STATEMENT ON THE 36TH ANNIVERSARY OF RICK TURNER'S ASSASSINATION

07 January 2014

Thirty six years ago today, the radical political philosopher Dr Rick Turner was shot through a window of his home close to the University of Natal where he worked as an academic.  He died in the arms of his young daughter.

His assassination sent shock waves across our country and world.  The apartheid agents responsible for his murder remain at large.  Heis buried at the Brook Street Cemetery in Durban.

Dr Turner's 1972 book, The Eye of the Needle - Towards Participatory Democracy in South Africa was a significant contribution to the conceptualisation of a democratic and non-racial South Africa.

At the time of his assassination be was a banned person but his courage was such that he continued his activism against the injustices of apartheid.  He was a witness for the defence in the South African Students' Organisation (SASO) trial of 1976.

On the 102nd anniversary of its founding, the African National Congress dips its revolutionary flag in honour of an outstanding intellectual and a great patriot.

We assure his family in South Africa and abroad that his memory is cherished and that his life and work has paved the road to twenty years of freedom.

Statement issued by Senzo Mkhize, ANC KwaZulu-Natal national spokesperson, January 8 2014

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