Inanda riots victim's daughter recounts 40 years of trauma

YADITHA Reuben-Murray recounts the horrific murder of her father, uncle and cousin during the 1985 Inanda riots when she was just 11 years old.

Decades later, her family faced another tragedy when her mother was murdered in 2022, reopening old wounds and raising questions about justice delayed.

Her dad Anand Reuben-Murray, 39, uncle Rooplall Ulassi, 45, and Ulassi’s son Sanjay, 16, had been stabbed multiple times with assegais and spears before they were necklaced and burnt to death a week after the riots, when the situation was still volatile.

Yaditha said the trauma of having her family members “run for their lives” and flee their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs was a memory that would haunt her forever.

She said the devastation was unbearable when police went to their home to notify them that her dad, uncle and cousin were the ones who were found dead on August 14, 1985.

“A few months before the riots, we had moved to Phoenix. When the riots began, my mother’s sister's husband (Rooplall) and their son (Sanjay) came to live with us, while my mother’s sister and their three other children sought refuge with my grandmother.

“My uncle had trouble with his car, and he and my dad had attempted to fix it, but they needed spares and took a taxi to another part of Phoenix to buy the part. They took Sanjay with them. 

“My siblings and I were doing our homework when we watched the violent attack on three men in Inanda, on the news. Two of them were burnt beyond recognition. We called our mother, Rita, to also watch the news. Together, we prayed for the families of the men and we said it was such a sad thing. We wondered which family the men would have belonged to and we were in shock as to how people could do something so gruesome.

“It was late in the afternoon and we became concerned about why my father, uncle and cousin had not returned. We prayed for their safety and my mom was very worried. She had prepared a meal and baked goodies for us to enjoy as a family, but they never came home,” she said.

The next morning, police officers arrived at the home and enquired about who Anand was.

Yaditha said her mom Rita had told them that Anand was her husband.

She said Anand had a furniture business and Rita thought the police were looking for him for a business matter.

“The police had found the rent bill in my dad’s pocket and traced the house. They asked my mom to go with them to the police station. At the police station, they asked her questions about what clothes and shoes my father was wearing, and they also enquired about my uncle and cousins' clothing.

“She knew exactly what they were wearing because she had ironed their clothes that morning. The police officers then emptied a packet onto the table. The contents consisted of burnt clothes and shoes. They asked her to identify if it was their clothes.

“She then linked the questioning and clothing to the incident we saw on the news and she collapsed. When she regained consciousness, she contacted my father’s brother to meet her and identify the bodies,” Yaditha said.

Upon investigations, it was revealed that Anand, Rooplall and Sanjay, who was a pupil at Lenaria Secondary School at the time, had been chased by a mob after they were spotted close to Inanda.

“They were chased because they were Indians. Some of the last people who saw them alive were African families who were living in the area. They saw them being chased. Some of the families took them in and helped them hide from the mob, but they asked them to leave because they feared for their own safety.

“They had to keep running but were eventually caught by the mob. They were stabbed with assegais and spears multiple times. The mob then put tyres around their necks and set them alight. My uncle and cousin were burnt beyond recognition. They had sealed coffins.

“My dad was burnt from his abdomen down. He had our rent bill in the top pocket of his shirt, which led police to our home. The three of them were laid to rest on August 15. It was the most traumatic time of our lives,” she added.

Yaditha said life was tough after her dad died, as her mom was left to take care of her and her siblings without an income.

She said they lived in fear and suffered from post-traumatic stress throughout their lives.

“The devastation never ended.  We could not cope. My siblings were eight and five years old. My mother never worked as my dad took care of us. But when he died, the family furniture business closed down. 

“Fear has gripped us since then – 40 years on. We never got compensation or counselling. My mom had to find odd jobs as a salesperson for Tupperware and pots. When she was home and we were at school, I used to have panic attacks being alone. I thought about the riots and if it happened again. I prayed that my mom would be safe. It took years to overcome my fear of African people.

“It took me over 20 years to gather the courage to look at the post-mortem results and go through the witness statements. We never got justice for them. We still do not know who did what.

“As adults, we eventually came to terms with their brutal murders and the fear of racial tension and attacks on us, were quelled. But 37 years later, in September 2022, my mom was murdered, bringing back a flood of emotions, fear and trauma,” she said.

Rita Rajani Devi Reuben-Murray, 67, was found dead by her son Vickranth Reuben-Murray in her Phoenix home on September 9, 2022. 

She had been gagged and strangled by her gardener Siviwe Magugu, 37, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and 15 years for robbery in May 2024.

Magugu was arrested after surveillance footage captured him struggling to carry Rita’s television, which he had wrapped in a sheet and black bag with appliances, shoes and jewellery after he killed her.

Yaditha said they had closure for her mother’s death after Magugu’s sentencing. But it made them wonder if justice would ever be served for the riots.

“We are glad that community leaders are calling for an inquiry. If the perpetrators are still alive, we want justice. After everything we have been through, many of our relatives who had been calling for justice had died. I pray that the ones who are alive will live to see justice being served,” she added.

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