The Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) says it is hard at work pushing for the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development to reopen another window for victims of apartheid-era human rights violations to apply for reparations.
This comes after Minister Mamoloko Kubayi confirmed that R498 million has been paid to victims through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) reparations programme.
Kubayi was responding to questions in the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday regarding progress made in implementing TRC reparations and interventions.
She indicated that regulations providing for a once-off individual reparation grant of R30,000 were published in 2003 and identified 21,676 people as victims.
As of August 20, 17,560 victims had applied for the grant, while 4,216 had not yet applied.
“This amounts to R498 million overall that has been paid, and also what we have done was to publish the names of the 4,216 people that did not apply, and we did this this year in the newspapers,” said Kubayi.
Speaking on YOU FM Newshour, FHR’s Executive Director, Dr Zaid Kimmie, said efforts are underway to try to force the Department to reopen another window for victims who might have missed the original deadline to file their requests for reparations.
“We have been trying, together with our colleagues in the South African Coalition for Transitional Justice. We are hoping to pursue some litigation against the Department to force them to open the process for victims who missed the original TRC deadlines.
“But, of course, we know that, because of the passage of time, many of those victims died without receiving any payments. But we are committed to trying to make sure that at least that process is opened,” said Dr Kimmie.
The Foundation has also undertaken to request that the once-off R30,000 grant, which was gazetted in 2003, be adjusted for inflation.
Dr Kimmie added that the papers have already been filed with their lawyers to ensure that official applications are filed with the courts.
“Yes, we will also ask that people who have already received their payout have their amounts adjusted for inflation.
“I think we will ask for it to be pushed to close to R100,000 per victim.
“The problem is that all that money that is sitting at the President’s Fund, the Department has had over 20 years to come up with strategies or proposals for how to distribute that money to victims.
“They have done nothing to facilitate that. They have just stayed and watched this Fund grow without making any real effort to try and use that money to support victims who have been struggling,” explained Kimmie.
Meanwhile, the Minister said the victims continue to receive various forms of support from the government, including housing and education support.
“Government had also supported 21,676 beneficiaries through education interventions, while 2,010 students had received higher education bursaries,” remarked Kubayi.
In addition, Kubayi said that higher education support would continue until 2030, adding that the government would work to continue helping families find closure.
