The Continued Search for Accountability for Apartheid-Era Gross Human Rights Violations

The end of apartheid was achieved owing to the sacrifices of countless anti-apartheid activists and ordinary civilians. Shortly after the end of apartheid, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established to seek out the truth of the apartheid-era human rights violations – many of which had been hidden and buried for years. The Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act allowed amnesty applications from perpetrators of gross human rights violation on condition that they disclose fully all relevant facts and truth of their politically motivated crimes. Perpetrators who were refused amnesty, or who did not apply for amnesty, were meant to be subjected to the criminal justice system. In 2003, the Amnesty Committee referred approximately 300 cases to South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for investigation and prosecution (“Post-TRC cases”). However, 30 years post-apartheid most of these cases have not been prosecuted by the NPA. In January 2025, Webber Wentzel's Pro Bono Department, representing 25 (twenty-five) survivors and families of victims of apartheid-era gross human rights violations, instituted legal proceedings against the South African government, the President, the NPA, the Police and the Justice Ministry over the failure to adequately investigate and prosecute apartheid crimes.

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