Ahmed Timol’s family representative told the North Gauteng High Court on Thursday during arguments that the slain anti-apartheid activist’s death was not suicide, but a brutal murder by apartheid police.

Advocate Howard Varney made his submissions to Judge Billy Mothle to overturn the ruling which was made in 1972 that Timol committed suicide by jumping out of a 10th floor window of the infamous John Vorster Square police station.

Varney said Timol’s death was a result of the pathological obsession which the apartheid government had with race.

Timol died on October 27, 1971, whilst in police detention.

“As a result, the system crushed anyone who was against it and Timol was part of the people who rejected the system.”

Varney submitted that little or nothing in the police’s version should be accepted because Dr Salim Essop, who was arrested with Timol, indicated that there was constant torture at John Vorster.

Varney also pointed that there were numerous shortcomings in the postmortem report, which was a plot by the government to rule Timol’s death as suicide.

“The evidence we have put before this court dismisses claims that Timol committed suicide…testimony from family and friends shows that Timol had no reason to commit suicide,” Varney argued.

He questioned Timol’s state before death and said the court had been presented with enough evidence which suggests that he was near death and in dire physical state.

“To avoid him to go to hospital, they hatched the suicide version…Failure to call an ambulance after his fall, was to ensure he died.”

Varney told the court that two former security branch police officers, Neville Els and Seth Sons, should be investigated for perjury.

Both officers worked at John Vorster around the time of Timol’s death and testified that they never witnessed any assault on detainees, but only read about it in newspapers.

State prosecutor Torie Pretorius requested Mothle to overturn the inquest court’s initial findings regarding the circumstances surrounding Timol’s death.

Pretorius also refuted allegations that injuries sustained by Timol were due to a brawl he had been involved in before police apprehended him at a roadblock whilst on route to Fordsburg from Coronationville in October 1971.

“The evidence confirms the detainees were assaulted and there can be no question about it. If you take the injuries on Timol’s body, this court can make a finding that he was indeed assaulted.”

“On the issue of suicide which details a section of the SACP circular, Inkululeko Freedom 2, advocating suicide in the case of apprehension by police is to be regarded as a pure fabrication,” said Pretorius.

He added that statements made that Timol opted to take his life when faced with his possible life imprisonment was nothing more than unsubstantiated opinion by the police and not fact.

The legal representative also highlighted that there were numerous contradictions in former apartheid regime security branch sergeant Joao ‘Jan’ Roderigues' statements.

“During his testimony he gave five different versions of what happened and even noted how the senior officials wanted to make additions to his statement which was yet another version,” Pretorius said.