Justice or diversion? Saftu challenges Ramaphosa's inquiry into TRC prosecutions

IOL News

02-05-2025

Justice buried under commissions is justice betrayed says SAFTU's general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, condemning President Ramaphosa's new TRC inquiry as another diversion from real action and long-overdue accountability.
Image: File
The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) has criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to establish a new commission of inquiry to investigate why the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) were never implemented.
Saftu views this move as a wasteful and cynical attempt to avoid accountability, branding it 'a bizarre and shameful spectacle of the state appointing a commission to investigate itself for its failure to act on the findings of a previous commission.'
The announcement comes as Ramaphosa moves to establish a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate whether government officials obstructed the investigation or prosecution of apartheid-era crimes.
These cases, referred by the TRC to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), have been a longstanding source of frustration for victims and their families.
Earlier this year, survivors and relatives of apartheid victims, with the backing of the Foundation for Human Rights (FHR), initiated legal proceedings in the Gauteng High Court. They accused senior state officials, including President Ramaphosa, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, National Prosecuting Authority head Shamila Batohi, and SAPS Commissioner Fannie Masemola, of unlawfully delaying and obstructing justice.
The Presidency on Wednesday, acknowledged that past administrations may have improperly influenced these investigations and stressed that the new inquiry follows extensive settlement discussions.
However, unresolved issues remain, such as the government's potential liability for constitutional damages, which are now expected to be addressed through the commission's terms of reference.
In a statement, Saftu's general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, condemned what it called a recurring pattern of 'governance by delegation and deferral — not by leadership.'
According to Saftu, the government's response to major national crises has been to appoint commission after commission, yet few recommendations have been acted upon, and accountability remains elusive.
The statement highlights the lack of progress following the Zondo Commission into State Capture, where despite extensive revelations of corruption, 'prosecutions are painfully slow, key enablers remain in office, and billions in stolen public funds have not been recovered.'
Saftu says the same failures are evident in the aftermath of the Marikana Commission, the Life Esidimeni Arbitration, and the Nugent Commission into SARS, each revealing systemic abuse or negligence, followed by minimal consequences.
Even the TRC, Saftu argues, has been betrayed.
'Three decades later, [its recommendations] have been ignored or shelved,' the federation says, adding that apartheid-era criminals who were denied or never sought amnesty remain unprosecuted, while victims and their families continue to suffer in silence.
'This endless cycle of commissions without consequences has become a deliberate strategy of avoidance,' the statement reads.