The Iman Haron inquest will run from 7 to 18 November 2022. Image: Storm Simpson/The South African/Facebook/Iman Haron Foundation.
As it happened: Imam Haron Inquest – Day 2
Judge Daniel Thulare, the State and family representatives will visit the police stations where Imam Haron was held before his death in 1969.
The Iman Haron inquest will run from 7 to 18 November 2022. Image: Storm Simpson/The South African/Facebook/Iman Haron Foundation.
The inquest into the death of anti-apartheid activist Imam Abdullah Haron continues on Tuesday, 8 September. Inspections are planned at Cape Town Central Station and Maitland Police Station and the family’s first witness will be called to the stand in court.
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On Monday, the court heard that Haron was routinely taken from his Maitland cell to an office at Cape Town Central, which was known as Caledon Square Police Station at the time, where he was interrogated.
Haron was found dead in his Maitland prison cell on 27 September 1969. The apartheid-era inquest into his death found that no one could be held responsible.
The apartheid security police maintained that Haron suffered the injuries that eventually led to a fatal cardiac issue after falling down a stone staircase.
Judge Daniel Thulare, who is the presiding officer in the 2022 inquest, said he would focus on Haron’s cause of death and whether anyone was responsible for it. It is alleged that the notorious Security Branch officer, Spyker van Wyk, and Dirk Genis routinely tortured the Imam during his 123 days of solitary confinement.
On Monday, Steve Biko’s son, Nkosinathi said the start of the inquest marked “the end of the question that has been hanging over the nation for 52 years.”
Steve Biko, who was one of the most influential leaders in the struggle against apartheid, also died in police detention on 12 September 1977. Nkosinathi said the Haron and Biko families are members of the Apartheid Families Victims Group and have been on a journey for many years.
“What we must bemoan is the fact that it has taken individual families to move these matters to this stage. This is a very important case. It is at the intersection of the meeting of the doctors and healthcare providers, the role of the police and, of course, our courts.
“I think we’ve come to this point as a country without instilling a culture of accountability and hopefully by dealing with these cases we can instil a culture of accountability. We are delighted to be here and we hope that this will translate to the right verdict based on what we find from the forensic evidence.
“What is most evident is that the Imam was tortured and killed and he is a hero of our nation,” said Nkosinathi.
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