ArticlesMediaRacism, Transitional JusticeCrime, Security and Fear of the OtherEarlier this year a local couple made the news when they applied for asylum in the United States claiming that they were persecuted in South Africa on the basis of their race. The couple argued that as whites they would be the victims of crime if returned to South Africa, and they further feared they would be unemployed as a… Read More CSVRJune 4, 2004
PublicationsResearchTransitional Justice, Truth CommissionsThe State of Access to Information in South AfricaThis report provides a comprehensive overview of the state of access to information in South Africa with particular focus on the implementation of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) (2000). The author draws on several interviews conducted with various researchers, activists, lawyers and academics in civil society organisations involved in access to information work/activity as well as relevant… Read More Dale McKinleyJanuary 5, 2004
PublicationsResearchReconciliation, Reparations and Victim Services, Transitional JusticeSouthern Africa Reconciliation Project: Khulumani Case StudyThis paper looks at the work of the Khulumani Support Group, a non-government organisation (NGO) in South Africa that has been lobbying government to implement a clear reparations policy for the survivors of apartheid-era political violence. It will outline some of the organisation's major campaigns as well as evaluate its effectiveness. The case study will examine the context within which… Read More Oupa MakhalemeleJanuary 1, 2004
PublicationsResearchReparations and Victim Services, Transitional JusticeStill Not Talking: Government's Exclusive Reparations Policy and the Impact of the 30 000 Financial Reparations on SurvivorsThis report highlights survivors' views about the R30 000 reparations granted by the South African government. This money was granted to those identified as survivors of gross human rights violations by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The views expressed by twenty survivors of gross human rights violations living in the Vaal townships, south of Johannesburg, shows the frustrations experienced… Read More Oupa MakhalemeleJanuary 1, 2004
ArticlesMediaTransitional JusticeSouth Africa Cannot Afford the Culture of SecrecyIn asserting that public access to government-held information was essential to accountable processes of democratic rule, a United States Judge, Louis Brandeis, once said: "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the best policeman." Despite recognising that there are times when, in the interests of privacy or state security, such information might be withheld from the… Read More CSVRDecember 10, 2003
PublicationsResearchMemory and Memorialisation, Reconciliation, Transitional JusticeA Case Study of Constitution HillThis report analyses the role of museums in promoting national unity, stability and reconciliation in post-conflict society, looking specifically at Constitution Hill in the post-Apartheid South African context. It will be shown that Constitution Hill can, if created to meet the needs of the community within which it finds itself, achieve its potential as a vehicle for civic engagement and… Read More Ereshnee NaiduDecember 5, 2003
