THE Department of Health under the apartheid government made a decision that prevented the transfer of Inkosi Albert Luthuli to King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban, which was well equipped with neurosurgeon’s tools that might have saved his life, said Advocate Annah Chuene.
Chuene, who was among three National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) senior lawyers probing the cause of Luthuli’s death in a reopened inquest, said on Thursday that in NPA’s closing remarks, they would highlight the role of medical practitioners in the historical death that occurred on July 21, 1967.
Chuene was leading the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health’s senior forensic pathologist, Dr Sibusiso Johannes Nsele, with evidence.
Since the reopened inquiry started, it was revealed that Luthuli was found at the Mvoti River railway line bridge at about 10 am. He was brought to the hospital at 11.45 am, where he was immediately attended to by senior medical superintendent Dr Gwendoline Mary Gregarsan.
Gregarsan could not help him because she was not a neurosurgeon.
It was only at 2.20pm that neurosurgeon Dr Mauritus J. Joubert arrived and treated him for five minutes before he passed away at 2.25 pm.
Chuene based her argument on old records that Luthuli’s wife, Nokukhanya Luthuli, while she was in Durban to meet her daughter, not knowing about what had happened to her husband, her daughter, who was working at McCord Provincial Eye Hospital, received a call at about 1 pm informing her that he was injured and would be transferred to King Edward Hospital.
Nokukhanya and her family members immediately rushed to King Edward Hospital, only to be told that the decision to transfer him had been reversed and he would remain in Stanger.
Chuene said that would mean that he was taken to Stanger Hospital.
“For some odd reason, a decision was made that he should not be transferred,” said Chuene.
“Somebody interfered with that decision, and we are going to argue that the decision was intentional so that Luthuli does not receive the proper care to make that he needed to make sure that he stays alive,” said Chuene.
Nsele said Chuene was correct that the right decision was initially made to transfer Luthuli, but it was apparent that such a decision was not executed.
“There was sufficient time to get Luthuli to the King Edward Hospital, where he would possibly benefited much better rather than to have Dr Joubert to go to Stanger Provincial Hospital.
“He (Joubert) possibly would have known that there was no material difference he would have made by his presence,” said Nsele.
According to a report of the initial inquiry, which was held in the same year of the accident, the cause of Luthuli’s death was head injuries allegedly sustained when he was hit by a goods train while crossing the bridge
Train driver Stephanus Lategan told the initial inquiry that he witnessed Luthuli walking straight toward that train that was running at the speed of 40km/h and being hit by the side of the train and spinning around.
However, Nsele concurred with various experts who conducted a new investigation into the accident that Luthuli was not hit by the train.
Nsele said that had Luthuli been hit by the train, he, like all victims of being hit by the train, would have had his body dismembered and would have sustained injuries in many parts of the body.
On analysing the old legal medical report, Luthuli’s injuries did not indicate that he was the victim of the train accident. Luthuli had sustained injuries on his hands, arms, and a gash on the head.
“The distribution of those injuries (on the hands and arms) was in keeping with the defensive type of injuries,” said Nsele.
Initially, the hearing was scheduled to end on Friday, but this reporter was reliably informed that the NPA would request an extension.
However, Judge Nompumelelo Radebe postponed proceedings on Thursday until Monday, saying she had other court matters to attend to.
