Joburg - The National Freedom Party (NFP) has called on surviving apartheid ministers to come clean and share details of unreported atrocities.
According to the party, it is critical that apartheid-era ministers and high-ranking officials be questioned and forced to share information about unsolved cases of missing people or those who died under mysterious circumstances during the apartheid era.
“With the death of Apartheid Minister of Police, Adriaan Vlok, we are reminded that these people are going to their graves with pertinent information needed to give hundreds of families closure. As a country, we have bent over backwards to foster an era of reconciliation and forgiveness,” said NFP leader in Parliament, Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam.
“Despite the heinous crimes committed against the majority of the citizens by the illegitimate apartheid regime, these people should have been in prison. But they were given immunity. The least they could do is give these families closure.”
The NFP said it believed that South Africa needs more open and frank conversations about the fact that many of these apartheid-era ministers and officials have information that they have chosen to keep hidden and not share.
“A commitment to justice and reconciliation has to also be a commitment to the truth. These people were given amnesty. They have pledged support for our democratic institutions. However, if they really showed remorse, they would share the information they have so that families can have closure. That is real commitment to the rainbow nation,” said Shaik Emam.
The party expressed deep regret that Vlok died without contributing to the reconciliation project by sharing all the information he had.
“We therefore call on those who say they believe in democracy and reconciliation to think about the families who never had closure and to share that information before they too go to their graves,” the NFP said.
The NFP further extended its condolences to the friends and family of Vlok.
The Star