Hoosen Haffejee’s 1977 death in custody ruled not a suicide
'I know the truth about how my son died is going to come out one day ... I want to know the truth about how my boy died. I'm very heart sore and I will not rest until I find out who the killers are ... I will never, never believe my honest, home-loving and caring son took his own life.”
These were the words of Fatima Haffejee – the mother of political stalwart Dr Hoosen Haffejee shortly after his death in 1977 in an interview with newspapers.
Forty-six years later, and through the dogged determination of her surviving two children, Sarah Lall and Ismail Haffejee, the Pietermaritzburg High Court overturned the original inquest findings from 1978 that declared Dr Haffejee’s death as that of suicide.
On Wednesday, Judge Zaba Nkosi held that Dr Haffejee’s death was not a suicide as claimed by Apartheid security forces.
Judge Nkosi also recommended that surviving former Special Branch police officers be prosecuted for murder as well as the woman involved – who had an unrequited love interest in Dr Haffejee – be charged for perjury.
Laying the blame squarely at the feet of Matheevathinee Benjamin (formerly Moonsamy), Judge Nkosi said had she not handed him over, he possibly would have still been alive today.
“Without her handing over Hoosen to the Security Branch, he possibly would still be alive today or would have progressed in his profession; spent a long quality life with his family; and possibly made more invaluable contributions to our hard-fought freedom and democracy. However, her demeanour during her testimony appeared entirely unrepentant,” said Judge Nkosi.
Judge Nkosi's ruling attributed Dr Haffejee's cause of death to either a cardiac incident resulting from torture or a cardiac incident caused by ligature constriction applied by Security Branch members while he was in a state of unconsciousness or debilitation following torture. This significant revelation has cast a long shadow over the murky circumstances surrounding Dr Haffejee's demise.
Judge Nkosi further revealed that Dr Haffejee did not meet his end in the early morning hours of August 3, 1977, as previously thought, but rather late on the night of August 2, 1977, most likely between 10.23pm and 11pm.
Dr Hoosen Mia Haffejee was just 26 years old when he died in police custody at Brighton Beach police station.
At the time, the police alleged that he had hanged himself with his trousers from a grille door at the Durban-based police station.
The journey to this momentous ruling began in October 2017 when a team from the Priority Crimes Unit of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), led by Advocate Shubnum Singh, initiated an investigation into Dr Haffejee's death.
In August 2019, the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services formally requested the Judge President of the KwaZulu-Natal Division of the High Court to designate a judge to reopen Dr Haffejee's inquest.
The reopened inquest into Dr Haffejee's death unfolded from August 2021 until September 2021 at the Pietermaritzburg High Court, uncovering a web of deception and brutality that ultimately led to the groundbreaking verdict.
Judge Nkosi identified the Security Branch officers primarily responsible for torturing and murdering Haffejee as Captain Petrus Lodewikus du Toit and Lieutenant James Brough Taylor.
Judge Nkosi also named others who played various roles in the interrogation, torture, and subsequent cover-up, asserting that they too must be held accountable.
“They associated themselves with what happened to Hoosen and did not raise alarm,” Judge Nkosi stated.
The individuals implicated include Commander of Security Branch Durban, Brigadier Steenkamp; second in charge, Colonel Ignatius Coetzee; Matheevathinee Benjamin (formerly Moonsamy – and who had a love interest in Hoosen); Lieutenant Vic MacPherson; Warrant Officer Shunmugam “Shcrewds” Govender; Sergeant Veera Ragalulu Naidoo; and Constable Mohan Deva Gopal.
Captain Du Toit passed away in 2008, Lieutenant Taylor in 2019, Lieutenant MacPherson in 2017, and Major Joseph Benjamin, husband of Matheevathinee and a Special Branch member, in 2010. All other security members, with the exception of Sergeant Naidoo and Gopal, have either passed away or could not be located.
Judge Nkosi recommended that specific charges be considered against Gopal and Naidoo. He suggested that Gopal be charged with murder and possibly perjury, while further investigations are needed to ascertain Naidoo's presence during the periods of Dr Haffejee's interrogation and death.
Additionally, Judge Nkosi recommended investigations into perjury charges against Ms Benjamin and also Special Branch police officers Constable Hugh Derek Naude and Constable Johannes Nicolaas Meyer for providing multiple false statements to the court, bringing further accountability into the spotlight.
Hoosen’s sister Sarah Lall and brother Ismail Haffejee, who continued pursuing this matter through the years, cried tears of joy at court after the handing down of the judgement.
Ismail, who cringed and gasped while the judge described graphic details about how his brother had been tortured, had to be treated by paramedics, almost at the end of the judgement after he had trouble breathing.
