South Africa to pay $3,900 in reparations to families of each apartheid victim

Jet, May 5, 2003

Thousands of South Africans who were victimized under that country's former apartheid regime and testified about it before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will receive reparations totaling $85 million.

In a recent speech before Parliament, President Thabo Mbeki said the family of each victim would receive a one-time payment of about $3,900. That amount compares to the average annual salary estimated at $3,000, according to reports.

"We hope that these disbursements will help acknowledge the suffering that these individuals experienced, and offer some relief," he said.

The amount, however, is about one-fourth of the $360 million in reparations the commission called for in its final report in March.

Mbeki did not say why the government supported the lesser amount, but he noted the government had also started large scale reforms aimed at giving Blacks larger shares in mining and other industries.

Mbeki also noted that there would be no general amnesty for people guilty of human-rights violations who did not apply to the commission for a reprieve. He said outstanding cases now could be investigated by the South African legal system.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established after the country's first all-race elections in 1994. The panel, over the past seven years, probed political crimes committed during White-minority rule.