Khulumani says the South African government has incorrectly lumped together its reparation lawsuit with that of Ed Fagan’s in rejecting all apartheid reparation lawsuits out of hand.
Abstracts from article:
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Khulumani Support Group will submit a report to cabinet later this month on its objections to government’s reparation programme and explain why they had been forced to go the litigation route.
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Speaking at to the media in Johannesburg, New York lawyer Michael Hausfeld, who is representing Khulumani in the US, said its lawsuit was not a class action suit. It did not ask for broad social relief, not rely on South African law and or seek relief against South African multinationals.
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“I think government has been misled in terms of its response to the lawsuits brought by others which sought too much and asked US courts to become a surrogate for the (South African) government,” said Hausfeld.
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“I do not think the South African government has been helpful to date because they have misunderstood our intentions.” He was referring to the affidavit of Justice Minister Penuell Maduna to the eastern district court of New York in July this year, in which the minister reiterated government’s opposition to the lawsuits and asked the court to dismiss the cases.
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Hausfeld said Khulumani focused on victims not profits. It has been lodged on behalf of 82 individuals and organisations against 23 corporations and banks. He said Khulumani was not targeting firms that merely did business with apartheid SA.
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“Doing business with a repressive regime is not necessarily against international law. The Khulumani complaint alleges they aided and abetted the regime.” They are targeting companies that sold vehicles or weapons to the apartheid regime, and technical companies that sold technology that assisted government.
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Source: Full article “Apartheid victims to tell cabinet of claims” appeared on the Business Day bday.co.za website
