South African Coalition for Transitional Justice is made up of both organisational and individual members.
Our current membership is as follows:
The Centre for Applied Legal Studies is a human rights organisation established in 1978. It is a centre based at the Wits University School of Law. Historically, CALS was established to encourage law reform and improve access to justice during Apartheid. CALS remains committed to its founding ideals as it works to promote human rights and challenging the systems of power in South Africa and the region.
CALS carries out its work through teaching, advocacy, strategic impact litigation and research. Our vision is a society where historical and social justice are achieved, state institutions are strengthened and powerful entities are held to account by marganalised actors.
CALS’s Civil and Political Justice Programme is committed to the provision of transitional justice in South Africa.
Founded in 1989, the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) is a private, non-profit organisation based in South Africa. The foundation of the CSVR is built upon the intent to understand and prevent the multiple facets of violence on a local and global scale. In respect to this, their mission is to promote peace on several levels (local/national/international/etc.) by addressing violence and inequality in various aspects with regards to social justice. As such, this organisation explores the realms of advocacy work, research, education and training, mental health services, community intervention, and policy formation.
The Institute for Healing of Memories is a social healing NGO with a global footprint. We seek to contribute to lasting individual and collective healing that makes possible a more peaceful and just future. Our work has grown out of South Africa’s unique history and our need to remain attentive to how our violent divided past and present impacts us both individually, as communities and as a nation. We believe that when personal stories are acknowledged and heard, individuals feel healed and empowered and dignity is restored; at the same time, bridges can be built across communities and a common path forged based on mutual understanding and shared values.
Khulumani is a membership-based organisation of victims and survivors of gross
human rights violations during apartheid, demanding reparation and accountability.
Khulumani began in 1995 as support groups for people giving testimony before South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). It was registered as Khulumani Support Group in 2000.
Three decades later, Khulumani has a database of over a hundred thousand members, and continues to mobilise and speak out for all those who suffered from apartheid crimes.
Today the Khulumani Galela Campaign organises at local, provincial, and national levels, calling on the South African government to roll-out redress and justice NOW.
The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (which is comprised of the Catholic Bishops of Botswana, South Africa and Eswatini) is an organisation, approved by the Holy See, of diocesan Bishops and others equivalent in Canon Law, serving in the ecclesiastical Provinces of Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, Johannesburg and Bloemfontein, in and through which members exercise their pastoral office jointly through the pooling of wise counsel and experiences in matters concerning their common interest in order to promote that greater good which the Church offers humankind especially through formation and programmes of the apostolate which are fittingly adapted to the circumstances of the age.
Jemma Blacklaw is an MA candidate in Conflict Transformation and Social Justice at Queen’s University Belfast. She previously worked at the Centre for the Study for Violence and Reconciliation researching the role of truth commissions in addressing conflict-related sexual violence in Africa.
Mary Burton has been a member of a number of human rights focused organisations, principally the Black Sash and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She continues to pursue the unfinished business of the TRC in the areas of justice and reparations.
Salim Essop is a retired politics lecturer/professor and former Fulbright Scholar, whose involvement in anti-apartheid politics led to his imprisonment in South Africa. He currently works as a freelance researcher, photographer and film/videomaker.
Hazel Tau is a finance professional with over 13 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, specializing in financial management, donor compliance, and organizational governance. She has extensive experience supporting international donor-funded programmes across Africa and serves as a board member of SACTJ.
Linda Mushoriwa
Yasmin Sooka
Sufiya Bray is a Pan-African practitioner specialising in transitional justice, governance, and human rights. While at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR), she led the development of the African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) and supported its continental implementation. Her work advances policy coherence, regional engagement, and context-responsive transitional justice processes across Africa.
Jessie Waldman
Mpho Raboeane is an admitted attorney with PPE and LLB degrees from the University of Cape Town and former Director of Ndifuna Ukwazi. Her work centres on redress, spatial transformation, and the restoration of dignity through strategic litigation, policy advocacy, and movement-building. She approaches land justice as both a political and spiritual calling, grounded in radical collaboration and transnational dialogue advancing reparative justice and a liberated, life-affirming Africa.
Angela Madukuti
Hugo van der Merwe works at the Global Survivors Fund (for and with conflict-related sexual violence). Before this, he worked for 25 years at CSVR on transitional justice issues in South Africa and across the continent.
Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh is the Africa Programme Director at the International Commission of Jurists. She has significant experience working on international criminal justice and universal jurisdiction. She was involved in several cases dealing with universal jurisdiction in Africa over a number of years.
Maxine Rubin holds a DPhil in Political Studies. Her research interests include Africa’s international relations and transitional justice. Specifically, she is interested in the International Criminal Court, reparations, and post-conflict gender justice.
Jeremy Sarkin is a professor and practitioner of transitional justice. He has published 20 books, 350 articles and worked in more than 50 countries. He was chairperson of the UN working group on enforced disappearances, is an attorney and served as an acting judge.
Howard Varney is an advocate of the High Court of South Africa. He represents victims of apartheid era crimes who are pursuing justice and closure. He is also a part-time Senior Expert with the International Center for Transitional Justice.
If you would like to become a member of SACTJ, read the Membership Frameworks and Guidelines
To join as an organisational member, complete this google form.
To join as an individual member, complete this google form.
