The Serious Organised Crime Investigation of the Hawks specialising in Crimes Against the State (CATS) seeks the assistance of the public in locating the relatives of a political activist who died sixty years ago.
James Tyita is believed to have died in police custody in Gqeberha in 1964.
Hawks spokesperson Captain Yolisa Mgolodela said Tyita was a political activist during the apartheid era.
According to Mgolodela, they bear no knowledge of his last known residential address.
"A case surrounding his death is currently being investigated by the Hawks," she said.
During a previous media statement released last year, police said Tyita, Pongoloshe Hoye and Ngeni Gaga were on separate occasions arrested by former Transkei Security members in 1965 and died 24 hours after their arrest.
According to a 35-page report released in December 1977 entitled 'Deaths in Detention in South Africa' Tyita died on 27 January 1964.
The report by was compiled by 'the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under Law Washington, D.C.
It focuses on the plight of political detainees in South Africa, the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 41 political detainees from September 1963 to September 1977 (including Tyita) and the need to establish some form of international judicial inquiry into such deaths.
In an inscription on Tyita's death, it states that he was detained in Gqeberha (then Port Elizabeth) on a 90-day clause under the General Law Amendment Act, No37 of 1963, Section 17.
The cause of death states: "Suicide by Hanging".
The length he spent in detention and his age is not noted.
Unlike the majority of deceased individuals mentioned in the report, there are no notes in the form of a police report pertaining to his death.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Tyita's family is urged to contact the investigating officer Sergeant Fundiswa Dingiswayo on 073 529 6310 or 043 709 0638.
Alternatively, they can contact the SAPS Crime Stop line on 08600 10111, send an sms to the crime line on 32211, or visit their nearest police station.
