Ahmed Timol (3 November 1941 – 27 October 1971) was an anti-apartheid activist in the underground South African Communist Party.

He died at the age of 29 from injuries sustained when he fell from the top floor of John Vorster Square police station in Johannesburg.

[citation needed] After teaching for some time at a school in Roodepoort, in 1966 Timol left South Africa for Mecca for the Hajj.

[10] He took up a teaching post at the Immigration School at Slough, which provided him with funds, became an active member of the National Union of Teachers and met Ruth Longoni, who worked for the Labour Monthly, a journal run by Rajani Palme Dutt of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

The two came close to marrying, but Timol left for Moscow in the Soviet Union in 1969, as he had been selected to study at the International Lenin School.

His political work included recruitment for the ANC, MK and SACP, producing and distributing pamphlets, and procuring equipment for underground structures.

According to the police, officers founded banned ANC and SACP literature, as well as copies of secret communication correspondence, in the boot of the car he was travelling in.

[13] He died on 27 October, five days after his arrest, from injuries sustained when he fell from the tenth floor of John Vorster Square police station in Johannesburg.

In Durban, a packed meeting attended by people of all races called for a national day of mourning, which was observed on 10 November 1971.

It also found that "the inquest magistrate's failure to hold the police responsible for Ahmed Timol's death contributed to a culture of impunity that led to further gross human rights violations.

[18] President Jacob Zuma posthumously awarded him the Order of Luthuli (Silver) in 2009,"for his excellent contribution and selfless sacrifice in the struggle against apartheid.