Torture and death in Port Elizabeth, 1985 — have those detainees’ sacrifices been squandered?
dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2025-09-25-torture-and-death-in-port-elizabeth-1985-have-those-detainees-sacrifices-been-squandered/
Photo: dailymaverick.co.za · view article
Remembering Torture and Resistance in Port ElizabethIn 1985, a young doctor secured a court order halting police abuse of detainees during the State of Emergency in Port Elizabeth.
Key FactsSep 25, 2025 · Reading time: ~45 sec.
Summary created with AI assistance · Source: dailymaverick.co.za
Summary created with AI assistance · Source: dailymaverick.co.za
- Port Elizabeth faced severe human rights abuses in 1985, with many black detainees subjected to torture under the State of Emergency.
- Doctor Wendy Orr gathered evidence of police brutality and filed an urgent legal application to stop the mistreatment.
- The judge granted an immediate interdict against the police on the day of the hearing, halting further assaults.
- Despite initial hopes for a democratic South Africa, many sacrifices made by detainees appear wasted in retrospect.
I respectfully submit that this application is very urgent. The police are apparently engaged in a pattern of daily assaults upon detainees.— Wendy Orr, in her founding affidavit for the urgent application against the police for torture and abuse of detainees.
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