'The President is both player and referee': Families fight Ramaphosa's attempt to delay apartheid justice case
The Pretoria High Court will on Wednesday hear an application brought by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government seeking to reinstate their opposition in the constitutional damages case.
The case, filed by 25 families and survivors of apartheid-era gross human rights violations, seeks accountability for political interference in the prosecution of crimes recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
IOL previously reported that the families of victims who were forcibly disappeared or killed during apartheid, supported by the Foundation for Human Rights (FHR), filed an application against Ramaphosa and the government earlier this year.
They are seeking R167 million in constitutional damages for the state's 'gross failure.' The families say there was 'a gross violation of their human rights as the state failed to investigate and/or prosecute the cases referred by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to the National Prosecuting Authority.'
The government is also requesting a postponement or stay of the case pending the outcome of a judicial commission of inquiry established on May 29, 2025.
The families, survivors, and the FHR, who have welcomed the establishment of the commission in principle, have expressed strong opposition to the government's attempt to delay the matter.
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Ramaphosa seeks apartheid damages case delay, but victims' families argue perpetrators are dying
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eNCA
5 hours ago
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IOL News
10 hours ago
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