by Ashley Green-Thompson, South Africa, November 1997
THEME = HUMAN RIGHTS
A victim and survival support group
In 1991, a young ANC lawyer, Bheki Mlangeni, received a tape recorder in the post marked "Hit Squad Evidence". He placed the earphones over his ears, pressed the play button, and was blown up. His mother Catherine Mlangeni found him soon after.
Sicelo Dlomo, a dynamic sixteen year old student leader in Soweto, had been on the run from the police. His body was found in 1988 on the outskirts of the township. His mother, Sylvia Dlomo- Jele, wants to know who was responsible for her son's abduction, torture and death.
In 1989, David Webster, a lecturer and activist at the University of the Witwatersrand, was unloading his car after going jogging with his partner Maggie Friedman. A man in a passing car opened fire at point blank range with a shotgun, killing the academic. Maggie was in the house at the time, and has been pursuing David's assassins since.
These three women are among the founder members of an organisation called the "Khulumani Support Group". The name comes from the Zulu word meaning "to speak out". Its mission statement sets out its vision: "Khulumani Support Group is a victim and survivor support group, established in 1995 in response to the setting up of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). It encourages people to speak out about the political atrocities that have happened to them and their loved ones in the past."
The statement goes on to say that gross human rights violations must be exposed, so that they never are allowed to happen again. This involves identifying the perpetrators. Indeed, the entire process of the TRC was an attempt by the whole nation - both victims and perpetrators - to come to terms with the suffering of the past.
However, the legislation that established the Truth Commission, displayed a definite bias towards the perpetrators of human rights abuses. This bias led many survivors, together with organisations of civil society, to rally their forces and combine their efforts. Out of this, Khulumani was born. From the outset, Khulumani actively lobbied law makers to place victims, survivors and their families on the agenda of the TRC and the nation.
Whereas the legislation was clear about the granting of amnesty to perpetrators, it was a long battle to secure a policy on reparations and rehabilitation. One of the possible avenues of restitution mooted by Archbishop Tutu was that survivors should receive an annual sum in compensation for their suffering. This is testimony to the tenacity of organisations like Khulumani. The organisation firmly believes that the issues affecting their members must be addressed if true reconciliation is to happen.
Khulumani's main function, however, remains support for victims of abuses. The trauma of telling one's story is eased by the network of survivors. In meetings, they share their pain - the pain of losing a loved one, of not knowing where their loved ones are, of not being able to bury them in a decent manner; the pain of not knowing who was responsible for countless human rights abuses. They discuss, with the help of trained counsellors and psychologists, the effects of violence and abuse, on themselves, their children and their communities.
The members hope to demonstrate, by example, the aspiration that "victims can become survivors". This involves empowering widows and orphans, former prisoners, and poor communities that bore the brunt of apartheid's attack.
It means ongoing support for members, be it in the provision of counselling or in meeting legal, educational and medical needs. It also means developing further the models for healing that have already been so successful.
Khulumani also seeks to foster real reconciliation by participating in victim-offender mediation. For the first time perpetrators meet the families of their victims face to face. This is an area that many members have expressed an interest in, and it will be interesting to see the results of future efforts. In the meantime Khulumani hopes to play a meaningful role in implementing the reparations process for which it fought so hard. It must be kept in mind that the reparations policy proposed by the Truth Commission, must still be accepted by the Cabinet and passed in the National Legislature. This means that genuine reparation will not begin until the work of the Truth Commission has ended.
There is a realisation that the organisational capacity of Khulumani needs to be improved. This means putting in place a national structure and establishing projects that enhance self sufficiency and skills development. From 1998, Khulumani will become a permanent Trust, with numerous possibilities for the future.
It will be a challenge to add to the already impressive achievements of the first two years of its existence. Two videos have been produced that tell the stories of survivors. The latest, released in November 1997, is aptly titled: "Sisakhuluma - We Are Still Talking". A play, "The Story I Am About To Tell - Indaba Engizoyixoxa", has the support of leading South African actors, and will be staged as far afield as Germany. There has been a high level of media profile of the organisation, with Maggie Friedman making news headlines because of the recent arrest of Ferdi Barnard, a member of the notorious Vlakplaas hit squad unit. Barnard is the suspected killer of David Webster.
Khulumani is not only confined to the South African borders. A number of joint activities have been taking place in the promotion of peace, reconciliation and healing. These have happened with the "Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearances" in the Philippines, and with partners in Northern Ireland and the Netherlands. There are numerous projects with Jewish groups both from Israel and South Africa.
The Khulumani Support Group network has reached many communities in South Africa. It's ambition is to reach all those communities who have been at the receiving end of oppression and abuse, and to support them in their quest to come to terms with their pain and trauma.
South Africa is still a divided and wounded nation, hurting from decades of systematic violation of its humanity by an evil system. Khulumani is a leading light in efforts to heal this traumatised nation, the full rewards of which will only be reaped by coming generations. Perhaps the lasting testimony of Khulumani will be the fact that it was initiated by women, and has continued to be women- centred and women-driven.
END
PeaceLink 1998 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement