khulumani: a support group. a social movement. a strong voice.

The TRC this week shut down its Eastern Cape office, which will be followed by the closure of its other two regional offices by July. The head office in Cape Town is expected to close by September.

Abstracts from article:

1. "We are battling. We feel that if the TRC is closing down, we will be forgotten and lots of victims have not received any support," Ntombi Mosikare from Khulumani Victim Support Group told AFP. Khulumani has organised a meeting with the TRC, government departments and sympathetic businesses in April to review what happens to them next, particularly regarding reparations.

2. Up to March about 13 757 out of 18 000 victims identified as victims by the TRC had been paid urgent interim reparations, which averaged about R2 000 each for costs like medical care. The reparations awarded to them have amounted to R43 million. In February President Thabo Mbeki announced that government was waiting for the TRC's final report, expected in September, before finalising policy.

3. "There is a growing sense of alienation among victims experiencing the delay in reparations as a lack of will on the part of the government," the director of the Cape Town-based Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Charles Villa Vicencio, warned on Friday. "The sooner government meets its obligations, the better."

4. To speed up this process the TRC will give the justice ministry its draft report by about April, the head of the TRC's reparations and rehabilitation committee, Hlengiwe Mkhize, said. "In it we have refined and tightened up our broad recommendations (from 1998) to be more specific," Mkhize said. "This will make them easier to implement and for human rights organisations to monitor what has been achieved."

5. TRC spokesperson Phila Ngqumba said the commission is now doing its final audit of amnesty applications, after completing hearings by the end of March. By March 913 people had been granted amnesty by the TRC and 5 457 refused amnesty out of over 7 100 applications lodged.

• Source: Full article "No money as TRC winds down" appeared on the news24.com website