South Africa’s (SA) former Justice Minister Ronald Lamola has defended government’s approach to apartheid era prosecutions, telling the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC) Cases Inquiry that his priority was to strengthen the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and support the implementation of the landmark Rodrigues judgment.

Under cross examination by lawyers representing families of apartheid era victims, Lamola said that upon taking office in May 2019, he was unaware of any position adopted by his predecessor.

He says instead he focused on ensuring that prosecutors had the resources and institutional backing needed to pursue long delayed cases.

Lamola told the inquiry that efforts to revive TRC related prosecutions were intended to be victim centred, with the NPA engaging directly with affected families on evidence, strategy and the progress of cases, while his department worked to address resource constraints that had hampered investigations and prosecutions.

–SABC–