Date: 8 November 2024
Time: 12:30-14:00pmSAST
Register to join via Zoom
2024 marks South Africa’s 30 years of transition from apartheid rule to democracy. There has been remarkable progress in overcoming the legacy of colonialism and apartheid through legislative and other reforms. However, South Africa has struggled to address poverty and other socio-economic inequalities that continue to exist decades later. This tragic reality was exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this, in 2020, the Government launched Operation Vulindlela as part of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (EERP) to reconstruct and stimulate equitable and inclusive economic growth following decades of structural inequalities and poverty.
Apart from the prevalence of structural inequalities and poverty, the quest for reparations for victims of apartheid-era gross human rights violations remains a thorny issue. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended payment of reparations, including individual financial reparation grants, symbolic and community reparation and rehabilitation programmes. However, majority of the victims of apartheid are yet to receive reparations. As of 2022, it was reported that the President’s Fund established to pay reparations has accrued at least R 1.9 billion. In 2022 and 2023, there were reports that dozens of protestors and activists were camping outside the Constitutional Court demanding reparations for abuses suffered under the apartheid regime. By May 2024, some of these protesters were reportedly still camping outside the Constitutional Court under harsh weather conditions.
The payment of reparations is often considered as being intertwined with the reconciliation process in that the payments not only restores the dignity of those affected; but it also serves as acknowledgement of the human rights violations suffered and is thus viewed as a tangible acknowledgement of accountability of the past injustices.
This webinar interrogate how South Africa can address its socio-economic disparities against the background of the work of the TRC. The webinar will probe the following pertinent questions:
- What is the state of social cohesion in South Africa and to what extent has race relations improved in the last 30 years?
- What is the role of corporate actors in social transformation and to what extent have corporations contributed to addressing socio-economic inequalities in post-apartheid South Africa?
- What is the nexus between corruption and socio-economic inequalities and what measures can be adopted to combat corruption?
- How has the failure of the TRC to address socio-economic dimension of Transitional Justice impacted socio-economic disparities rooted in apartheid?
- How effective are the TRC’s recommendation for reparations and what are the obstacles to their implementation?
Speakers:
Dr. Sandiswa Lerato Kobe: -
Lecturer at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in the Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History, and Missiology
Professor Tshepo Madlingozi -Commissioner, South African Human Rights Commission
Dr Shirley Gunn: Executive Director -
Human Rights Media Centre
Moderator
Ms Thandiwe Matthews -Lecturer, Wits School of Governance
