PRETORIA: Twenty-five families of victims and survivors of political crimes from the apartheid era have filed a lawsuit against South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his administration, claiming a failure to adequately investigate these offences and provide justice, said a report published in africannews.com
The group, it said, is pursuing approximately 167 million rand (around $9 million) in damages, as detailed in a case submitted to the High Court in Pretoria, which was later publicised by the Foundation for Human Rights, an NGO that supports the families.
Additionally, they are requesting a court order that would require Ramaphosa to establish a commission of inquiry into the “political interference that led to the suppression of numerous serious crimes stemming from South Africa’s history,” as stated in a release from the applicants.
According to the web portal re[port, a representative for Ramaphosa indicated that his legal team would address the court documents appropriately, asserting that the President has never interfered with law enforcement operations or instructed them against prosecuting apartheid-era offenses. For decades, South Africa was governed by a white minority regime that enforced systemic racial segregation, transitioning to a multi-racial democracy in 1994.
