Latest news with #TruthandReconciliationCommission
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- General
- The Guardian
Inquest into notorious apartheid-era killings opens in South Africa
An inquest into one of the most notorious killings of South Africa's apartheid era opened on Monday with a former general denying that he ordered the deaths of four men who became known as the Cradock Four. Fort Calata, Matthew Goniwe, Sicelo Mhlauli and Sparrow Mkonto were stopped at a roadblock on 27 June 1985 by security officers and beaten, strangled with telephone wire, stabbed and shot to death. Inquests into the killings of the four activists were held in 1987 and 1993, before South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994. In 1999, the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission refused six security officers amnesty for their role in the killings. They were never prosecuted and have all since died. Howard Varney, a lawyer for relatives of the Cradock Four, said in his opening statement to the inquest, at the high court in the city of Gqeberha: 'These were four young men who had so much to offer South Africa. The searing pain of their absence persists with the families to this day.' At one of the previous inquests, it was revealed that Joffel van der Westhuizen, the former military commander of what was then the Eastern Province, sent a message to the apartheid regime's state security council requesting permission to 'remove permanently from society as a matter of urgency' the 'agitators'. Another general who received the message argued that this meant detaining the men, not killing them. In an opening statement, Van der Westhuizen's lawyer said 'he denies ever authorising or ordering the killing of the deceased'. The lawyer said the former general was 'not in a very healthy condition' and had so far not been able to get the South African military to pay his legal costs. The lawyer argued that witnesses, who include nine family members of the Cradock Four, could not give evidence that implicated Van der Westhuizen unless he had funded legal representation. Judge Thami Beshe ruled that in the first part of the inquest, which will last until 12 June, witnesses could refer to Van der Westhuizen and three former police officers who are also still alive, as long as they only used information in the public domain. Calata's son, Lukhanyo Calata, said: 'Today is emotional. Good emotion. We've waited so many years to finally get to this point, where a court in democratic South Africa finally gets to hear the Cradock Four case.' Lukhanyo, who is a journalist, noted that some Afrikaners, the white minority that ruled South Africa during apartheid and the same ethnicity as his father's killers, were promoting the false claim that there was a 'genocide' against them, a claim amplified by US president Donald Trump. He added: 'What we are hoping for now is to correct the historic record.' Nombuyiselo Mhlauli, the 73-year-old widow of Sicelo, said: 'We are just hoping that we will reach that stage where we process our grief. Because, since all these years, we are living in our grief.' The relatives of the Cradock Four are among 25 families who in January sued the government for not prosecuting apartheid-era killers. In April, the country's president Cyril Ramaphosa set up an inquiry into whether past democratic governments interfered with investigations and prosecutions. However, the families have criticised the inquiry, as it only has fact-finding powers and cannot award damages. The inquest continues on Tuesday with a visit to the home of Goniwe in the town of Cradock, now called Nxuba, and the site between there and Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, where the men were abducted.
Cision Canada
a day ago
- Business
- Cision Canada
Statement by Prime Minister Carney on National Indigenous History Month Français
OTTAWA, ON, June 1, 2025 /CNW/ - "Indigenous Peoples have been stewards of Canada's lands and waters for time immemorial. National Indigenous History Month is a time to celebrate the histories, cultures, languages, knowledge, and traditions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples. "Indigenous leadership and perspectives will be foundational to how this government delivers its mandate. We will address past harms, take a distinctions-based approach, and advance self-determination, while upholding Modern Treaties and self-government agreements. "Central to this commitment is the long-term wealth and prosperity of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. To that end, we have doubled the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program from $5 billion to $10 billion – and opened it to sectors outside of energy and natural resources to catalyze more Indigenous-led infrastructure, transportation, and trade projects across the country. "As Canada moves forward with nation-building projects, the government will be firmly guided by the principle of free, prior, and informed consent. "We will work in full partnership with Indigenous Peoples – advancing shared priorities from health care, food security, housing, and education to conservation, climate action, and emergency management. We move forward on the important work of the calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Final Report, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' Calls for Justice, and the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act."
IOL News
2 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Liberation History: AfriForum's Desperate Bid to Distort Struggle Heritage
Then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki (R) hands over the African National Congress (ANC) submission to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), in Cape Town May on 12, 1997. Anyone who claims that singing "Kill the boer, Kill the farmer' is tantamount to declaring war against the Boers is irrational, unreasonable, and disingenuous, says the writer. Image: AFP Prof. Bheki Mngomezulu THE recent trip by President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation to America produced different results for different people. The official position from the government is that the trip was meant to restart trade relations between South Africa and America. As such, proponents of this view argue that the trip was a huge success. However, a counterview is that the trip caused more harm than good to South Africa's global image. According to this view, some of the utterances made at the Oval Office were unwarranted, factually flawed, and devoid of context. Apart from the questionable pictures of the graves which allegedly carried the bodies of Afrikaners killed in South Africa (who were not from South Africa), there were other developments which happened in that meeting. One of them was when Agriculture Minister John Steenhuizen told President Trump that the reason for the DA to join the coalition government led by Ramaphosa was solely to keep the EFF and MKP away from the Union Buildings. This raised questions about the honesty in the formation of the coalition government. The climax of the Oval Office meeting was when Trump played a video of Julius Malema singing his famous song 'Kill the Boer, the Farmer' and the other song which was sung by former President Jacob Zuma, which says 'Sizobadubula ngo mbayimbayi' [We are going to shoot them with artillery]. I will focus on Julius Malema's song because it is the one that has caused controversy. Even people who are supposed to know better fell into the trap of Trump's propaganda. The question becomes: does this song represent symbolic relevance or is it a violation of human rights and an instigator of racial violence? To answer this question, political expediency and political parochialism will not offer any assistance. Only objectivity, rationality, and context will assist in arriving at a credible conclusion. Firstly, this is a struggle song which was not composed by Malema. The late Peter Mokaba used to sing this song and dance but he never killed any Boer or Afrikaner. In fact, as he sang this song, no one went on a rampage killing Afrikaners following the song's lyrics. So, anyone who claims that singing this song is tantamount to declaring war against the Boers is irrational, unreasonable, and disingenuous. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Secondly, there have already been rulings on the singing of this song. Between 2016 and 2019, Malema sang this song six times on different occasions. In 2020, Afriforum approached the Gauteng Equality Court asking it to declare the song hate speech. The court dismissed this claim. Exercising its right, AfriForum proceeded to the Supreme Court of Appeal to try its luck. To this organisation's surprise, on 24 May 2024, the Supreme Court dismissed AfriForum's appeal. In its judgement, the Court stated that 'Mr Malema was doing no more than exercising his right to freedom of expression.' It went further to implore AfriForum to see the song in its correct context. In a nutshell, the Court implicitly concluded that AfriForum was driven by political expediency when it laid charges against Malema, not to unite the nation. There was no intention to get justice. Instead, the motivating factor was for AfriForum to be seen as being politically relevant. Not even the Constitutional Court could agree with the argument advanced by Afriforum. It dismissed Afriforum's application for leave to appeal, arguing that the application 'bears no reasonable prospects of success.' Out of desperation, AfriForum approached President Ramaphosa asking him to condemn the singing of the song. The organisation was once again disappointed when Ramaphosa referred it to the courts which had already ruled on the matter. Given this history, a few questions arise. Why did Trump play Malema's video singing this song? Was his intention to prove that Afrikaners are being killed in South Africa or was he simply playing a mind's game to test Ramaphosa's delegation? To what extent did Ramaphosa and his team rise above such petty politics? Was the President correct in telling Trump that 'this is not the view of government' and that Malema's EFF was not part of the coalition government? Was this necessary? A nation which abandons its history is as good as dead. It is for this reason that some universities in America insist that regardless of the qualifications students are pursuing, they are forced to take some history modules. This is done to ensure that they do not operate in a vacuum but understand the historical context. Struggle songs are part of the South African heritage. They remind all of us about the history of this country. South Africa became a democracy in 1994. However, to this day, the song 'Mhla libuyayo kuyobe kunzima' [when our land comes back, it will be tough] is still being sung for different reasons. It continues to say 'kuyokhala uBotha, kuqhume umbayimbayi' [there will be a cry from Botha, and there will be an explosion of artillery].
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Javed Akhtar doesn't think India-Pakistan situation will get better politically: 'It's a bit late for reconciliation'
Noted lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar said on Friday that he is doubtful that the relations between India and Pakistan will improve in the near future. Referring to South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a process that allowed victims and perpetrators of apartheid to come together, Javed said India and Pakistan missed a similar opportunity after Partition, which caused massive displacement and trauma on both sides. (Also Read | Javed Akhtar's retort to Pakistani actor Bushra Ansari's claim he can't rent home: 'Me and Shabana sleep on footpath') "It is a bit late in the day for reconciliation. Our people in India only knew what happened to them after 1947-48. The people over there knew what happened with them. If only all of them had sat together once.... It has been 75 years, they would be in their 90s now. How many of them would even be alive?" he said at the launch of a book titled Farewell Karachi, written by film critic-author Bhawana Somaaya. Javed said the governments of the two countries should have brought together refugees from both sides in the early or mid-1950s and let them share their stories. "Only then would we have truly known what happened to whom and what kind of atrocities were faced by how many people. It would not have remained one-sided. But this did not happen. Anyway, the situation in the near future, I do not think, will get much better politically," the 80-year-old writer said. Hostilities between India and Pakistan intensified following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, on April 22. In response, Indian armed forces hit nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on May 7 under the codename Operation Sindoor. Javed criticised vested interest groups in Pakistan, particularly the army, the political establishment and the extreme right wing, for blocking peace efforts between the two nations. "There are crores of people in Pakistan today who want better relations with India -- not just because some are genuinely good people, but because many are drawn to India's scale and progress -- its big corporates, opportunities, cinema, business, IT and industrial growth. "They are fascinated by the kind of research and development happening here. That is why a common person or a student from there aspires to come to India and be part of that world. But unfortunately, this is not in the interest of Pakistan's army, establishment or right wing. That is the real issue," he said. Javed said India tried hard to improve relations, both diplomatically and culturally, while Pakistan has not reciprocated at the same level. "Our Army is very professional, they are not at all political. But it is not like that there (Pakistan). People say every country has an army and the Pakistani army has a country. So this is the difference," he said. "This does not mean that we do not have bad people here and we have never done anything wrong. But the truth is that in this matter, the Indian government has been better than the Pakistani government in the last 70 years," he added. Despite the tensions, Javed said India has never acted in an "aggressive" way. "There is such a big dispute in Kashmir.... In spite of our claim, we have never been aggressive. In fact, many people complain, 'why are you not aggressive?' We are not that. So the aggression has always been from that side. So this is not right," he said. Javed was accompanied by his actor wife, Shabana Azmi, at the event.
IOL News
4 days ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Ramaphosa appoints Judge Sisi Khampepe to probe decades of apartheid-era justice delays
At the first sitting of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in East London in April 1996, chairman Archbishop Desmond Tutu and deputy chairman Alex Boraine hear evidence from the family of the Cradock Four, Mathew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkonto and Sicelo Mhlauli, who were tortured and murdered by the apartheid state's security police while on their way home from a meeting on the night of June 27, 1985. South Africa has failed to deliver justice for the very victims whose voices were courageously amplified during the TRC process, says the writer. Image: Independent Media Archives President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed retired Constitutional Court Judge Sisi Khampepe to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Inquiry into prosecutorial and investigation delays into apartheid era crimes. Khampepe will be assisted by retired Judge President Frans Diale Kgomo and Adv Andrea Gabriel SC. The commission will cover the period from 2003 to the present. Ramaphosa has signed a proclamation for the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry to determine whether attempts were made to prevent the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes. In a statement by the presidency, the establishment of the commission of inquiry is part of an agreement reached in settlement discussions in a court application brought by families of victims of apartheid-era crimes. Ramaphosa said: 'For many years, there have been allegations of interference in these cases. This alleged interference is seen as the cause of an unacceptable delay in the investigation and prosecution of brutal crimes committed under apartheid. This has caused the families of victims great anguish and frustration. 'All affected families – and indeed all South Africans – deserve closure and justice. A commission of inquiry with broad and comprehensive terms of reference is an opportunity to establish the truth and provide guidance on any further action that needs to be taken.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Ramaphosa said the commission will inquire into, make findings, report on and make recommendations on: Were there any efforts to stop SAPS or the NPA from investigating TRC cases? Who made these efforts, and why? Did any SAPS or NPA members improperly cooperate with those trying to influence or pressure them? Should the state take action—like more investigations or prosecutions—against anyone who broke the law? Should any person receive constitutional damages, and if so, how much? Victims and their families with a vested interest in TRC cases, including those involved in the current legal proceedings, are among the key stakeholders. The Commission of Inquiry, established by agreement between the families and the government, has six months to complete its work and must submit its report within 60 days thereafter. While both sides agreed to the commission's formation, unresolved issues remain—the government sees them as commission matters, while families seek court adjudication. As the commission began its work, the government welcomed the NPA and SAPS's commitment to investigating and prosecuting unresolved TRC cases, with dedicated resources already in place for priority matters. Ramaphosa emphasised the importance of holding those who committed apartheid-era crimes without amnesty accountable and expressed hope that the inquiry would help uncover the truth and bring closure to a painful chapter in the nation's history. IOL Politics
