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The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation is committed to the building of fair, democratic and inclusive societies. Due to its roots in South Africa’s transition of the early 1990s, the organisation has over the past two decades concentrated its pursuit of this vision on post-conflict societies in the midst of transitional justice processes across Africa. In recent years it has increasingly been called upon to share this experience in similar contexts further abroad.

US Election: Why did the polls get it wrong – [...]

The IJR staff wishes its Patron, Archbishop Desmond Tutu who [...]

Early this morning my phone beeps. The message is from my friend Rose in Juba, South Sudan. She is a devoted women’s rights activist.With the few resources at her disposal, she works day in, day out to contribute to building a better South Sudan for her children. Rose’s message reads: “My friend, now that you are dealing with mental health: there is too much suicide and mental problem in South Sudan that a real intervention is needed. How? What needs to be our plan?” I gulp. I can sense the urgency.

Around South Africa there are many statues of struggle heroes [...]

The National Planning Commission (NPC) noted this particular issue with regards to [...]

Almost a quarter century into South Africa's political transition, most of its citizens continue to wait for its economic equivalent to transpire. Still poverty frames the daily struggles of far too many, while inequality sustains inherited asymmetric power relations that impede access to those resources that are essential to move ahead in life. In short, injustice still reproduces itself

2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the conclusion of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (SATRC). The South African example seemed the perfect means for post-conflict societies to hold peoples and crimes accountable as a moral reckoning in building a new nation.

The transition into a democratic dispensation had bodies such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) tasked to delve into the violence and human rights violations of the apartheid era.  It was a process that was not without flaws as it separated the systematic injustices and oppressions from human rights violations

South Africa's history is marred by brutality where violence was used as a legitimate means to acquire power, assert interests and address conflict. The normalisation of violence constructed a society in which violence became a mode of communication. It became a norm