GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament
3 October 2025
Twenty years after the TRC recommended that hundreds of apartheid era atrocities required further investigations and prosecutions, the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, has dismissed an application by the Government to delay the R167 million constitutional damages case brought by families of victims and survivors.
In a written judgement delivered today Judge Nicolene Janse Van Nieuwenhuizen said it was understandable that family members, some of are elderly, were eager to find closure and pout the matter to rest.
The judge scolded Government: “It is rather ironic that the Government, who is the sole cause for the delay, wants this court to sanction yet a further indefinite delay without being able to point to any tangible benefit that will be achieved by the delay,” she said.
In May, President Ramaphosa announced the establishment of a judicial commission chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe to get to the bottom of allegations that justice had been delayed in the TRC matters due to political interference.
After establishing the commission, he changed his mind about not opposing the families’ litigation and applied to the court to stay the case until the commission completed its work.
This was rejected by families who said that regardless what Judge Khampepe found and recommended, there was a long history of the recommendations of commissions being ignored by government.
Judge Janse Van Nieuwenhuizen agreed that the interests of justice would not be served by further delays. She dismissed the application, ordering the First and Second Respondents (Government and the President) to pay the costs, including the costs of two counsel.
The GOOD Party welcomes the judgement. Getting to the truth of the cause of delays is critically important to restoring the integrity of South Africa’s criminal justice system. Political interference has contributed significantly to the culture of impunity with which the country is so badly afflicted today.
Media enquiries: media@forgood.org.za