Professor Thuli Madonsela has expressed her views of restitution and its impact on social cohesion in South Africa and other parts of the world.
Madonsela is the law trust chair in social justice and law professor at the University of Stellenbosch.
At the interdisciplinary International Social Justice Conference on October 11, experts and academics will explore the philosophical and legal underpinnings of restitution, current trends in restitution debates and possible pragmatic pathways for South Africa and the continent.
At the Social Justice Summit on October 12, stakeholders from civil society and the government as well as business leaders will endeavour to make sense of what restitution looks like and what pragmatic approaches can take us there.
Madonsela said it was important to remember that in the South African context, restitution is not just about race dynamics relating to the legacy of the colonial and apartheid injustices.
“It’s also about gender, disabilities, and the discrimination the LGBTQI+ community, as well as certain religious groups, have experienced. Restitution is also not restricted to land and economic injustices. It includes other tangibles such as education, health and community infrastructure. It also includes intangibles such as the stigmatisation of certain groups and cultures,” Madonsela said.
These engagements will also consider previous agreements reflected in summit and conference resolutions and declarations. They include consensus reached in the inaugural summit that the past will continue to poison the present, including social cohesion efforts, until its claims regarding justice are addressed earnestly and decisively.