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While the GOOD Party welcomes the President’s announcement of the establishment of a commission of inquiry into alleged political interference in the execution of justice, the commission must not further delay the process of holding the perpetrators of apartheid-era crimes accountable. The NPA must proceed with urgency to prosecute the TRC-recommended cases it still can.

The United Nations declared apartheid a crime against humanity. It beggars belief that some of the most blood-soaked apartheid-era criminals, who thumbed their noses at the generous amnesty terms offered by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, have been left to roam the land.

The TRC was a carrot and a stick process: The promise of amnesty was the carrot, with the stick being the prosecution of those who did not apply or qualify for amnesty. At the conclusion of its work nearly 25 years ago, the TRC handed the State a list of more than 300 cases. But, for reasons we hope the President’s new commission will clarify, the State chose not to use the stick.

Most of the crimes were perpetrated by soldiers, police and proxies of the apartheid state against people viewed as supporting the objectives of the anti-apartheid movement. Many of the victims were associated with the ANC, which formed the government for the first 30 years of democracy. 

But a decision was evidently taken to subvert justice.Former National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli has stated on affidavit that he was instructed not to conduct investigations by then-Minister of Justice Bridget Mabandla. Pikoli’s statement has been rejected by then-President Thabo Mbeki.

Intensifying the mystery, just prior to the death of the last apartheid President, FW De Klerk, his Foundation released a statement claiming the existence of a political deal that apartheid era cases would not be investigated. Many have speculated that the reason for such a deal could be the existence of information implicating senior leaders.

Whatever the truth, the decision not to prosecute these cases wholly contradicts the first 100 words of South Africa’s Constitution which commits the country to recognising the injustices of the past, honouring those who suffered for justice, healing divisions, and laying the foundations for a democratic and open society based on the will of the people in which every citizen is equally protected by law.

Instead of laying the basis for an accountable state, in which all are equal before the law, the State decision on non-prosecution laid the foundations for the criminal and political impunity with which we now live. The cases have been ignored for so long that many perpetrators, witnesses, and victims’ loved ones are dead.

The families of the victims finally went to court early this year to demand an explanation from the State and a large sum of damages.

The Presidency responded, first by stating it would not oppose the application, and then, yesterday, announcing the establishment of a new inquiry into the prosecutorial delays – which commission, it proposed, would also respond to the rights and damages claim. 

The families quickly issued a statement supporting the inquiry into alleged political interference but dismissing the commission’s powers to determine rights and remedies. They would therefore oppose the President’s application to the court to stay the application pending the outcome of the commission. The families must be supported. The truth must emerge regardless of the consequences for politicians.

New systems must be developed to avoid the potential for political interference in prosecutions in future, and the State must pay damages for its grievous act of protecting politicians from accountability while stomping on the rights to justice of “ordinary” people.

Issued by Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General