Harold Samuel shares an excerpt from Chapter 14 titled ‘The Death of Luthuli’
FROM behind the scenes, in the quite restrictive life which had been imposed on him, (Albert) Luthuli continued to influence the struggle in South Africa.
From his humble cottage at Groutville, he continued to be greatly admired locally and internationally. The banning restriction seriously stifled any opportunity he had for active leadership.
The ANC was also under banning orders and the only opportunity to take the struggle further was to continue the guerrilla tactics, which had commenced.
At that time, non-violence had been suppressed as an option and meaningful talks were no longer on offer.
The state had become oppressive in the extreme and the political movement realised that the only remaining option was to continue the struggle undercover.
In this chapter, I chose to reflect on the views of others, who wrote about events which finally led to the untimely death of Luthuli.
These accounts are infused with the narratives of persons associated with what happened at that fateful moment in the history of the country.
In the late hours of the morning of 21 July, 1967, a goods train was shunting along the tracks of a small railway station at Gledhow on the main line between Stanger and Durban.
Close by was a railway bridge crossing the Umvoti River. As the train moved towards the bridge from the north side to Durban, the cab of the engine struck the frame of an old man walking alongside the railway line. It was Chief Luthuli, who had been struck by the train.
As was his custom, he left his home earlier that morning but no one could corroborate exactly why he was at that place at that time walking along the railway line.
The goods train travelling at some 25 kilometres per hour struck him with the impact that a locomotive can generate at that speed as he was thrown to the ground badly injured.
The driver of the train, Stephanus Lategan, braked and brought the train to a halt a short distance away. The events which followed have been written differently by various writers but it remains a mystery to this day, about what had happened, except to state that Luthuli subsequently died at the Stanger Hospital that same afternoon.
The state followed the route of satisfying the legal requirements of a post-mortem and the signing of a death certificate, to be followed by an official inquest.
The brief at the inquest was to establish the cause of death and to search for any criminal culpability.
The findings of the inquest into his death were more about not attaching blame to any employee of the South African Railways than a search for the truth of what had happened.
In my recounting of the events of what had happened on that fateful day, I seek to attach no blame to anyone but to present interesting accounts from three sources.
The first is an eyewitness account of a young student at the scene of the accident; the second is a statement of the Admission Clerk at the Stanger Hospital; and the third is hearsay evidence that the ambulance driver shared with his daughter.
I recall all three submissions of what had happened on that fateful day and the reader is free to draw his or her own conclusion.
The first is an undated statement by Mrs LR Bonga (née Ngidi) recorded by attorney Paul David of Stanger some years after the death of Luthuli.
The statement was lodged with Paul David, who acted for Mrs Bonga on another legal matter much later in her life.
From the statement, it was noted that at that time Mrs Bonga was a young girl on school holiday and she was the last person to have spoken to Luthuli before the accident occurred.
She recounted the events of that morning many years after the accident.
She told David that she lived in the same area as the chief and had known him well. She had a short conversation with him that morning.
She was in the company of a cousin Papale, sitting not far from her home on the side of the railway line.
They saw Luthuli approaching not far from a road, which crossed the railway line and ran forward to greet him. Her conversation with Luthuli is haunting in its simplicity.
Final words
“He always touched our heads and hugged us and told us we were leaders of tomorrow. He advised us to get ourselves the biggest weapon – education – so that we could be a able to fight the enemy. He urged us to be supportive and helpful to our parents and to make strong adults in the future.
“We walked with him side by side towards the Umvoti River bridge on the slabs that secured the rail to the sleepers with Luthuli in the middle… Before we were halfway in the bridge, he stopped and asked us to go back as he was going to the cane fields across the river…
“He held my one hand, the other to my head, as he said: ‘You will be a big girl and a big leader when you grow up. Go and work towards it.’
“I backed off feeling happy and blessed, running and following my cousin. I was full of bliss… I suddenly heard a bang. This must have been about 10 metres away.
“Both my cousin and I turned to see what caused the bang. He was not on the left lane where we were when we turned back. He was lying on the ground between the two lanes. Blood was flowing from his head. There was this shifting goods train tail and a white man next to him.”
Unfortunately, Bonga was not an eyewitness to the train hitting him as she had turned her back and was walking away when this occurred.
She was shocked with what had happened and ran back to her home nearby, screaming: “He is hurt! He is on the ground bleeding!”
Her uncle, Reginald Ngidi, was next on the scene and told Bonga to inform others about the accident.
She quickly spread the news in the neighbourhood and her aunt Beauty and another neighbour also followed.
“My uncle ran back to the station and informed the station master and again ran to the shop, Nonhlevu Store, to inform the family. In no time a huge crowd had gathered. The ambulance and the police arrived. I don’t know what happened thereafter. I wish I had stayed to see what followed as I was curious, but the elders told us to stay away.
“I still feel blessed with his last touch and his last words… I endure the good feeling of the blessing he crowned me with and I will abide by it for as long as I live.”