South Africa African Transitional Justice Hub

South Africa

South Africa’s history has long been marred by racism and discrimination. In 1652, the Dutch East India Company established a settlement in the Cape. Once there, the settlers brutalized and dispossessed the indigenous San and Khoikhoi populations, forcing them into indentured servitude. Control over the Cape passed to the British in 1806. European domination was...

Truth Seeking and Sexual Violence

South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1996-2002)

Following a political stalemate in the 1980s and 1990s, which had seen growing unrest and ungovernability in South Africa, the National Party government, the African National Congress (ANC), the Inkatha Freedom Party and other political groups entered into negotiations to end apartheid and establish a democracy.

Regional Economic Communities Frameworks

Southern African Development Community

According to its founding treaty, the objectives of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) include promoting sustainable and equitable economic growth and socioeconomic development that will ensure poverty alleviation with the ultimate objective of its eradication, enhancing the standard and quality of life of the people of Southern Africa and supporting the socially disadvantaged through...

Opinion

The Unfinished Business of Justice: South Africa’s Broken Promise to Apartheid Survivors

South Africa must revisit its approach to reparations, including by expanding access beyond the narrow confines of the TRC victim list, simplifying administrative processes, and investing in community-based programmes that address systemic inequality, writes Cathy-Ann Potgieter.