The People’s Tribunal on Economic Crime

Corruption Tribunal

People's Tribunal on Economic Crime

Background

The People’s Tribunal was organised by citizens and not by the state. It followed the model of People’s Tribunals that have unfolded in many parts of the world to consider human rights issues, from war crimes in Vietnam to the conditions in Palestine. Members of the public were given the opportunity to submit evidence. Having heard this evidence over five days of hearings, the panel have made preliminary findings and have committed to writing a final report that will be presented to the public.

Who are we?

The Tribunal’s organising committee comprises a range of civil society organisations, including the following:

Corruption Watch
Foundation for Human Rights
Open Secrets
Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI)
Right2Know Campaign

Who Funded the Tribunal?

Funding for the Tribunal was provided to Open Secrets by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Open Society Foundation Human Rights Initiative, Open Society Foundation for South Africa and the Claude Leon Foundation.

Call for Evidence

The organising committee for the People’s Tribunal on Economic Crime in South Africa hereby invites members of the public to submit information to be presented at the first hearings of the People’s Tribunal in February 2018.

The tribunal aims to allow an inclusive and evidence based discussion on the inter-connected nature of state capture in South Africa, joining the dots over the past four decades from Apartheid-era economic crime to the post-Apartheid Arms Deal and the current era of what we call ‘state capture’. The Tribunal will hear evidence relating to each of these eras over the 5 days.

The first hearings will focus on the arms trade across all three eras. We thus invite anyone with information on the following cases to bring evidence forward to the organising committee:

Alleged breaches of International and South African law by actors who facilitated the illegal supply of weapons to apartheid South Africa between 1977 and 1994.
Alleged breaches of South African and International law by corporations and individuals in the process of the 1999 Arms Deal.
Alleged breaches of South African and International law in relation to current allegations of ‘state-capture’ as they relate to Denel.

People are encouraged to come forward with both documentary evidence and first-hand experience. All submissions will be treated confidentially, and it is not required to publicly present the evidence at the Tribunal. A select number of submissions will be given an opportunity for verbal presentation. Information will only be used with the consent of the witness and may be presented to the tribunal and adjudicators in different forms.

Make a Submission

Members of the Panel

Navi Pillay

Navi Pillay is a South African jurist who spent many years as a lawyer defending anti-apartheid activists. In 1988 she became the first South African to obtain a doctorate from Harvard Law School. She was also the first black woman judge to be appointed to the High Court of South Africa and has since served on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court. From 2008 until 2014 she served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Dinga Sikwebu

Dinga Sikwebu is a leading labour rights activist and the co-director of the Tshisimani Centre for Activist Education. He is a member of the interim National Working Committee of the United Front, a coalition that brings together unions and community-based social movements. His involvement with the labour movement dates back to the 1970s and he remains an official of the National Union of Mineworkers of South Africa (NUMSA).

Allyson Maynard Gibson QC

Allyson Maynard Gibson is a barrister, community rights advocate and former member of the legislature and Attorney-General of The Bahamas. She is a leading international campaigner for the rights of women and children and access to justice. In addition to serving as Attorney-General between 2012 and 2017, she was the Minister of Financial Services and Investments from 2002 to 2006.

Zak Yacoob

Zak Yacoob is an anti-apartheid activist and former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He was appointed to the bench by Nelson Mandela in 1998. In 2014 he acted as an adjudicator for an international commission of inquiry that recommended the release of the Cuban Five. Justice Yacoob also led an international panel of judges who presided over the 2015 International People’s Tribunal on 1965 Crimes Against Humanity in Indonesia.

Mandisa Dyantyi

Mandisa Dyantyi is the Deputy General Secretary of the Cape Town based Social Justice Coalition (SJC). Mandisa is a dedicated activist passionate about human rights and addressing inequality, especially gender inequality. “I believe that the power to address inequality lies in empowering the marginalised and vulnerable to stand up to those in power”. Mandisa holds a masters in political studies from the University of the Western Cape and has worked for a number of organisations seeking to promote and protect people’s rights and to hold those in power to account.

What Happens Next?

Where can I read the preliminary findings?

After hearing all the evidence presented during the five days of hearings at the People’s Tribunal, the members of the panel made preliminary findings. You can read the preliminary findings or watch them being delivered here.

What other findings will be made?

Once the implicated parties have had time to respond, the members of the panel will review the evidence and work on a final report. This report will be presented to the public and will be delivered to the relevant authorities for further investigation.

Will implicated parties have a chance to respond?

Yes. The members of the panel recommended that implicated parties be notified and given a chance to respond to the findings made against them. Open Secrets, as secretariat of the People’s Tribunal, have since identified and notified the relevant parties who have three months in which to respond.