At the inquest on Dr. Hoosen Haffejee, the Durban dentist who died in security police custody on 3 August 1977 less than 24 hours after being detained a large number of mysterious injuries on the body were described. Between 40 and 50 'abraded bruises' were found on the lower part of the torso, together with extensive bruising on the scalp and other marks on elbows, knees, ankles, ribs and feet. Medical experts agreed that the injuries appeared to have been inflicted between 12 and 4 hours before death but could not explain how they had been caused.
Police evidence to the inquest, which opened in Durban on 27 February described how two officers detained Dr. Haffejee on his way to work by forcing his car off the road at 8 a.m. on 2 August. They claimed that they had difficulty in subduing Haffejee, despite the fact that their combined weight was three times his, and had to force him into the police car. Haffejee was taken to Brighton Beach police station, detained under the Criminal Procedure Act and interrogated from 9.30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Twice during the day Haffejee was taken out to identify various places but in general was 'evasive' in answering questions about his political activities in South Africa and India, where he had studied.
The police admitted that information was wanted from Haffejee quickly, before news of his detention became known, lest other suspects flee the country before being caught. It was claimed that Haffejee was a member of a 'dangerous organisation' and involved in 'subversive activities'. Earlier this organisation was identified as the ANC.
While Haffejee was being interrogated on 3 August police searched his home and found 'incriminating' documents in his handwriting referring to explosives and sabotage methods—how to derail trains, attack aircraft and blow up buildings. It was alleged that 'time bombs' found in buildings 'recently' were constructed in the way described in Haffejee's notes.
Counsel for the family argued against the presentation of these documents, saying that an inquest should not be used as a posthumous political trial. Haffejee would be put on trial 'for an offence with which he was not charged and to which he cannot answer'. The court ruled that the documents could be presented to the court but their contents not divulged to the public.
After being shown the documents on the evening of 2 August, Haffejee was taken to a cell just after midnight, according to police. He was seen alive at 3 a.m. but was dead by 4 a.m., when he was allegedly found hanged, having tied his trousers to the cell bars and twisted them around his neck. Marks on the neck were consistent with his having hanged himself and not with his having been throttled, nor with the body having been hanged after his death according to the pathologist, Dr. I. Gordon.
The injuries sustained before his death were hard to explain, said Dr. Gordon, though some could have been caused by a 'booted foot'. Other medical experts suggested that the head injury was probably caused by a blow, but most of the marks on the body were not easy to explain. One witness suggested that the deep abrasions could have been caused by 'a special pair of pliers'. There was, however, general agreement that the injuries could not have been sustained during the struggles described by the police as they forced him into the car and counsel for the family submitted that they were caused by the two interrogators, Capt. du Toit and Lt. Taylor, during 'over-zealous interrogation'.
It was in general accepted by the court that, however inflicted, the injuries were not the cause of death. Police counsel, suggesting reasons why Haffejee might have killed himself, incidentally revealed his vulnerable position as a detainee, saying that Haffejee faced either trial, exposure as a saboteur and subsequent imprisonment or continued detention, involving incriminating others, giving evidence and being branded as a collaborator. There was no suggestion that Haffejee might have been acquitted, or allowed access to a lawyer.
Concluding on 15 March, the inquest found that Haffejee had committed suicide. The court was not concerned with the injuries, as they had not caused death. And 'even if there was direct evidence that the policemen assaulted Haffejee, this was irrelevant to the main issue'.
Commenting on the verdict, the Cape Times stated that it showed once again 'why inquests are not adequate as a means of investigating the detention system'; the only evidence on what happened between arrest and death is that supplied by the police. Lord Avebury, observing on behalf of Amnesty International, commented that the injuries on Haffejee constituted prima facie evidence of a criminal assault, which should be pursued in the courts.
