Jeff Radebe tells inquest how Albert Luthuli defied the apartheid regime

Despite the strict banning orders were meted out by the apartheid regime on the ANC president-general Chief Albert Luthuli, he continued to defy them, which apparently led to his murder.

State prosecutor Annah Chuene, who led evidence in the Pietermaritzburg high court on Wednesday at the inquest into the death of Luthuli, provided the court with evidence that confirmed the apartheid regime was hell-bent on suppressing the late ANC leader.

Chuene said the apartheid government started by banning Luthuli for 12 months, but extended the ban to two years and later to five years. “All these banning orders were between 1954 and 1959, and it seems as if Luthuli defied them all,” she said.

She asked ANC veteran Jeff Radebe, who was in the witness box, what his comment was on that evidence. Radebe responded by saying that indeed the apartheid government had tried to suppress Luthuli but failed, hence, they decided to kill him.

Radebe said Luthuli was not allowed to be in the company of more than one person, but he defied that as he was holding secret meetings. He said Luthuli was also not allowed to address gatherings, but his speeches were read out in gatherings.

Radebe added that Luthuli wrote a book titled Let My People Go while he was still banned.

Radebe told the court that the apartheid regime thought that by killing Luthuli, they would kill the ANC. He said Luthuli once warned them that the road to freedom was via crucifixion. 

The government at the time claimed Luthuli died when he was hit by a goods train, a claim the ANC and his family denied.

Radebe said Luthuli was a fearless freedom fighter, which was why he was crucified.

He said Luthuli was the one who actually paved the long walk to freedom championed by Nelson Mandela.

Radebe said the effectiveness of Luthuli’s leadership was further demonstrated by the attraction of all race groups in South Africa to join with their African brethren in the fight to eliminate apartheid and its oppressive laws.

“Even after whites joined in this offensive against white racist rule, they were in the formation of the Congress of Democrats. All these organisations, the Congress of Democrats, the Indian Congress, the Coloured Congress as well as the South African Congress of Trade Unions united under the banner and leadership of Luthuli to form the Congress Alliance,” he said.

KZN ANC co-ordinator Mike Mabuyakhulu launched a veiled attack on former President Jacob Zuma for allegedly stealing the name uMkhonto we Sizwe and using it for his party.

Mabuyakhulu said they were aware of people who want them to climb on to their backs “but they are crocodiles”.

“We are aware of people who are stealing the precious [legacy] of the ANC, we know how uMkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC, was formed, it was an alliance of the ANC and the SACP which gave birth to MK,” he said.

The inquest continues.

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