ANC hopes record will be set straight over Albert Luthuli’s cause of death

The African National Congress (ANC) said it hopes on Thursday the historical record will be set straight over the cause of death of its former president-general, Chief Albert Luthuli.

The KwaZulu-Natal High Court is expected to hand down judgment on Thursday on the reopened inquest into Luthuli’s death.

Luthuli died in 1967, with his original inquest at the time ruling his death as accidental, saying he was hit by a train.

ANC supporters and uMkhonto weSizwe military veterans have gathered outside the KwaZulu-Natal High Court for Thursday’s judgment.

Over in Groutville, northeast of KZN, the Chief Albert Luthuli Museum is running a live screening of the judgment for the community members of his hometown.

ANC’s provincial co-ordinator, Jeff Radebe, said a wound that has remained open for over five decades may finally be healed.

"Because, as the ANC, we never believed that this was a train accident. We always felt that he was assassinated by the apartheid regime because of his role as the president of the ANC for many years and he was at the helm of the struggle for freedom and justice in our land."

The Luthuli family, including his grandchildren and children, is present in court, hoping justice will finally be delivered.

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