The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will consider the personal circumstances of individuals it plans to prosecute for not applying for, or being refused, amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said this is normal procedure when prosecutions are taking place.
“For example, it doesn’t serve a purpose to hold to court a 105-year-old man,” he said.
The NPA announced on Tuesday it is ready to start the prosecutions. It will focus first on cases relating to those denied amnesty.
Nkosi said besides age being taken into account, the NPA will also look at the health of an individual.
The Freedom Front Plus said in a statement on Wednesday that it is strongly opposed to the NPA’s “sudden decision to now proceed with the prosecution of members of the former government as well as the security forces”.
“This is a classic example of where the saying that the law must run its course cannot be applicable,” said Corné Mulder, MP and chief whip of the FF+.
“The saying that the law must run its course, which is now being underscored by the DA [Democratic Alliance], assumes that justice must and will be done. In the whole process of indemnity and amnesty being granted since the 1990s, it has precisely not been the case.
“More than 20Â 000 ANC [African National Congress] cadres never appeared before a TRC or in an amnesty trial, but did indeed receive amnesty and indemnity. That includes murderers. This amnesty was granted by the NNP [New National Party] as a prerequisite to the ANC to ensure their participation in the negotiations.
“After this, a new process, subject to the so-called Norgard-principles, was instituted. Of the 7Â 000 people who had applied for amnesty in terms of this process, more than 5Â 500 people did not receive amnesty, in many cases because there had allegedly not been ‘full disclosure’.
“The majority of these people, by far, were not ANC applicants. Justice has not prevailed in the whole process of indemnity and amnesty since the 1990s.”
The FF+ said that if the NPA wished to see to it that justice was done, it would now have to prosecute President Thabo Mbeki and other ANC leaders whose amnesty applications were denied.
“The FF+ finds it to be more than coincidental that this issue is forced on to the table precisely now that there is an election campaign during which the ANC is struggling to mobilise its supporters,” it said.