Full Collection Details

NGO Working Group on Reparations (Western Cape)

NGO Working Group on Reparations (Western Cape) (Donor)

Repository: South African History Archive, University of the Witwatersrand
Reference code: AL3142
Extent: 3 boxes.
City: Johannesburg
Dated: 1982-2003
Scope:Following the handover of the TRC's Final Report in 1998, a group of NGOs based in the Western Cape banded together in 1999 to form a coalition to put pressure on the South African government to implement the TRC's recommendations vis-?-vis the payment of reparations to victims of gross human rights violations. This group became known as the NGO Working Group on Reparations (NGOWGR) under the leadership of Fr Michael Lapsley of the Institute for the Healing of Memories. (A similar coalition had been formed in Johannesburg in 1997. Although there was some interaction between the two groups, they largely operated independently of one another.)The NGOWGR aided the fight for reparations primarily by writing letters to the press and prominent members of government and the TRC, making phone calls to key role players, arranging meetings with them, and so on, in order to keep the issue of reparations under the spotlight. In doing so, it had to work closely with other victim support groups, such as the Khulumani Support Group (KSG), a national victim support and advocacy group formed in 1995 to assist victims through the TRC process. The relationship between the two groups was sometimes strained, with KSG believing that the process of obtaining reparations ought to be victim-driven, and that other "liberal" groups detracted from this focus.

Among the NGOs that were involved in the NGOWGR were the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Jubilee South Africa, The Trauma Centre, Black Sash, Legal Resources Centre and the Quaker Peace Centre.

The records include minutes of meetings, correspondence, reports, articles, press statements, conferences and other documents which tell the story of the NGOWGR's attempts to get the South African government to implement the recommendations of the TRC with regard to reparations and memorialisation.
[Materials collected from TRC Archival Audit.]

Media: Text documents; Publications; Ephemera; Speeches

Themes:Advocacy; Freedom; Justice; Legal issues; Monitoring; Other areas of involvement or concern; Other organisations

Administrative / biographical history:Ranking might be incorrect as guide didn't provide enough information to assess. Themes and media may be incomplete for same reason.

Condition of access / use: Unrestricted
Percentage of collection relevant to Black Sash: 100%

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Location contact details

Organisation: South African History Archive, William Cullen Library, University of the Witwatersrand
Telephone: 27 (0)11 717 1941
Fax: 27 (0)11 717 1964
Email: admin@saha.org.za
Website: http://www.saha.org.za
Street address: William Cullen Library, University of the Witwatersrand, East Campus, Braamfontein, Johannesburg
Postal address: PO Box 31719
Area: Braamfontein
City: Johannesburg
Postal code: 2017
Province / State: Gauteng
Country: South Africa