judge Billy Mothle handed down the judgment that would vindicate the family’s long quest for justice.

“Timol didn’t meet his death as a result of suicide, Timol dies as a result of being ousted to fall, an act which was committed by security branch police with dolus eventualis as a form of intent and prima facie amounting to murder,” Judge Mothle ruled.

Timol’s nephew, Imtiaz Cajee, has been at the forefront of that quest for justice. He speaks to Kuben Chetty, Independent Media’s political editor for KwaZulu-Natal about honouring his late uncle.

Q: Every cold case has that defining moment that allows it to be solved. What was the defining moment in the Ahmed Timol case?

A: We believed that all of the police officers who were with my uncle at the time of his death knew that he had been thrown to his death. When we started going to the NPA to ask them to reopen the inquest, we were told there was no new evidence. We did not stop trying and we went to the media to keep the case alive. One day, out of the blue, I received an e-mail call from the daughter of Joao Rodrigues and she told me that her father was still alive.

Rodrigues, a sergeant in the apartheid regime’s security branch, was present in the room when my uncle died. She had found me through my website and contacted me so that she could help us find closure.

Was that the final piece of the puzzle you needed to convince the NPA that they should reopen the inquest?

We needed more than the fact that one of the policemen was alive. We needed an affidavit from Dr Salim Essop, who was with my uncle when police stopped them and took them in for questioning. Essop provided the affidavit and when the NPA saw it, they wanted to speak to him. He flew down from the UK and told them that he had been tortured over a period of days. The NPA understood that if Essop, a novice activist, could be tortured almost to death, then there was prima facie evidence that Uncle Ahmed would have suffered more at the hands of the Security Branch.

When Judge Mothle announced that your uncle had been murdered, how did the family react?

We were in a state of shock, overwhelmed that we had finally reached this stage. Many families had taken it for granted that their loved ones had been killed by the apartheid regime and there would be no recourse. For the first time in a democratic South Africa, it was official that he had not committed suicide.

How did you mark this historic moment?

With prayer. Without the intervention of the Almighty, this would not have been possible. We went to Uncle Ahmed’s gravesite and we prayed.

You have a formidable team involved in this matter. Who are they?

TRC commissioner Yasmin Sooka and the Foundation for Human Rights, George Bizos and the Legal Resource Council Centre, law firm Webber Wentzel has taken on our case pro bono, private investigator Frank Dutton and Howard Varney SC. I must add that there are Afrikaners who were in the old regime who are helping me and assisting with vital information and leads. They did not play a direct role in what happened to my uncle but they are assisting me and others through their networks and information. Our media liaison has been done by Benny Gool and Roger Freedman of Oryx Media.

The NPA has yet to finalise its investigations into Rodrigues and Neville Els. What is the family’s view on this?

The NPA does provide us with regular updates. The last time I heard from them, they told me that the dockets had been moved to their priority investigations unit.

That was over three months ago and the officers have not appeared in court. We believe they have valuable information and it is now time to make a truthful and full disclosure. The information they have is critical and I urge them to reveal what they know – even if it is in exchange for a plea-bargain.

In 2003 I phoned one of the special branch policemen and a senior interrogator, Captain Johannes Gloy, and I pleaded with him to tell us what really happened. He was adamant that the original inquest was accurate and that Uncle Ahmed had committed suicide. Our end goal is not vengeance but to ascertain the truth on what happened to Uncle Ahmed and in the process help countless families of activists find closure. Gloy died a few years ago and he took what he knew to the grave.

What must South Africans learn from the sacrifice of Timol and others?

We are in the process of updating the Ahmed Timol exhibition and we are hoping to expose South Africans, especially younger citizens, to Uncle Ahmed’s life. We have received local and international funding and we have the rights to last year’s inquest.

The exhibition will include a multimedia components and feature personal artefacts and clippings. I am also working on a second edition of my book that I intend publishing later in the year. The dependency is the outcome of the court cases against the three officers – Rodrigues, Neville Els and Seth Sons.

If your uncle were alive today, how would he feel about South Africa?

He would have uttered the same sentiments as comrades Kathrada and Chiba and others. Chris Hani sounded warnings about the trappings of wealth and power. My uncle and countless South Africans became activists because they believed that all South Africans should be treated the same – they did not do this for wealth and recognition. They placed their lives on the line for a better country for all South Africans.