Our Executive Director, Shirley Gunn, contributed to a critical continental conversation at the 9th Edition of The African Transitional Justice Forum on The State of Transitional Justice in Africa. The Forum was held in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, from 30 September to 2 October.
Shirley spoke on Session Two on Reparations in Policy and Practice. She touched why the coalition for transitional justice is needed in South Africa. She said the reparations process post-Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is deeply flawed and the continent should not look to South Africa for best practice.
The TRC handed over the final report to the second president in democratic South Africa. Volume 7 of the TRC report holds the names of victims that the TRC identified which the government regards as the ‘closed list’. However, the Gross Human Rights Violations Hearings Committee of the TRC could not reach every victim in South Africa over the period of 18 months.
The TRC Rehabilitation and Reparations Committee made solid recommendations. The TRC hoped the democratic government with President Mbeki at the helm would implement them. This did not happen.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DOJ&CD) is tasked with writing policy and delivering reparations. It has not fulfilled this mandate. Hence the urgency for government, civil society and victims to work together on this imperative. During the discussion session, several participants posed pressing questions to Shirley.
One attendee raised concerns about the persistent lack of political will across many African states to implement reparations, noting that governments often claim there are no resources for reparative or even non-reparative measures.
The participant asked whether it might be more effective to advocate for a broader intentionality aimed at transforming governance so that it secures the well-being of society as a whole or whether a reparations specific approach remains necessary.
Another question focussed on the role of external actors operating within authoritarian regimes. The participant asked what states are doing to ensure private-sector accountability, particularly regarding reparations obligations. A further question reflected on the past 30 years of transitional justice on the continent suggesting that reparation have frequently been sidelined or treated as a “fallout” of accountability and truth-telling processes.
This stood in contrast to the African Union Transitional Justice Policy which positions reparations as a stand-alone pillar. In response, Shirley stressed that in South Africa, the challenge extends far beyond a lack of political will. She highlighted entrenched political interference in apartheid-era prosecutions, and emphasised that senior government officials actively obstructed these processes that is under scrutiny by the Khampepe Commission of Inquiry established in May 2025.
Shirley also addressed the enduring tension between collective reparations and demands for a broader transformative approach. She reminded the Forum that victims have a legal right to reparations under both international and South African law and that reparations must be properly administered at individual, sectoral and collective levels.
Reflecting on past efforts, she noted that the interim reparations delivered by the TRC were effective precisely because they were not handed over to government systems. Victims received payments ranging between USD 150 and USD 299, accompanied by an A4 form on which indicate needs such as medical or psychological support.
This victim-centred model emphasised and underscored the importance of designing future reparations programmes that prioritise accessibility, dignity, and proper administration.
