Owing to an oversight, the verdict in the inquest into the death of Mapetla MOHAPI was not recorded in FOCUS.
Mohapi, who was administrator of the Zimele Trust Fund and associated with Black Consciousness organisations in the Eastern Cape, died in the custody of the Kingwilliamstown security police in August 1976. The inquest was frequently postponed (see FOCUS 9 p. 8) and finally returned a verdict on 8 July 1977: "no-one to blame". Death was confirmed as caused by anoxia and suffocation - either by hanging, as police alleged, or by strangulation. The police claimed Mohapi had committed suicide, but the handwriting on an alleged 'suicide note' was disputed. Thenjiwe Mtintso gave evidence that Capt. R. Hansen of KWT Security police had wrapped a towel round her neck during interrogation, saying this was how Mohapi had died. Counsel for the Mohapi family claimed there was an 'irresistible inference suggesting homicide' by an 'over-zealous interrogator' (DD 9.7.77).
Widowed Mrs. Nohle Mohapi was banned in December 1978 (see under BANNINGS). Mapetla Mohapi was a close colleague of Steve Biko who died in detention in September 1977.
