October 18, 2012Bisho Massacre: The Aftermath Produced byAmos Phago On the 7thof September 1992, around 60 000 members of the ANC were led into a direct confrontation with theCiskei Defence Force (CDF)troops of the former South African homeland – Ciskei. The Ciskei administration under the leadership of Oupa Gqozo had warned the crowd not to cross the border. Senior ANC and Communist Party leaders led the marchers on that fateful day. About two and a half minutes of automatic gunfire by the CDF soldiers left 28 dead and hundreds injured. The incident robbed the community of its fathers, mothers, daughters and sons. These are some of the 17 000 victims of apartheid-era atrocities recommended for compensation by the Truth andReconciliation Commission. Many of the intended beneficiaries continue to live in abject poverty despite the existence ofafund meant to help.
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Special Assignmentinvestigates the delays and allegedinefficiencies in implementing the recommendations of the commission. These include cash payments, educational, medical and welfare assistancethrough the president’s fund, currently estimated to be over a billion rand and administered by the department of Justice.
The government says an amount of R30 000 has been paid to each of the victims identified by the TRC and that only about 350 are yet to receive the money once they have been tracked down. However, organisations such as the Khulumani Support Group believe that the number of eligible beneficiaries is higher than those declared by the TRC and are calling for the identification process to be re-opened.
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