Families of apartheid-era victims sue South African government for damages

Nellie Peyton - Reuters - 23/01
Twenty-five victims' families and survivors of apartheid-era political crimes have sued South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government for what they say is its failure to properly investigate those offences and deliver justice.
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Twenty-five victims' families and survivors of apartheid-era political crimes have sued South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government for what they say is its failure to properly investigate those offences and deliver justice.
The group is seeking about 167 million rand ($9 million) in damages, according to the case filed at the High Court in the capital Pretoria on Monday, and shared by the Foundation for Human Rights, an NGO supporting the families, on Thursday.
They are also seeking an order compelling Ramaphosa to create a commission of inquiry into the "political interference that resulted in the suppression of several hundred serious crimes arising from South Africa's past," according to a statement released by the applicants.
A spokesperson for Ramaphosa said his legal team would respond to the court papers accordingly and that the president had never interfered with the work of law enforcement agencies or directed them not to prosecute apartheid-era crimes.
South Africa was ruled by a white minority government for decades, enforcing institutionalised racial segregation, before becoming a...
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