wfn.org | ACNS - Statement concerning the filing of international legal claims

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

for apartheid reparations

ACNS 3040 - SOUTH AFRICA - 29 June 2002

Statement concerning the filing of international legal claims for apartheid
reparations

by the Most Revd Njongonkulu Ndungane, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town

Jubilee South Africa must be commended for the tremendous energy with which
it has pursued truth, justice and reconciliation in regard to the victims
and beneficiaries of apartheid.

The public announcement of international legal claims filed for reparations
from multinational banks and businesses that profited from apartheid comes
after years of consistent but futile attempts to engage the relevant
corporations and political leaders in a public dialogue about the matter of
reparations for apartheid's victims.

Particularly, we travelled to Switzerland in May 2000 to raise concern about
this matter without any real results.

In the interests of justice and the common good, the banks and businesses
should now sit down together with apartheid victim groups and other parties
to discuss and resolve the matter of reparations, including debt
cancellation and social programmes for post-apartheid reconstruction and
development. In a spirit of transparency, they should open their books to
public scrutiny so as to ascertain with certainty the extent of profiteering
from apartheid. Similarly, relevant military archives should be opened for
public assessment.

To this end, I give my full support to convening an international conference
to address this very important issue for millions of people in Southern
Africa.

[Archbishop Ndungane is a patron of Jubilee South Africa.]

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