Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla has been charged at the South African Human Rights Commission with human rights violations by Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) chief whip Koos van der Merwe, the IFP said in a statement on Sunday.
The complaint stems from the failure of Mabandla since 2003 to process applications by 384 prisoners for presidential pardons, Van der Merwe said.
”The IFP applied for 384 presidential pardons in 2003 on behalf of the prisoners,” he said.
”The minister and Department of Justice and Constitutional Development are responsible for processing the applications and making recommendations to the president.
”It is now almost three years since the applications were first lodged and after numerous attempts to establish progress, including a question to the president in Parliament, the minister eventually conceded in the National Assembly on May 19 2006 that no action had been taken on the applications. No action has in fact been taken until now.”
Van der Merwe condemned Mabandla for this ”lack of attention to and action on the applications that constitutes a violation of the prisoners’ constitutional and human rights”.
Mabandla’s ”deliberate lack of action is clearly a violation of the spirit of the Constitution”.
Van der Merwe appealed to Human Rights Commissioner Jody Kollapen to make a finding against Mabandla.
He said: ”The IFP calls for appropriate redress for the almost 400 prisoners whose applications for presidential pardons have been deliberately and wilfully ignored by the minister.” — Sapa