- President Cyril Ramaphosa created the commission after reports that apartheid-era Truth and Reconciliation Commission cases were blocked from prosecution.
- Soweto woman Dora Moleko says she will testify after her brother and sister were shot dead by police in their home in 1977.
Justice Sisi Khampepe will chair a fresh inquiry into human rights abuses during apartheid. The goal is to finally deliver justice and closure to the families who have waited decades.
President Cyril Ramaphosa set up the Judicial Commission of Inquiry in May, following claims that some Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) cases were blocked from being prosecuted.
Speaking at a media briefing at the Hector Peterson Memorial in Soweto, Khampepe said anyone who wants to take part will be allowed to.
“We want people to come forward and tell the truth. This is not meant to be an attack,” she said.
Khampepe said that many perpetrators who never spoke at the TRC or lied about their crimes must still be held accountable. Those with evidence against them could be prosecuted.
One of those hoping for justice is Dora Moleko, who said her brother and sister were murdered by police in their home in Mofolo, Soweto, in 1977.
“I was hanging washing while pregnant when I spotted police boots under a shirt,” she said. “I knew they were here for my brother.”
Moleko said police stormed the house, found her siblings hiding under beds and shot them.
“They told me not to move. Then I heard gunshots. When I went in, there was blood on the walls and my brother and sister were lying there dead,” she said.
Now, after nearly 50 years, she hopes the new commission will give her peace.
The inquiry will focus on cases from 2006 to the present. Its main venue will be announced soon by the Department of Justice.
Justice Khampepe will be joined by retired Judge President Frans Diale Kgomo and senior advocate Andrea Gabriel.
She said the inquiry will be done in a “sympathetic, engaging and empowering” way to support victims and their families.
Pictured above: Justice Sisi Khampepe during the launch of the inquiry
Image source: Supplied
