Sisi Khampepe's guest appearances

Sisi Khampepe

History for the Future

Womanity - Women in Unity

The Weekend View

Sarah Lee

Marie Claire

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Gerda Steyn

Michelle Wong

Steve Biko

Walter Sisulu

Lauren Beukes

Julia Wells

Claire Johnstone

Wendy Orr

Rebecca Malope

Penny Williams

Naledi Pandor

Sandra McCardell

OwlTail

It is 20 years since the South African Truth and Reconciliation held its first hearing into the gross violation of human rights under apartheid. The TRC was brought into being by an Act of Parliament in 1995, and was an essential component in the transition to democracy. It positioned itself between two extremes: the prosecutorial path of retributive justice evidenced in the Nuremberg trials of Nazi leaders on the one hand; and the blanket amnesties handed out in the wake of the Chilean dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet on the other. There, victims of gross human rights violations testified in secret. In South Africa, on the other hand, all the hearings, both for victims of apartheid and of perpetrators, were in public. The names of victims of apartheid are recorded in one volume of the TRC report. It is a list that goes on for 50 pages in small print. More than 21,000 people gave statements to the TRC. Nearly 7,000 applied for amnesty but few met the strict conditions laid down by the law: full disclosure, proportionality, and proof that the offence was politically motivated among them. In the end, fewer than 900 were granted amnesty. For the first time, some of the grim stories of the suffering under apartheid were not only told but widely publicized. For this series Journalist Pippa Green spoke to 13 of the former commissioners to find out how far we are as a country along the road of reconciliation today 20 years after the first hearing. Jeanne Michel edited and produced this series. Find the entire series of interviews online at http://www.702.co.za/features/139/trcSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is 20 years since the South African Truth and Reconciliation held its first hearing into the gross violation of human rights under apartheid. The TRC was brought into being by an Act of Parliament in 1995, and was an essential component in the transition to democracy. It positioned itself between two extremes: the prosecutorial path of retributive justice evidenced in the Nuremberg trials of Nazi leaders on the one hand; and the blanket amnesties handed out in the wake of the Chilean dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet on the other. There, victims of gross human rights violations testified in secret. In South Africa, on the other hand, all the hearings, both for victims of apartheid and of perpetrators, were in public. The names of victims of apartheid are recorded in one volume of the TRC report. It is a list that goes on for 50 pages in small print. More than 21,000 people gave statements to the TRC. Nearly 7,000 applied for amnesty but few met the strict conditions laid down by the law: full disclosure, proportionality, and proof that the offence was politically motivated among them. In the end, fewer than 900 were granted amnesty. For the first time, some of the grim stories of the suffering under apartheid were not only told but widely publicized. For this series Journalist Pippa Green spoke to 13 of the former commissioners to find out how far we are as a country along the road of reconciliation today 20 years after the first hearing. Jeanne Michel edited and produced this series. Find the entire series of interviews online at <a href="http://www.702.co.za/features/139/trc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.702.co.za/features/139/trc</a>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Judge Sisi Khampepe

This week we are joined by Justice Sisi Khampepe, a Constitutional Court Judge of South Africa, a position she has held since 2009. She is one of eleven judges charged with the duties of upholding the law and the constitution in South Africa. Justice Khampepe reflects on her early career as a young candidate attorney confronting the injustices of apartheid on a daily basis; and her efforts to defend the rights of workers against unjust laws and unfair employment practices, such as reducing the cumbersome requirements imposed on hawkers seeking licenses to trade, and challenging the 24 hour dismissal notices that were imposed on temporary workers without fair hearings. She also shares some of her experiences as a Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Commissioner and the atrocities that were committed, “where the pigment of your skin mattered more than the humanity of your heart”. In respect of gender equality, Judge Khampepe reiterates that the South African constitution is deliberately gender conscious and it rests upon all citizens to ensure that anyone can advance to the upper echelons of society, so women at all levels of leadership should be vocal and fight to ensure that parity is achieved. Tune in for more…

Judge Sisi Khampepe: Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa