Prosecutions arising from Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) cases will start soon, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Monday.
”We do have five cases that are prosecutable. There are also cases which require further investigation,” Vusi Pikoli, National Director of Public Prosecutions, said.
The NPA will focus first on cases relating to people who were denied amnesty by the TRC.
”If they were refused amnesty, they know this axe is hanging over them. Even those who have not applied know what they have done, so they would also be ready,” Pikoli said.
His statement comes after the NPA announced special policy for the prosecution of apartheid-era criminals in Parliament earlier in January.
While making provision for special plea and sentencing agreements, Pikoli said the process will not amount to a new amnesty process.
”This is not a case of starting a new amnesty process, but rather to lay at rest those matters, so that we can close the chapter in our history,” he said.
The policy sets out criteria on the decision to prosecute, including a requirement that the offences be committed before May 11 1994.
The NPA also has to determine whether a prosecution can be instituted on the strength of ”adequate” evidence.
”There were two forces against each other: those of the apartheid forces and then those of the liberation movements, and those people involved in those conflicts are what we are going to address,” said Pikoli. ”No one is immune from prosecution.”
He would not give the exact starting date of the prosecutions, indicating only that it might be soon.
”Were it not for this processes of getting the policy in place, we might have already gone ahead and prosecuted.” — Sapa