Marjorie Jobson’s advocacy began as a member of the women’s human rights organisation, the Black Sash (originally the Women’s Defence of the Constitution) that provided support to black South Africans affected by apartheid legislation through advice offices established at nine sites across the country. As co-leader of the Pretoria branch of the organisation, she became involved in working to end the execution of political prisoners in the ‘hanging prison’ in Pretoria. The campaign against the death penalty succeeded when President de Klerk, the last apartheid president, declared a moratorium on the death penalty on the basis of the evidence produced by that campaign. In 1997, she was requested to join Khulumani Support Group by a former inmate of ‘death row’, Mr Duma Kumalo, one of the Sharpeville Six who were wrongfully convicted of the murder of the black mayor in the township, Sharpeville. At the organisation’s AGM in 2006, she was appointed Khulumani’s national director. This role has been renewed at subsequent AGMs.
Advocate Mafojane of the National Department of Justice engages the survivors of the Swaneville Massacre outside the Head Office of the Ministry in Pretoria. 25 March 2021
Khulumani, meaning to ‘speak out,’ in isiZulu, was founded in 1995 ahead of the formation of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission with the objective of facilitating victims’ access to transitional justice processes. Khulumani’s membership is now more than 100,000 victims and survivors of apartheid-era political violence and gross human rights violations. Its founding members set up victim dialogue groups around the country in efforts to prevent victims at the grassroots from being left out of processes for securing truth and justice. The driving ethos of Khulumani was to try to ensure direct engagement with victims. “At the time, the slogan that was adopted was: ‘Nothing for us without us’, a practice that has continued to the present”, says Jobson.
Marjorie Jobson
Jobson is a medical graduate who has combined activism for freedom, social justice and dignity for all with her professional work. She has served as a research and teaching associate of the Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Pretoria over around 10 years and as a board member of the Siyavuna Development Resource Centre in KwaZulu Natal that has pioneered a social franchise involving rural organic farmers.
But what lessons has she learned from South Africa’s experience since apartheid?
Jobson explains that the objectives of the TRC in respect of victims and survivors have still not been realised or fulfilled. She says, “The work of transforming a society as deeply damaged by its history of colonialism and apartheid as South Africa, is ongoing. A major focus of peoples’ needs remains dealing with their mental health issues associated with severe trauma. It took 20 years before anyone would talk about how widespread the use of sexual violence had been in the struggle. Now South Africa has the unfortunate record of having amongst the highest prevalence of gender-based violence in the world. At the time of the TRC (1996 -1997) the use of rape as a weapon of war, had not yet been recognised.” She says she is grateful that there is finally a situation in the country where it is no longer shameful to admit a need for healing. She explains, “The demands of the struggle were so onerous that people were instructed by their leaders, ‘Don’t mourn. Keep moving’.”
Marjorie Jobson
Jobson appreciates being a member of the INOVAS network because of its aim of putting victims and survivors at the centre of transitional justice processes. She hopes that the network will help to transform all the ways in which victims are failed by transitional justice processes and especially in relation to the role of reparations as a much-needed measure to help repair damage. These are issues that affect all the members of INOVAS. A key discussion point in INOVAS strategy meetings has been the rejection of the practice of seeing victims as ‘charity cases’ who cannot speak for themselves. She explains that Khulumani rejects the language of victimhood because of the stigma attached to it.
Instead, victims and survivors can lead the conversations and speak for themselves.
“The attitude that a victim is someone who needs help, needs other people to do things for them, is one that we reject.” All victims and survivors have a voice and a right to be heard.”