The civil suit brought by the widow of Mapeta Mohapi, former SASO secretary and field worker with the Zimele Trust Fund who died in police detention in King Williams Town in August 1976, opened in October 1979 in Grahamstown Supreme Court. Mrs Nothle Mohapi is suing the Minister of Police for R35 000 on behalf of herself and her children Mothiba (6) and Konihali (4). As a banned person she was granted special permission to leave the King Williams Town district to which she is restricted and to stay in Grahamstown from 14–15 October.
The inquest hearing in 1977 found that no-one was to blame for Mohapi's death but neither this nor the police claim at the time that Mohapi had committed suicide are accepted by the family. According to the press, Mrs Mohapi's case is based on the claim that her husband was tortured to death by his two interrogators Capt. P.A. Schoeman and Sgt. H.P. Nicholson under the direction of Capt. R. Hansen and that to conceal their culpability a suicide was then faked using knotted pairs of jeans to stimulate a hanging, and a suicide note forged.
The 'suicide note' is at the centre of the case. Addressed to 'Mr Schoeman', it reads: "Death Cell, Kei Road, 5/8/76. This is just to say good-bye to you. You can carry on interrogating my dead body, perhaps you will get what you want from it. Your ferend (sic) Mapetla".
The case opened on 15 October with lawyers for the family calling various handwriting experts. Dr Julius Grant from Britain and Mr Clarence Bohn, ex-FBI of the US, agreed that the writing on the 'suicide note' was very different from that normally used by Mohapi and tests showed that the toilet paper of the note was from a different roll to that on which Mohapi had written three letters to his family which he had somehow smuggled out of his police cell. After sitting for seven days the court was adjourned to after the Christmas recess.
In January evidence was taken by commission in Lesotho from the journalist and South African refugee Ms Thenjiwe Mtintso, also a banned person, who had earlier been refused immunity from prosecution to come to Grahamstown to testify in person. She was also detained at Kei Road police station in August 1976, where she was interrogated by Capt. (now Major) Hansen: "He put me on the floor, placed me between his thighs and stretched a wet towel over my face and pulled its end tightly and choked me. It was difficult to breathe, I struggled... after a while Captain Hansen renovated the towel and told me 'You see how Mapeta died'".
The case resumed on 11 February, when another banned person, Malusi Mpumlwana, a colleague of Mohapi's, told the court he had been present on 5 August when Capt. Hansen told Mrs Mohapi that Mapeta had committed suicide. At this point Hansen had said no note had been found. A third banned person, Dr Mamphela Ramphele, granted permission to travel from her place of restriction in the Northern Transvaal, described how she had attended the post mortem on Mohapi and noticed linear scratch marks on Mohapi's neck consistent with fingernail marks from desperate attempts to prevent strangulation.
Testimony was also given by Mrs Mohapi who described the two letters written to her on toilet paper smuggled out by Mohapi before his death, and by Sgt. M. Juba now of the Ciskei police, who was on duty at Kei Road up to 4 August 1976 and who stated that he had seen Mohapi with Schoeman and Nicholson on 2, 3 and 4 August.
The State began leading evidence on 22 February. Const. A.P. Smith told the court how he and Sgt. E. Geyer found Mohapi hanging from a wall grille in his cell on the evening of 5 August and attempted to revive him. They did not however summon a doctor until after it was clear he was dead. Discrepancies were noted between this evidence and that given to the inquest. Col. A.M. Gerber, now Commissioner of Police for the Ciskei and District CID officer in KWT in August 1976, said the suicide note was found on 6 August when Mohapi's clothes were searched in the mortuary.
During the case the three police officers involved vigorously objected to having their photographs taken as witnesses. During the inquest hearing Schoeman confiscated the film of the Weekend World photographer and on the third day of the civil hearing they threatened and assaulted Ashley le Grange, a freelance photographer, outside the courtroom. Capt. Schoeman grabbed le Grange's camera violently, shouting "if you publish a picture of me in any newspaper you will see what will happen" Sgt. Nicholson also threatened him. Later Maj. Hansen hit le Grange hard on the ear and jaw when the latter attempted to take his photo. The photographer laid charges of assault and applied for an injunction to stop them hindering his work.
On 13 December a memorial stone to Mapeta Mohapi was unveiled at Herschel, now part of the Transkei. Speakers at the ceremony included Tom Mathatha, Curtis Nkondo, Zolile Hamilton Keke, Ray Magida and Richard Mohapi.
