Neil Hudson Aggett (6 October 1953 – 5 February 1982) was a Kenyan and South African doctor and trade union organiser who died in detention, after being held for 70 days without trial, during which he was tortured by the Security Branch of the apartheid government's South African Police Service. An initial inquest carried out in 1982 cleared the police, but after continued and increased pressure by his sister Jill Burger, partner Liz Floyd, activists, and supporters, a second inquest was held by the High Court in 2020, ruling in December 2022 that Aggett did not die by suicide as claimed, but was killed by members of the Security Branch.

Aggett was born in Kenya before moving to Grahamstown, South Africa, where he attended high school. He did his medical training at the University of Cape Town before moving around the country working in various segregated hospitals. He became involved in the trade union movement while working in a large hospital in Soweto.

Early life and education

Neil Hudson Aggett was born on 6 October 1953 in Nanyuki, Kenya, the eldest child of first-born child of Aubrey and Joy Aggett.

He enrolled for a medical degree at the University of Cape Town in 1971, graduating in 1976. and also took on an additional role with the Industrial Aid Society, He helped to organise the workers at Fatti's and Moni's in Isando and Thembisa, Hogan had been detained and tortured by Security Branch police in the previous month, forcing her to give up information about members of the ANC and MK. She later said that their chief interrogator, Stephan Whitehead, had shown an unhealthy obsessive interest in the couple.

Aggett was first taken to a police station in Pretoria, and then John Vorster Square in Johannesburg, while Floyd was taken to Bronkhorstspruit police station His death marked the 51st death in detention, and he was the first white person to die in detention since 1963, and the first under these circumstances.

Floyd was held in solitary confinement for weeks before being moved to the Hillbrow police station. During her detainment there, she was taken twice to John Vorster Square for interrogation by the same team who had questioned Aggett: experienced negotiator Captain Johan Naude, along with less experienced but more intimidating junior officers, Lt Stephen (Stephan Union leader Jan Theron, in an address that was translated into Zulu, blamed the government for Aggett's death. Around 15,000 mourners attended the funeral procession, including Bishop Desmond Tutu. Much anger was expressed about his death by the mourners, who also included many union members and students, as they marched from the the Anglican Cathedral to Westpark Cemetery in Johannesburg.

Aggett is buried in the Westpark Cemetery. His grave is numbered ECB1613.

First inquest (1982)

The inquest into his death lasted 44 days, concluding on 21 December 1982.

Some five years after his death, at the 1987 conference of the Five Freedoms Forum, fellow detainee Frank Chikane recalled how he had seen Aggett in jail returning from one of his interrogations, being half-carried, half-dragged by warders; Chikane saw this as a sign of how badly injured Aggett was at the time.

TRC (1998)

When Aggett's case came before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the end of apartheid in 1998, In 2015, Sunday Times reported that he had received detailed payments "totalling R4 million from government entities between 2007 and 2014". The 1982 inquest records were destroyed at some point, and high-ranking ANC and government officials actively obstructed the prosecution, according to Simon Forbes. headed by investigating officer Frank Kgamanyane. Liz Floyd described "harrowing screams" she heard as she was being detained in another room on the 10th floor of the building.

The High Court inquest found that Aggett did not die of hanging but due to crush syndrome caused by beatings and forcible exercise at John Vorster Square. The details were published in the US Journal of Medicine and Public Health.

Surviving records of both inquests are available via the Truth and Reconciliation website.

George Bizos includes a chapter on the Aggett inquest in the book No One to Blame?: In Pursuit of Justice in South Africa.

Donald McRae reveals how Aggett's death in detention deeply affected himself and his family in his memoir Under Our Skin Death of an Idealist: In Search of Neil Aggett is a fully referenced biography by Beverley Naidoo, with a Foreword by George Bizos

<!---unreferenced and questionable in this section--- The South African Medical Association, a non-statutory, professional association for public- and private-sector medical practitioners in South Africa never recognised the tireless deeds for the underprivileged by Neil Aggett and subsequent torture leading to his death at John Vorster Prison, Johannesburg.--->

On the 40th anniversary of his death, on 6 February 2022, there was a commemoration to honour Aggett at Westpark Cemetery, organised by the Kathrada Foundation. His de facto widow Liz Floyd addressed the group, and paid tribute to George Bizos, Max Coleman, and Frank Dutton, who fought for justice for Aggett and other detainees. Many other former friends and activists, including Prema Naidoo, attended, and his sister Jill Burger sent a message from the UK.

Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit

The Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit (NALSU) at Rhodes University is named in honour of Aggett.

Neil Aggett Memorial Lecture

The annual Neil Aggett Memorial Lecture is held at Aggett's old school, Kingswood College. The lecture focuses on memories of Aggett and looks at the concept of injustice and injustice. Amitabh Mitra was a special guest at the 2019 lecture, when he presented the school with a charcoal drawing that he had drawn of Aggett. This drawing is displayed in the Kingswood College Museum.

References

Sources

  • The Neil Aggett Papers, Manuscripts & Archives, University of Cape Town Libraries
  • Wits University archives - search on Neil Aggett - photos