Download PDFA group of about 300 people members of the Khulumani Galela group from all parts of the country has been camping outside of at Constitutional Court for the past six months, they say that they are victims of apartheid. According to the group coordinators, they feel betrayed by democratic government for certain reasons that caused them to make a sit in at the ConCourt.
Their feeling is that they were overlooked during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process which was constituted by then President Nelson Mandela in 1996. Instead, they say that the now late Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mandela chose to call the perpetrators only and left the victims behind, that their painful stories were never heard.
Though they submitted their list of grievances they were never attended to by any government department, they say.
The group is sleeping in the corridors of the Constitutional Court, they don’t have access to ablution facilities to wash or relieve themselves. They have to go to nearby taverns in Hillbrow. As the group is made up of aged people some look very frail and suffer from chronic diseases. The Khulumani members are hoping that the government will respond to their demands someday soon as many are starting to lose hope in the current government.
One coordinator told Sikhungo Jebe that “Some international organisations have poured an amount of about R2 billion for assistance in our cause but we’ve not received the money to this day, some other victims of this political atrocities (sic) have died because of the wounds in their bodies, because we had a government who (sic) doesn’t care for her citizens.”
On their livelihoods, they said they support their families from off their older person’s grants which by itself is insufficient to cover all family needs per month.
This article was submitted on 07 April 2024. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
