Khulumani Support
Group was formed in 1995 by survivors and families of victims of
the political conflict of South Africa's apartheid past. It was
set up in response to the pending Truth and Reconciliation
Commission by victims who felt the Commission should be used to
speak out ( Khulumani means "speak out" in isiZulu ) about the
past to ensure that such violations would never occur again.
These gross human rights violations include disappearances,
assassinations and torture. While all Khulumani's members are
survivors of apartheid-era political violence, most of them
describe that they continue to be affected by the consequences
of apartheid-era violence. Of its more than 65,000 members,
nearly 74% still languish in poverty and unemployment. Core to
Khulumani’s mission is to restore dignity and quality of life
that apartheid took from its members. Its work focuses both on
redress for past violations; the ending of impunity and
continuing truth-seeking initiatives; the faciltiation of
community reconciliation and rehabilitation; the resolution of
some 1,200 cases of the forcibly disappeared; and activities to
secure the economic inclusion of survivors of the trauma of the
past using rights-based approaches.
Strategic Objectives:
1. To secure acknowledgment of what happened to victims through
ongoing truth-recovery processes, as a first step in dealing
with the lifelong consequences of human rights violations,
through a range of memorialisation activities.
2. To support the collective struggle for social justice that
includes implementation of the TRC’s recommendations for
rehabilitation and community reparations, and that goes beyond
those recommendations by advocating for an environment that
supports the rule of law and the promotion of a culture of
accountability.
3. To work for the economic reintegration of survivors into the
economy of the country through facilitating their pursuit of
sustainable livelihoods, and
4. To promote social reconciliation encounters which restore the
dignity of victims and survivors and promote deeper
understanding and dialogue among South Africans. |
