Cell in Kei Road Police Station Where Mapetla Mohapi Died

When Mapetla Mohapi was detained in 1976 he was held in the police cells at Kei Road. It was here that his lifeless body was found on 5 August 1976, ostensibly as a result of suicide. The police produced a ‘suicide note’ which, when his widow sued the Minister of Police, was found by a leading British handwriting expert to be a forgery. An inquest into his death was held, but found that no one could be held responsible. In the 1960s and 1970s at least 41 detainees are known to have died in the hands of the security police. The official causes of death ranged from ‘falls down stairs’, ‘falls from windows’, ‘injured in scuffles’, ‘slipped in shower’ and hangings. The death cell of Mapetla Mohapi symbolises these many deaths in detention. In 2000 the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture erected a plaque in the police station in memory of the death of Mapetla Mohapi.