Njoli Square

The Black Consciousness Movement, best demonstrated by the life and works of Steve Biko, led to the political conscientisation of youth. Siphiwo Maxwell Mthimkhulu (1960-1982) grew up in Njoli Street, Zwide Township in Port Elizabeth. He was a student activist and part of a new wave of anti-apartheid activism in the 1970s in Port Elizabeth. In 1977, he joined the South African Student Movement (SASM). Mthimkhulu had been the chairman of the Loyiso High School Students Representative Council. During a house raid, he was charged for being in possession of banned literature and was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment. After his release, he continued with his activism against colonial education. He became a member of the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) and a secret member of the then-illegal (banned) ANC. He was involved in the school boycotts organised by COSAS in 1980 and 1981. He was also instrumental in COSAS's campaign against Republic Day celebrations in 1981 where he distributed ANC pamphlets in Port Elizabeth. The security police received information about the pamphlets and as a result several student leaders were detained. The security forces were on the hunt for Siphiwo Mthimkhulu and they threatened his family and harrassed other people. Finally on the night of the 31 May 1981, Mthimkhulu had been walking at Njoli Square when a special branch police spotted him and shot him after he tried to escape detention. Mthimkhulu was sent to the Livingstone Hospital for treatment. He remained in detention under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act where he was subjected to extensive interrogation and torture. On 20 October 1981, Mthimkhulu was released without charge after five months in detention. He made a statement to his lawyer and instituted a case against the Minister of Police for assult and torture. The day after he was released from detention, he complained of pains. Soon he became crippled and had to be admitted to the Livingstone Hospital where he fought for his life. Doctors were unable to diagnose the cause of his illness and in November he was transferred to the Cape Town hospital Grootte Schuur. His hair started to fall out and neurologist Dr Frances Ames discovered that Mthimkhulu had been poisoned with thallium. This was an odourless and tasteless poison that was not available to the public in South Africa and would have had to be specially imported. In January 1982, Mthimkhulu, now wheelchair-bound, returned to Port Elizabeth. Although the police claimed that a serious investigation into his poisoning was underway, no charges were made. On 2 April 1982, Mthimkhulu decided to sue the state for the suffering he had endured whilst in detention. On 14 April 1982, Siphiwo Mthimkhulu and his friend Topsy Madaka both disappeared. Later in 1990, the ANC and other political parties were unbanned. In April 1990, Captain Dirk Coetzee revealed that the poisoning, kidnapping and murder of Mthimkhulu had been arranged by Brigadier Jan du Preez of Security Police headquarters in Pretoria and Colonel Nic van Rensburg of the Port Elizabeth security police. The poisoning and assassination of Siphiwo Mthimkhulu is one of the most famous atrocities committed by the Port Elizabeth security police.