Khulumani Support Groupa membership-based organization formed by victims

and survivors of apartheid gross human rights violations.

established in 1995 to support people testifying at the TRC.

works for reparation, redress and restitution as the keys to building social, economic, political and cultural justice.

has over 85 000 members across nine provinces.

KHULUMANI aims to close the gap of inequality through

promoting healing, peace-building, and reconciliation

to transform victims into victors through restoring human dignity and ubuntu

to build active citizens participating in our democratic society

until every issue raised by the TRC has been resolved.

Redress through the TRC

The TRC was established to find truth, reconciliation & redress.

But:Government closed the TRC to victims’ input in December 1997. After they closed the process we learned that anyone who did not go to the TRC could not qualify for reparations. They allowed perpetrators to apply for amnesty for several years after they closed the process for victims.

The TRC . . . took 21,190 victim statements.

proposed restitution for 16, 000 victims.

Government paid reparations to these people; but the amounts were significantly less than the TRC recommended.

Many people never went to the TRC at all.

Khulumani has over 85,000 statements of people who “suffered for justice and freedom in our land”.

•

We have tried to address the TRC’s “unfinished business”. . .

Khulumani has worked with experts to develop victim-centered proposals for

restitution (presented to the Office of the President in 2003 and to the TRC Unit in 2005).

raised issues of incomplete reparations and the ‘closed list’ in marches, memoranda and petitions to Parliament.

organized submissions to Parliament on numerous bills, including the Special Pensions Amendment Bill, the Military Veterans’ Bill, and the Combating Torture Bill.

in 2007 stopped Government from putting remaining reparation funds into the Disaster Fund, as these funds were dedicated to support survivors and victims of apartheid violations.

Our members & branches have:

• delivered memoranda to local Magistrates’ Courts -- no response beyond acknowledging receipt.

• from 2009 thousands of Khulumani members called the Presidential Hotline (17737) to report cases about lack of reparations – no response;

• we have submitted multiple requests to the Public Protector for assistance.

We engaged with the TRC unit: participated in the consultation organized by the TRC Unit on 22 March 2012 at Burgerspark Hotel in Pretoria. The DOJ presented its proposals but allowed no discussion. Forty-five Khulumani members tabled concerns during that meeting; none were addressed.

in 2013 we applied for an urgent meeting with the Minister of Justice to discuss the Department’s reparations policy; this meeting did not materialise.

Parliamentary Monitoring Group records show that TRC Unit has not informed the Portfolio Committee of our many submissions.

We work with government…

identify the disappeared;

verify the truth for memorialisation projects (such as at Freedom Park)

trace people for payout of TRC reparations, and

engage in victim-perpetrator dialogue

As representatives of victims and survivors, we help to:

We work through democratic process

as an applicant and as an amicus of the court, we have engaged in cases where the courts have: ruled that proposed amendments to prosecution guidelines for perpetrators of crimes during ‘conflicts of the past’ were unconstitutional, illegal and invalid;

determined that special Presidential Pardons should not be given to offenders in politically-motivated crimes without consultation with victims and families of victims; and

clarified amnesty provisions that apply to politically-motivated crimes

1. IMPLEMENT TRC recommendations (published 15 years ago, on 29 October 1998)

Khulumani key demands:

Government has not implemented TRC’s recommendations to repair victims and survivors.

It has not carried out recommendations to prosecute perpetrators who did not receive amnesty.

2. OPEN THE CLOSED LIST Provide reparations to all victims of

apartheid gross human rights violations, not only those people who went before the TRC.

3. USE THE PRESIDENT’S FUND TO RESTORE VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS

On 26 November 2013 Khulumani petitioned the Portfolio Committee of Parliament for an urgent intervention on issues of reparations. On 31 November 2013 the DOJ gazetted new proposals to spend the R1,3 billion remaining in the Presidents Fund on community projects.

of proposed regulations that will mis-use the Presidents’ Fund The proposed regulations do not fulfill intent &

commitments for either individual reparations or community rehabilitation under the TRC ACT of 1996.

This mis-use of funds will break our society’s agreements to provide redress for survivors and victims (the stated beneficiaries of the Presidents Fund).

 

STOP IMPLEMENTATION

The Presidents Fund was established in 1997 under the TRC Act to provide for:

“the granting of reparation to, and the rehabilitation and restoration of the human and civil dignity of victims of

violations of human rights”.

Today, R1,13 billion remains in the President’s Fund because the DOJ has failed to fulfill this goal: Government did not pay victims the amounts recommended by the TRC.

Many victims and survivors did not testify before the TRC; including those who were too traumatised to testify the TRC lost case files some were unable to get to the TRC or lacked information some believed their case was part of a joint submission some feared on-going political violence.

The President’s Fund paid reparations only to those who testified before the TRC – less than a fifth of those who could have claimed reparations.

Failed: reparations to individuals

Failed: Community rehabilitationThe President’s Fund was also tasked with funding community rehabilitation.

Human rights violations leaves people trapped by poverty, marginalization and incapacity as a direct result of those violations. These people need targeted measures to get their lives back on track.

Proposals for “community rehabilitation” look at: on-going medical care, psycho-social trauma counseling, skills and training programs, education and support for children and grandchildren whose parents were victimized

by violations, Investment in sustainable, income-generating projects, commemoration/ memorialization projects

The President’s Fund has not funded these.

Globally accepted UN framework for reparations to victims of gross human rights violations

SatisfactionRehabilitation

Guarantees of non-repetition

RestitutionCompensation

Budget for a ‘Martyrs’ Memorial Transformation Institute’ in each province

Budget for national programme of  community-based  psychosocial rehabilitation  services

Budget for micro- & medium finance for livelihoods initiatives & for establishment of survivor savings clubs

Monthly ‘reparation grant’ x an initial 5 years for estimated 150,000 affected persons

Projected budgets to achieve reparation in South Africa

Globally accepted UN framework for reparations to victims of gross human rights violations

SatisfactionRehabilitation

Guarantees of non-repetition

RestitutionCompensation

Budget for a ‘Martyrs’ Memorial Transformation Institute’ in each province

Budget for national programme of  community-based  psychosocial rehabilitation  services

Budget for micro- & medium finance for livelihoods initiatives & for establishment of survivor savings clubs

Monthly ‘reparation grant’ x an initial 5 years for estimated 150,000 affected persons

Total budget for community rehabilitation programs R542.5M + R45M investment = R587.5M

*Based on study done for Khulumani in 2005

The proposals gazetted on 29 Nov 2013:

Give no criteria for selecting damaged communities for these projects.

Provide funds for clinics, schools, community centres and infrastructure which government is already committed to building – these substitute for existing departments’ work, rather than add support for traumatised communitie..

Take no steps to target victims and survivors for jobs or income. So only those who are already able to tender, not to those in need, will benefit. The proposals designate the IDT as the Agency for implementation. Stakeholders question the IDT’s capacity, given its history.

  .

Current proposals:OFF TRACK FOR REHABILITATION

WE HAVE A RIGHT TO REPARATION, REDRESS AND

RESTITUTION

“We want to build better communities but we are getting no assistance from government, only negative answers. The process must open up until the last victim of an apartheid gross human rights violation is included. What kind of door is it that shuts out of the ‘hospital’ 90% of patients waiting for treatment after ten years of efforts to have the door opened?”

- Khulumani member, 2012