As South Africa marks twenty five years since the election of our post-apartheid government, Khulumani Support Group has emerged as a leading social movement actor positioned to play a key role in the on-going processes of transformational justice, taking our country from a damaged society reeling from apartheid oppression and repression, and the eruptions of the liberation struggle, to a society founded on democracy, justice and ubuntu.
Khulumani Support Group is preparing to mark its 25th Anniversary in 2020. The context has changed but the critical role of civil society in providing for support for community-based advocacy for redress, social justice and the advance of accountability measures across our society, continues. Khulumani has developed a range of new strategic partnerships for the next critical period in securing a truly participatory democracy.
Our vision remains the same – to build a just society in which the dignity of people harmed by gross violations of human rights.
Khulumani has reaffirmed
- the need for measures for accountability and democratic practice, measures that are enshrined in Khulumani’s constitution;
- for providing space and visibility for the voices of members rooted in Khulumani member groups across all our provinces, so that their demands drive the organisation’s campaigns, positions and activities; and
- for even more responsive advocacy support in response to new and emerging challenges and conditions.
About us
When the TRC closed down for survivors’ testimony, in 1998, Khulumani members were in a point position to recognize and engage with the “unfinished business” of transformational justice in South Africa. The extent of the TRC’s “unfinished business” remains breath-taking. As government commenced post-TRC implementation, Khulumani members were positioned to engage with, and then challenge, what many victims and survivors increasingly described as South Africa’s failed transformational justice process.
Objectives & Activities
Survivors and families of victims of the political conflict of South Africa’s past formed Khulumani Support Group in 1995. 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 about the past to ensure that such violations never occur again. During the apartheid era there were many violations of human rights and it is important that we move into the future with all South Africans being aware of the atrocities committed in our past.