Minister Masutha authorises Inquest in respect of Apartheid Era Death in Detention
26 April 2019
Justice and Correctional Services Minister, Advocate Michael Masutha, has today, 26 April 2019, authorized an application by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for the reopening of an inquest in relation to the death in detention of anti-apartheid activist Dr Neil Aggett.
Inquest proceedings are regulated by the The Inquests Act 58 of 1959. The purpose of holding an inquest is to investigate the circumstances of death apparently occurring from other than natural causes and where the prosecutor had declined to prosecute. It is therefore an inquisitorial cum investigation process.
Dr Neil Hudson Aggett was a medical doctor and trade unionist. Dr Aggett worked mainly in overcrowded hospitals in historically black townships like Soweto, Umthatha and Thembisa. While working at Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto Dr Aggett became involved in the trade union movement. He championed worker rights through his involvement with the Transvaal Branch of the African Food and Canning Workers’ Union (AFCWU).
He was detained by the apartheid Security Branch in 1981 at the notorious John Vorster police cells in Johannesburg. He was found dead under mysterious circumstances on 05 February 1982.