The Pretoria High Court will on Wednesday hear an application brought by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the government seeking to reinstate their opposition in the constitutional damages case filed by 25 families and survivors of apartheid-era crimes in January.

With assistance from non-profit Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) and law firm Webber Wentzel, the families took government to court over the matter, seeking R167-million in constitutional damages for the government’s “gross failure” to adequately investigate and prosecute apartheid-era political crimes following the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

The families also want disclosed the names of the African National Congress (ANC) politicians "who decided that the activists must not be granted justice".

The government is requesting either a postponement or a stay of the main application, pending the outcome of the judicial commission of inquiry that Ramaphosa announced, to determine whether there were any attempts to prevent the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes, relating to the investigation and prosecution of TRC cases.

While the families, survivors, and the FHR welcomed the establishment of the commission of inquiry, they have raised serious concerns about its terms of reference.

The families, survivors, and the FHR strongly oppose government’s application to delay the constitutional damages case and believe that the commission of inquiry, being an advisory and fact-finding body, cannot substitute the role of the courts in determining disputes concerning constitutional rights.

The victims’ families said the commission lacked the authority to adjudicate rights violations or award remedies and may only make recommendations to the President, who is both a respondent in the court proceedings and a key figure in the commission itself.

They believe there is, therefore, a conflict of interest on the President’s part.  

Meanwhile, the survivors also welcomed the recent judgment dismissing the application by former President Thabo Mbeki and Minister of Justice Bridgette Mabandla to intervene as respondents in the constitutional damages case.

Mbeki and Mabandla are seeking leave to intervene on the basis that they have a direct and substantial interest in the proceedings.

They deny that political interference stopped the TRC cases and claim that the application is defamatory.

Former National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) officials had stated that alleged interference from Mbeki’s government resulted in the NPA ending TRC investigations into apartheid crimes for which offenders were denied amnesty.