A consultative forum will be held on Friday to bring together all key role-players from business and civil society to discuss effective reparations for the victims of apartheid.
The call for reparations emanates from the recently released Truth and Reconciliation Committee’s (TRC) final report.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said on Monday that discussions would revolve around reparations, national reconciliation, and the way forward.
The TRC’s final two volumes were presented to President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria last month by the commission’s chairman, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The TRC was mandated to uncover the truth about gross human rights violations during the apartheid years, and the completion of the report opens the way for the compensation of apartheid victims to get underway in earnest.
Department representative Paul Setsetse said on Monday: ”Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Penuell Maduna will meet with business leaders before the main consultative workshop on governments view on the issue of reparations.
”We believe that reparations should not only be the sole responsibility of the government. It should be a collective effort. We believe that South Africans have a major role to play towards healing the wounds of the past.”
Setsetse said the government was expecting that the business community would rise to the occasion and saw this meeting as an opportunity for business to express their views on reparations.
”We know that it’s an emotional issue which has already started affecting share pricing on various institutions as reported in the media today (Monday) and we want to interact with people face to face,” Setsetse said.
He was commenting on media reports that share prices of petrochemical giant Sasol and mining group Anglo American listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange were under pressure on news that South African apartheid victims were seeking billions of dollars in compensation.
Asked if anyone from the Apartheid Claims Task Force (ACTF) was invited, Setsetse said: ”No one from the ACTF has yet been invited but of course we are not hostile to any party.
”We are still in the process of consulting people… we will see if there is space available to invite someone from the ACTF but of course their objectives are different.” – Sapa