Report of the Ad Hoc Joint Committee on Reparations, dated 24 June 2003:
1. Introduction
The Ad Hoc Joint Committee on Reparations (the Committee) has been established by decision of the Speaker and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces to consider recommendations made by the President in terms of section 27 of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act (Act No. 34 of 1995).
The Committee first met on 3 June 2003 and elected two co-chairpersons, Mr A Mlangeni and Ms N C Kondlo, according to the Rule 55 of the Joint Rules of Parliament. The Committee met for the second time on 10 June 2003 and identified four key recommendations from the President's speech delivered to the Joint Sitting of Parliament held on 15 April 2003, namely:
(i) symbols and monuments; (ii) rehabilitation of communities; (iii) medical benefits and other forms of social assistance; and (iv) final reparations.
The Committee also appointed a subcommittee to advise it on an appropriate response by Parliament to these recommendations. The subcommittee met on 11, 12, 17 and 23 June to consider the recommendations, as well as written public comments received in this regard, and submitted a report to the Committee on 24 June, which report was accepted and adopted as the final report of the Committee.
2. Context The Committee proposes that the four recommendations identified be grouped into two main categories, namely:
* Recommendations that seek to redress injustices of the past in a more holistic manner by focusing on gross human rights violations inflicted upon whole communities and the broader society, on the one hand; and
* Recommendations that seek to redress gross human rights violations suffered by individual victims identified through the TRC process by granting them some degree of relief.
A view was expressed, but not carried, that victims as defined in the Act and the reparations due to them, as defined, are governed by sections 3, 4, 5, 25, and 26 of the Act, and that symbolic or community recognition cannot serve as a substitute for inadequate individual reparations. Alongside adequate reparations, they would be a welcome addition.
The Committee rejects the assertion that the Act was aimed exclusively at the granting of reparation to individuals only and not in granting redress to communities and the broader society for harm suffered as a result of gross human rights violations of the past.
In addition, the Committee rejects the contention that symbolic and community recognition serves as a substitute for what is perceived to be inadequate individual reparation.
3. Recommendations
3.1 Symbols and Monuments The Committee supports the President's recommendation calling for systematic programmes to project the symbolism of struggle and the ideal of freedom through academic and informal records of history, cultural and art forms, erecting symbols and monuments that exalt the freedom struggle, including new geographic and place names.
The Committee notes the work that has already commenced at various levels of government in this regard. This includes work-in-progress towards the establishment of Freedom Park, the Garden of Peace and the renaming of streets and towns in various parts of the country.
The Committee, having deliberated on the matter, agrees that the focus here is on the struggle that led to the current democratic dispensation ushered by the new constitutional order in 1994. In this regard, the Committee, having further deliberated on the matter, is of the view that unity and reconciliation should also be projected in such symbols.
3.2 Rehabilitation of Communities The Committee supports the government's commitment to the continued payment of special emphasis on the rehabilitation of communities that were subjected to intense acts of violence and destruction. The Committee notes the work that has already begun in this area and endorses the focus on a partnership approach between communities and government in pursuit of this objective.
The Committee, having deliberated extensively on the matter, agrees with the view that not only individuals but also whole communities suffered and are still in distress. It therefore recognises the need for such communities to be rehabilitated through various programmes, such as alluded to by the President.
3.3 Medical Benefits and other forms of Social assistance With regard to the specific cases of individual victims identified by the Act, the Committee notes the assurance given by the President of programmes put in place to provide for medical benefits, education assistance and provision of housing as well as other social benefits to address the needs of individual victims identified by the Act.
In this regard, the Committee's attention was drawn to the assertion in the TRC report that "the failure of the responsible government bodies to provide the required information, combined with the fact that victims return constantly to the President's Fund and the RRC empty-handed, points to a complete breakdown in the agreement forged between government (inter-Ministerial Committee on Reparation) and the RRC". 1
The Committee therefore proposes that Parliament, in line with its oversight role, be provided with regular reports by government on progress made in this regard at least once a year.
3.4 Final Reparations The Committee, having considered the President's recommendations regarding final reparations, endorses the commitment of the government to provide a one-off grant of R30,000 to those individuals or survivors designated by the TRC, over and above the other material commitments already mentioned.
The Committee notes, but does not accept, the contentions put forward that the amount proposed is inadequate and that at minimum the 2975 declared victims whose rights to seek legal recourse against successful amnesty applicants for damages have been extinguished, are entitled to assessment of the losses suffered and to commensurate compensation.
4. Conclusion The Committee therefore recommends that Parliament accept the four recommendations made by the President, as identified in this Report. Further, the Committee anticipates that all the necessary practical arrangements for the effective implementation of these recommendations will be provided for in the regulations to be promulgated and implemented by the President in accordance with the provisions of the Act.