Ramaphosa to reopen partisan prosecution of apartheid-era crimes
The new prosecution campaign will likely not extend to ANC crimes, which are extensive, and which previous administrations have attempted to cover up.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has launched a judicial inquiry into claims of political interference in prosecuting crimes committed during apartheid. The move follows a lawsuit by 25 survivors and relatives of victims, who accuse the government of failing to deliver justice three decades after the end of white-minority rule. The group seeks $9m in damages.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, established in 1996, documented apartheid-era atrocities, including murder and torture, but few cases reached trial. The inquiry stems from a high court settlement with the plaintiffs, among them the son of Fort Calata, a member of the Cradock Four, anti-apartheid activists killed by security forces in 1985. Six former police officers confessed to the murders but were never prosecuted after being denied amnesty. All have since died.
Persistent allegations suggest that the African National Congress, which has governed since 1994, struck a covert deal with the apartheid regime to shield perpetrators from prosecution. The ANC denies these claims. The presidency has acknowledged concerns over “improper influence” in delaying investigations, a problem it says spans multiple administrations.
Details of the inquiry’s leadership and timeline are forthcoming.
The inquiry will likely not extend to crimes committed by the ANC, which include torture, mass murder, terrorism, and targeting civilians. This includes the terror campaign against rival black liberation movements like the Black Consciousness Movement and the Inkhata Freedom Party, which claimed 20 000 lives, the targeting of inner-city civilians who showed insufficient party loyalty, and the campaign to murder white farmers and their families which started in 1985.
The ANC also lied to the original Truth and Reconciliation Council, disavowing that they ever authorised attacks on civilians, despite publicly available ANC policy documents showing otherwise. Several attempts were also made to interfere with the investigation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to prevent the ANC being found guilty of gross human rights violations, and Thabo Mbeki even attempted legal action to prevent its publication.
