Black Activist Dies in South African Jail

A black man accused of involvement in guerrilla attacks was found hanged in his cell, police said today. He reportedly was a former lover of jailed black leader Nelson Mandela’s daughter.

Within hours of the police announcement, President Frederik W. de Klerk ordered a judicial inquiry into the death, a step not taken after scores of previous incidents in which black activists died while in police custody.

According to local newspapers, the 20-year-old man, Clayton Sithole, was a former lover of Zindzi Mandela and the father of her child.

There was no immediate comment from the Mandelas, but associates of the family said they believe the report is accurate.

Sithole and four other suspected African National Congress guerrillas were arrested Friday in Soweto, the vast black township outside Johannesburg. Police accused the group of killing 10 people, including two policemen, in attacks with hand grenades and automatic rifles over the last two years.

Police said Sithole was found hanging from a shower pipe Tuesday in his cell at John Vorster Square, Johannesburg’s central police station. The police said an investigation into the death had started and would include a post mortem by a state pathologist.

Within a few hours of the police statement, Law and Order Minister Adriaan Vlok announced that De Klerk had appointed an inquiry commission headed by a judge to investigate Sithole’s death.

Audrey Coleman, a prominent human rights activist, welcomed de Klerk’s move, saying she could not recall such a swift and emphatic response to any of the scores of other deaths of detainees which she has monitored in recent years.

She said Sithole’s family, who suspected the young man had been mistreated, would hire a pathologist of their own to conduct an independent post mortem.