Twenty-five families of victims and survivors of apartheid-era political crimes have taken South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government to court, accusing them of failing to properly investigate and prosecute crimes committed during apartheid.
The group is seeking approximately 167 million rand ($9 million) in damages and an order compelling Ramaphosa to establish a commission of inquiry into the political interference that suppressed investigations into hundreds of serious crimes.
The applicants, including Lukhanyo Calata, son of anti-apartheid activist Fort Calata, who was killed in 1985, claim that the government’s inaction has denied them justice, truth, and closure.
Calata stated, “Justice delayed in this manner has ensured that justice is permanently denied to our families.”
The case highlights the ongoing struggle for accountability and justice in post-apartheid South Africa.
The country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), established in 1996, identified several hundred cases for further investigation, but many were never pursued.
The applicants’ lawyer, Odette Geldenhuys, noted that the suppression of post-TRC accountability efforts has led to the loss of witnesses, perpetrators, and evidence, making prosecutions impossible in most cases.
