As South Africa prepares to celebrate 30 years of democracy, a group of elderly citizens is demanding reparations for Apartheid era crimes. Many victims are still being ignored, they say, even though the government has a fund worth 100 million U.S. dollars for reparations.

Johannesburg

As South Africa nears the 30-year mark of its democratic journey, a collective of elderly citizens is calling for reparations for the injustices endured during the apartheid era. Despite the existence of a $100 million U.S. dollar fund designated for reparations, the group alleges that many victims remain overlooked by the government. This claim is being made by members of the Galela Movement, who have demonstrated their resolve by camping out at the steps of South Africa's Constitutional Court for the past five months.

The movement's leader, Nomarashia Bonase, has voiced disappointment in the government's approach to justice for victims, citing a failure to foster a platform for healing and redress. Bonase, who suffered personal loss and violence during the apartheid, highlighted the uninvestigated death of her brother in 1993 as a poignant example of the state's neglect. Her brother was killed during a vigil for liberation activist Chris Hani, yet his death remained unprobed.

Supporting the Galela Movement's cause, the Khulumani Support Group put forward evidence that numerous apartheid-era crimes went unreported due to various barriers faced by victims during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process. According to the organization, lack of accessibility and awareness meant many did not come forward at the time. The group claims to have collected 130,000 statements from individuals who were excluded from the TRC process, prompting a call for the government to revisit these cases.

However, the government has expressed that it is too late to reopen such cases, insisting that individuals demanding reparations outside the Constitutional Court should disband their protest. The stance is based on legislative finality and procedural regulations established by parliament. Despite these statements, the government has made known its plan to allocate the reparation fund towards housing, education, and healthcare for the 21,000 people currently acknowledged on the reparations list.

The Galela Victims Group contends that the exclusion of additional victims from the reparations list stems from a lack of political will rather than legislative or regulatory barriers. After years of writing letters and lobbying for recognition, they hope their ongoing physical presence at a key symbol of the justice system will prompt the government to reconsider its stance on reparations.



South African apartheid victims demand reparations

What they say is a fight for justice on the steps of South Africa's constitutional court. Members of the Galela movement have spent the last five months camping here on the court steps. They say many victims of apartheid-era crimes are being ignored, even though the government has a fund worth US$100 million for reparations. Nomarashia Bonase is the group's leader and says many of the members missed out on the truth and reconciliation process. I feel down and I feel the government is not doing any justice, not only to me, to each and every victim in South Africa by not allowing, by not even creating that platform. Because I feel like it's a part one, it's a healing session to speak out, to be listened at and at the same time to be redressed. Bonase says she was beaten by apartheid police while working as an activist. But perhaps the most painful scar is the loss of her brother. She says he was murdered by the army in 1993 during a vigil for liberation activist Chris Hani. It took about a week not knowing where about his body until I had to go to the government mosque in Tshimiste where I found a pack of corpse, dead bodies who were packed like bags of cement on top of in order to get to know his body. I have to ask also the person who was working there, can you help me because I feel like my brother is maybe amongst those. Bonase says his death was never investigated. Sister organisation the Kulumani Support Group has 130,000 statements from people who missed out during the TRC process. This means it says the government should consider. It says many victims were not comfortable to speak out so soon after apartheid while others didn't have the means. The state never announced where the TRC statement takers would be, I mean it was pure luck if you even heard of it and then also because people had basically really destitute already at that time, they didn't have money to take taxis to go to the statement takers. Those were some of the very practical problems. We have documented this all for the Department of Justice because we think it's completely unjustified to just close the doors when all this work has been documented and the flaws are actually on the side of the state. Despite the research and despite the protest, the government says it's too late to reopen cases. When it comes to the people that are currently living outside the Constitutional Court, are you saying that they should simply go home? Yes, they should go home and we raised it with them when we were there, that there is no need for them to be there out in the court on this thing because ourselves there is nothing that we can do. The parliament has the list closed, the regulations are done through the processes of parliament and it will be a regularity for us to open the list. The South African government says it will use the reparation fund for housing, education and healthcare for the 21,000 people on the current list. Members of the Galela Victims Group say the only thing stopping the government from putting more people on that list is a lack of political will. After decades of writing letters and lobbying, they hope their physical presence at the heart of the justice system might shame the government into action.

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