Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi says R498 million has been paid to victims of apartheid-era human rights violations through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) reparations programme.
Kubayi was responding to questions in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Tuesday about the progress made in implementing TRC reparations and interventions.
She said regulations providing for a once-off individual reparation grant of R30,000 were published in 2003 and identified 21,676 people as victims.
As of August 20, 17,560 victims had applied for the grant, while 4,216 had not yet applied.
“This amounts to R498 million overall that has been paid, and also what we have done was to publish the names of the 4,216 people that did not apply, and we did this this year in the newspapers,” Kubayi said.
The names were also published in the Government Gazette, on the department’s website and on social media platforms.
R500m for community rehabilitation
Kubayi said the government had also raised R500 million for community rehabilitation projects, with 16 communities identified for the programme.
Consultations with the communities had already been completed.
The minister said the government had also supported 21,676 beneficiaries through education interventions, while 2,010 students had received higher education bursaries.
The higher education support would continue until 2030, she said.
Kubayi also reported progress in the identification and reburial of victims’ remains.
She said all remains held on properties belonging to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development had been handed over to their families.
The department was also working with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to identify and recover remains buried outside South Africa.
Housing reparations
Kubayi said 1,711 applications had been received for housing assistance under the housing reparation programme launched with President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year.
Of these, 1,693 had been verified, with some applicants already receiving their benefits.
Medical benefit reparations remained outstanding, with the Justice and Health departments continuing discussions over the regulations, she said.
The Justice Department had also worked on 151 inquest matters, including seven on the criminal court roll, nine reopened inquests and 10 finalised inquests. A further 43 decisions had been taken.
Kubayi rejected suggestions that the government had not made progress on TRC-related work.
“We’ve done extensive work, and we want to commend the team,” she said.
Kubayi said the work would continue to help families find closure.
“Ours is to continue and ensure that South Africans actually find peace and can find closure in this most difficult period that we experience as a country,” she said.
Kubayi also defended the continued discussion of South Africa’s apartheid past, saying confronting it remained important even after reparations had been completed.
Remembering the country’s painful past was important for younger generations and would help ensure that the same injustices were not repeated, she said.
hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za
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