Victims set hope on lawsuits
2003-10-21 22:57
Sharon Golan and John Henry Boudreaux
Sharpeville - They were not the big-names of the struggle against apartheid, their stories did not make the headlines. But they too were raped, tortured and imprisoned by the former regime.
Still awaiting compensation from the current government, scores of apartheid victims have pinned their hopes on the distant courts of America, where lawsuits have been filed against top international corporations they claim helped prop up the racist government.
Khulumani, a support group for apartheid victims, filed one such suit in New York last November against 20 multinational corporations including ChevronTexaco and IBM for what its lawyers said was "knowingly aiding and abetting the apartheid enterprise".
The corporations who have commented have vowed to fight the lawsuits.
"ExxonMobil condemns the violation of human rights in any form," said Sandra Duhe, a spokesperson for the Texas-based company. "The Apartheid era was a tragic chapter of South Africa's history, and this lawsuit is not helping the South African people or economic development of the nation."
On Tuesday, Michael Hausfeld, the US lawyer representing the 80 Khulumani members who have filed suit, met with the group to share their stories and field questions.
Meanwhile, another US lawyer, Ed Fagan - who came to prominence in a landmark $1.25bn settlement with Swiss corporations on behalf of Holocaust victims - met with his South African clients in Sasolburg, a small town about 70km south of Johannesburg.
He has filed a class-action lawsuit in New York on behalf of those who suffered occupational disabilities and lost pension funds during apartheid.
President Thabo Mbeki has repeatedly said his government would not support the lawsuits, a disappointment to those who hoped the government would be sympathetic.
To date, the only avenue for reparations was through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, formed to help heal apartheid's wounds.
The commission decided on a one-time government payment of R660m ($92.4m), but only to the 22 000 victims who testified in the hearings.
It has left people like Thomas Masilo empty-handed.
Masilo, 62, was in the crowd of demonstrators shot upon by apartheid police in the town of Sharpeville in 1960. Sixty-nine people were killed, among them two of his cousins and an uncle.
He crawled 300m amid gunfire to safety, passing those crumpled to the ground, felled by bullets fired into their backs.
What became known as the Sharpeville massacre was a turning point in the struggle against apartheid, exposing the oppressive reach of the regime.
Masilo, who is unemployed and joined the suit on behalf of his dead relatives, said he was disappointed by the government's stance.
"Must I go pinch? Become a criminal? An old man like me? That's what the government is making me do," he said.
- AP