Episode description

“What makes this case more than difficult, what makes this case bitterly sad and bitterly frustrating, is that this didn’t have to happen” – Odette Geldenhuys, South African lawyer. In the mid 1990s, the South African government set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It was aimed at looking into human rights violations and to promote dialogue between victims and perpetrators of political violence. At the end of its work in 2003, the commission recommended that 300 cases needed to be prosecuted, but this did not happen. Now, 25 families of those who lost their loved ones during apartheid, have taken president Cyril Ramaphosa to court, urging him to look into these cases. They allege that there were no prosecutions because there was political interference. Presenter: Mpho Lakaje Guests: Buyisiwe Njoko, Yasmin Sooka, Odette Geldenhuys