JOHANNESBURG – Dozens of elderly South Africans who have maintained a two-year sit-in outside the nation’s Constitutional Court, demanding reparations for apartheid-era suffering, say they remain ignored despite recent international attention during the G20 summit.
The protesters, many in their 70s, had hoped the 22-23 November G20 gathering of world leaders in Johannesburg would spotlight their struggle for justice. Instead, as international delegations departed, members of the Khulumani Galela Reparation Movement said not a single official had visited their makeshift camp.
“Leaders talk about justice, climate, peace,” said Bongani Nxumalo (55), a former anti-apartheid guerrilla suffering from post-conflict trauma. “But here at the doorstep of our Constitutional home, justice seems far to reach us.”
The activists have lived in improvised shelters made from plastic, tarpaulin and cardboard boxes since November 2023. Their protest coincided with a “People’s Summit” at Constitutional Hill, running parallel to the official G20 meetings.
Campaign takes heavy toll
The prolonged demonstration has exacted a heavy price. Eight original protesters have died since the campaign began, according to organizer Nomarussia Bonase, 59. Violent clashes with court officials in March 2024 left several elderly women injured, she added.
“We are here because promises were broken,” said Yvonne Makanya, 76, whose home was repeatedly raided by apartheid security forces searching for her son, an anti-apartheid activist.
The protesters represent diverse apartheid-era grievances. Phumla Mpolweni, 63, seeks repatriation of her brother’s remains from exile in Uganda. Danisile Mabanga, 63, was among families forcibly removed from their farms by security forces.
Inequality persists three decades later
The movement argues that despite South Africa’s transition to democracy in 1994, racial inequality remains entrenched. The International Monetary Fund ranks South Africa as the world’s most unequal country, with the top 20% controlling over 68% of income.
Official statistics show unemployment affects about 32% of the population overall but fewer than 10% of white South Africans.
“No leader has faced us,” Makanya said. “No minister, no official, not one leader has come to address us. They sneak into the Constitutional Court using a back door because they cannot face us at the main entrance.”
As temperatures dropped Sunday night, the protesters prepared for another night on the cold concrete, their vigil continuing into its third year with no resolution in sight.
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