The Murder of Ahmed Timol: My Search for Truth

by Imtiaz A. Cajee

"“Twenty-one years [since the TRC] that have led to this Pretoria courtroom, and to the appearance of this giant man who, 46 years ago, claimed to have been the only eye witness to Uncle Ahmed’s suicide.Joao Rodrigues was the state’s star witness at the 1972 inquest. He would have been deemed pretty perfect for the job of covering the murder of Uncle Ahmed. A white South African of Portuguese descent, he worked as an administrative clerk at security police headquarters in Pretoria. After more than 10 years of service he had ascended just one step up the police hierarchy, to the rank of sergeant – proof, if nothing else, of his loyalty to the cause for his role in covering up the murder of Uncle Ahmed.”Follow Ahmed Timol’s nephew, Imtiaz Cajee, on his 20-year journey to find his uncle’s killer and bring him to justice. In 1971, a state inquiry found that Ahmed Timol, held by the security branch of the tenth floor of John Vorster Square, committed suicide by jumping to his death. Forty-six years later, a new inquiry found that Ahmed Timol was murdered. Only one man remained alive who could tell the truth, a lowly clerk from the police, who was in the room when Timol was pushed. Joao Rodrigues has now been charged with murder and defeating and or obstructing the administration of justice. The book is a wonderful evocation of a time and places; Johannesburg, London, Mecca, Moscow. The last years of Timol’s life, the woman he loved, and his commitment to a non-racial and free South Africa. His last days are detailed here; the roadblock that was set up to catch him and his treatment by the security police.Not content with finding his uncle’s murderer, Cajee has been on a quest for justice for other murdered victims of apartheid, whose killers never applied to the TRC and who were never charged, despite the information being available. Cajee investigates the possible deal that was done between the National Party and the ANC during the early 90s, and asks how it is possible that so many murderers and torturers were not prosecuted. He is clear that now is the time to find these people and prosecute them.The book is unputdownable, and one that will leave you deeply touched."

273 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2020

Reviews

[David Kenvyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to make one thing quite clear from the start. I did not know Ahmed Timol. I may have been in the same meetings as him in London in the late 1960s, but I was never introduced, at least not under that name. He left London after about 18 months to go for military training in Moscow, and must have returned to South Africa by a circuitous route. He then began clandestine activities which attracted the attention of the security police, and he and his brother, Mohammed, were placed under surveillance. The Security Police claimed that they arrested him at a random road check and found incriminating materials in the boot of his car. This is likely to be the first lie that they told because they had him under observation. He was taken to the notorious police station and he was murdered there by the security police. They claimed that he had not been beaten and that he jumped out of the ninth-floor window. As Chris Van Wyk said in his poem about the deaths of prisoners in detention “He fell from the ninth floor”. Now a body falling out of a window in a police station in Central Johannesburg was bound to attract attention, and it did. The police rushed into the Square. They did not call an ambulance. They picked him up and carried him inside. If he was not dead already this, according to the forensic evidence at the second inquest, would have killed him.
The Timol family called for an inquest, and the Indian community rallied around them to raise the necessary money for the legal fees. The inquest began in 1972.
Magistrate De Villiers, who conducted the inquest, believed the South Africa Police. He believed that the South African Communist Party had instructed its cadres, of whom Ahmed Timol was one, to commit suicide rather than betray the organisation. He believed that Ahmed Timol had tricked and out-manoeuvred his police guard, Sgt. Rodrigues, and had jumped out of the window. He believed that Timol had not been beaten prior to his death and that all the injuries inflicted on him were post-mortem. He called Mrs. Timol, Ahmed’s mother, a liar to her face. He ruled that no-one could be held to blame. Which implicitly meant that Ahmed Timol had committed suicide and that he was to blame. The South African police were exonerated. That is where the matter remained for the next 22 years.
Then came the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994, the elections for which Ahmed Timol had died. The new government decided that it was necessary to find some way of healing the wounds of the past, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up. Mrs Timol travelled to the first session in East London, Eastern Cape Province, accompanied by her grandson Imtiaz Cajee, to give her testimony about the death of her son. Bishop Tutu treated her very differently from Magistrate de Villiers. He listened to her with respect. It was then that Imtiaz Cajee decided to find out the truth about what had happened to his uncle Ahmed Timol, as much to give his grandmother peace of mind as anything else.
Imtiaz Cajee is the quiet unassuming hero of this story, whose diligence and persistence eventually paid off. It took him 21 years to secure the second inquest, in which time he had to track down the documents relating to the original inquest, some of which not surprisingly had disappeared from the record, and the police witnesses who had also disappeared. Sgt Rodrigues was tracked down because his daughter, Tilana Stander, who had been sexually abused by him as a child gave away his location. He also had to secure the forensic evidence, and get it properly assessed.
On 26th June 2017, Judge Billy Mothle opened the second inquest. When Ahmed Timol was alive this day was known as South Africa Freedom Day.
The forensic evidence was devastating. It proved conclusively that the vast majority of the injuries received by Ahmed Timol were sustained ante-mortem, and were not caused by the fall. It also showed that he would not have been able to have crawled to the window to jump out. If he had jumped, he would not have landed where his body was found. It showed that Sgt Rodrigues was lying. It showed that the SACP document was a forgery. It showed that the evidence accepted by Magistrate de Villiers was a tissue of lies. Witnesses testified that they had been tortured when held in detention. Judge Mothle had no doubt and said “He was murdered”. He suggested that prosecutions should take place, especially of Sgt Rodrigues who claimed to be the only person in the room with Ahmed Timol. Either he committed perjury to protect his colleagues, or he committed the murder himself. That is where the case now stands.
It has been difficult writing this review. It must have been far more difficult to live with the fact that your uncle had been murdered for nearly all your life, to see how it devastated your family and then to have to pursue justice yourself for decades before getting the decision of the first inquest reversed. Even now, no-one has been convicted.
Ahmed Timol, hero of heroes, I salute you, but I also salute the indomitable Imtiaz Cajee for his courage and his example.

[Molebatsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Murder of Ahmed Timol" by Imtiaz Ahmed Cajee is a compelling and meticulously researched exploration of a tragic chapter in South African history. The book delves into the life and death of Ahmed Timol, an anti-apartheid activist who died in police custody in 1971 under suspicious circumstances. Cajee's narrative is both poignant and enraging, expertly weaving together personal accounts, legal proceedings, and historical context to highlight the injustices faced during this dark period. The author not only honors Timol's legacy but also sheds light on the broader systemic violence of the apartheid regime. With its gripping storytelling and profound insights, this work serves as a crucial reminder of the need for justice and accountability, making it an essential read for anyone interested in South Africa's struggle for freedom.