By Johnathan Paoli
Family members and survivors of apartheid-era crimes have announced filing a constitutional damages lawsuit in the North Gauteng High Court against President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government.
The applicants, supported by the Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) and Weber Wenzel Attorneys, say the government’s failure to investigate and prosecute unresolved crimes from the country’s apartheid past violates their constitutional rights to justice, equality and dignity.
The lawsuit stems from unfulfilled recommendations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which concluded its work in 2002.
The TRC has urged for the prosecution of individuals involved in apartheid crimes who did not qualify for amnesty.
However successive governments, beginning with that of former president Thabo Mbeki, have largely failed to act on these recommendations.
Applicants in the case include families of high-profile victims such as the Cradock Four, Pebco Three, the COSAS 4, survivors of the Highgate Hotel Massacre, and others.
Lukhanyo Calata, who is the son of Cradock Four member Fort Calata, is leading the application.
The Cradock Four were anti-apartheid activists including Fort Calata, Sicelo Mhlauli, Sparrow Mkonto and Matthew Goniwe.
They on 27 June 1985 while returning to Cradock from Gqeberha (then known as Port Elizabeth) when they were arrested at a roadblock manned by the Security Branch, assaulted and murdered.
Calata has expressed frustration over decades of inaction.
“In the more than 20 years following the handover of the TRC report to Mbeki, government ministers have intervened to prevent the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) from carrying out its constitutional mandate to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes. Justice delayed in this manner has ensured that justice is permanently denied to our families,” Calata said.
Despite the TRC identifying hundreds of cases for prosecution, many were never pursued due to political meddling, leading to the loss of crucial evidence, witnesses and perpetrators.
The application seeks three main outcomes.
Firstly, a declaration that successive governments violated constitutional rights by suppressing investigations and prosecutions of apartheid-era crimes.
Secondly, the application seeks monetary compensation in the form of constitutional damages to the value of over R167 million to support private prosecutions, public memorialisation initiatives and other justice-related activities.
The applicants are also requesting an order compelling the president to establish an independent commission of inquiry into the political interference that stifled accountability for the TRC cases.
Webber Wentzel Pro Bono Department head Odette Geldenhuys said the application came as a last resort in light of the government’s actions denying the survivors and victims’ families rights to justice, truth and closure.
Zaid Kimmie from the FHR stressed the broader implications of this case.
“The co-applicants are pursuing this case not only on behalf of their own rights but also in the public interest and for all survivors and families of victims who aim to address the systemic failure caused by political interference in the investigations and prosecutions of the TRC cases,” Kimmie said.
The Eastern Cape Division of the High Court in Gqeberha postponed a third inquest into the murder of the Cradock Four in September last year to June 2025, over delays in legal funding for former police and defence force members, and a family member of one of the four.
Meanwhile the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have expressed solidarity with the families and welcomed the litigation.
EFF spokesperson Leigh-Ann Mathys said her party supported the families’ call for accountability and agreed that the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry was long overdue.
“As these families turn to the courts, we commend their courage and commitment to truth and justice,” she said.
The party maintained the delay of justice raised serious questions about the African National Congress’s complicity and whether their leaders have something to hide.
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