South Africa President Thabo Mbeki says the government has not been and will not be party to litigation against corporations that benefited from the apartheid system.
Speaking in the National Assembly during the debate on the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) — which probed human rights abuses during the apartheid era — Mbeki said: “In the recent past, the issue of litigation and civil suits against corporations that benefited from the apartheid system has sharply arisen. In this regard we wish to reiterate that the South African government is not and will not be party to such litigation.”
He was referring to law suits against South African companies in the US.
“We consider it completely unacceptable that matters that are central to the future of our country should be adjudicated in foreign courts which bear no responsibility for the well-being of our country and the observance of the perspective contained in our constitution of the promotion of national reconciliation.”
He said while government recognised the right of citizens to institute legal action, its own approach “is informed by the desire to involve all South Africans, including corporate citizens, in a cooperative and voluntary partnership to reconstruct and develop South African society.”
“Accordingly we do not believe that it would be correct for us to impose the once-off wealth tax on corporations proposed by the TRC.” – I-Net Bridge