Families of victims linked to unresolved cases from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) are questioning President Cyril Ramaphosa over the appointment of retired judge Sisi Khampepe to chair the inquiry into stalled TRC prosecutions.
The issue arose after former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma requested that Khampepe recuse herself from the commission of inquiry, citing concerns over her impartiality due to her previous roles as a commissioner at the TRC and as Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions at the National Prosecuting Authority.
Khampepe Commission Under Fire
Speaking during a media briefing on Sunday, Hlekani Rikhotso expressed surprise that Ramaphosa now appeared to support the nullification of the commission he had established, saying the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development had failed to conduct proper background checks on Khampepe.
“How do you appoint someone without checking their background?” Rikhotso asked. “If the commission is nullified, it will simply be pushed down our throats. The commission was almost finished. How do we restart the process now?”
Victims’ Families Feel Ignored
Nomonde Calata also criticized the government’s handling of the matter, saying the families felt ignored despite waiting decades for answers. She said the commission had given them a chance to finally hear the truth about what happened to their loved ones, only for that opportunity to now be threatened.
“This government does not see us as human beings,” Calata said. “They decide for themselves and by themselves. The findings of the TRC were handed to them in 2003 and nothing happened. Now that we are finally here with Justice Khampepe, they are trying to do the same again.”
The Khampepe Commission, formally known as the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations Regarding Efforts to Stop the Investigation or Prosecution of TRC Cases, is investigating why several apartheid-era crimes recommended for prosecution by the TRC were never pursued.
- The commission was established by Ramaphosa in May 2025 following litigation brought by victims’ families and the Foundation for Human Rights.
- Its mandate is to determine whether political interference or other actions led to the suspension or abandonment of investigations and prosecutions linked to TRC cases.
However, Mbeki and Zuma later challenged Khampepe’s impartiality, arguing that her past positions could compromise her ability to lead the inquiry.
