Albert Luthuli's funeral a powerful symbol of defiance against apartheid

PICTURES of Inkosi Albert Luthuli's body lying emotionless in a coffin during his funeral on July 30, 1967, depicted nothing of a person hit by a train, as it had no dismembered limbs or facial scars, the inquest held at the Pietermaritzburg High Court heard.

- BONGANI HANS [e-mail]

Luthuli, a staunch Christian and prayer warrior, was buried eight days after his death on July 21, the same year. His funeral, attended by scores of people from various racial groups, was held at the Groutville Congregational Church Graveyard.

The pictures of his body dressed in a black suit and tie in the coffin were shown on a big screen in the courtroom on Monday during the ongoing reopened inquest.

They were another piece of evidence to reject the 1967 findings that he was killed by injuries sustained from being hit by a steam goods train that was running at 40km/h.

Testifying on Tuesday, Thulani Thusi, a heritage educator at the museum named after the iconic ANC president-general and Nobel Peace Prize winner, concurred with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)’s evidence leader, Advocate Annah Chuene, that the elderly man’s body appeared intact.

“I see an individual in a casket or a coffin whose body is intact, in other words, there are no missing limbs or any body parts from what I am seeing. Are you seeing the same thing?