Durban - Civil society groups have warned the government to ensure the rights of the victims were fully heard before President Jacob Zuma granted pardons to 149 people sentenced for politically motivated crimes dating from the 1990s.
The groups issued the warning after the Department of Justice issued another notice last week calling on victims who were directly affected to make contact.
This comes after the Pretoria High Court interdicted the granting of pardons in 2009 until the rights of victims to be heard had been fully explored.
Justice Department spokesman, Mthunzi Mhaga, could not be reached by the Daily News for comment on Monday evening.
On Monday, Khulumani Support Group’s Marje Jobson said they previously took the government to court to ensure the victims were engaged before pardons were granted.
“We would like to work with them to make sure the process is not flawed,” Jobson said.
She said a meeting with Justice Minister Michael Masutha last Friday indicated that they wanted to comply with the court order.
“All victims must be consulted. They have not found 50% of the victims,” Jobson said.
“There are only 46 applicants in jail and all others are on parole. They have to do an audit to check if they qualify for the pardons.
“They can’t just let people out without asking the victims. We require that there be full disclosure and engagement with the victims,” she said.
Jobson said the department had yet to find transcripts of court cases that reportedly went missing or were shredded in at least 48 cases.
Hugo van der Merwe, of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, said a large number of victims were yet to be identified.
However, he said the Justice Department appeared to have made a serious effort to adequately consult with the victims’ families.
“We hope that is sincere and will go some way to a fair process of reconciliation. We have concerns with the criteria to judge individual applications,” Van der Merwe said.
He was referring to the granting of parole to applicants without following the objectives of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that emphasised full disclosure.
In its notice, the department said the process regarding the pardon applications was nearing completion and listed the names of applicants.
The list included those sentenced for the killing of UDM founding leader Sifiso Nkabinde namely Joel Mkhize, Siphiwe Shabane, Lincoln Mbikwane, Sandile Dlamini, Anil Jelal and Dennis Mbanjwa.
The name of one of the co-accused, Khombumthakathi Mbanjwa, is not on the list.
Also on the list are Nkabinde’s relatives - Blessing Vulindlela and Derrick Bongani - as well as Mbongeni Mjwara, Sipho Edward Mtungwa and Simanga Emmanuel Dlamini - who were sentenced for the massacre of 11 Ndabezitha family members at their Richmond home in a revenge attack after Nkabinde’s killing.
Former apartheid law and order minister Adriaan Vlok, and former police chief Johan van der Merwe, officer Gert Otto, Christoffel Smith and Hermanus van Staden were seeking pardon.
The courts had imposed suspended sentences on them for the attempted murder of Reverend Frank Chikane.
Daily News