Statement from Galela Campaign participants on the remarks by Dr.

Marjorie Job-
son on NewzRoom Afrika, 14 May 2022

We the undersigned are members in good standing of Khulumai Support Group, and participants in
the Galela Campaign, calling for reparations from our government for apartheid-era human rights
violations. For the past 19 days and nights we have slept outside ConCourt in Johanesburg, demanding
a response from the President Mr Cyril Ramaphosa and the Minister of Justice, Mr Roland Lamola.

We herewith express our outrage and disgust the public pronouncements of Dr Marjorie Jobson on
NewZRoom Afrika on Sunday, 14 May; and the fact that a national television statement provided her
with this platform.

In this nationally broadcast SABC program, Dr Jobson made the following false and defamatory state-
ments:

1. Dr Jobson falsely and fraudulently misrepresented herself as the national director of Khuluma-
ni Support Group.

In fact, Dr Jobson was dismissed as national director from KSG in September 2019, followed a du-
ely constituted disciplinary hearing which found her guilty of 11 counts, including fraud, perjury,
theft of membership money and donor project funds, and undermining Khulumani’s democratic
structures. She then set up her own splinter group, illegally taking the administration files and
equipment from the Khulumani national offices in Khotso House, Johannesburg; she now operates
from an office in Pretoria, illegally using the KSG NPO number, name and identity.

2. Dr Jobson stated that the “governing structures of Khulumani” (ie., her illegitimate splinter
group) does not sanction the Galela demonstration. She stated that “…as the Board of Khuluma-
ni… we have had many requests from people who have seen the people sleeping out on the
steps of the Constitutional Hill, saying “we think this is elder abuse, how can you tolerate it!”

Publicly disowning the Galela Campaign , and condemning its disciplined and united action as “el-
der abuse”, serves only to discredit the demonstration, and undermine the key Campaign demands,
that government must act now to roll out long –promised and long-denied reparations to veter-
ans, victims and survivors of gross human rights violations.

3. Dr Jobson falsely claimed that the Galela demonstrators “…is largely, almost exclusively from
the East Rand, and you may know that the East Rand was never included in the Truth Com-
mission because the East Rand civil war went on until 1999, and the cut-off date for the Truth
 Commission was the day of the inauguration of President Mandela.” We asked that NewzRoom Afrika cease giving her these opportunities, and to afford us space for a full
response to the misrepresentations caused by affording her and her official a platform. We had no
In fact the Galela demonstration has members who came from Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Lim- response from NewzRoom Afrika, on both occasions.
popo and the Vaal as well the East Rand; and its actions representsKhulumani members through-
out the country. The TRC did indeed cover the East Rand, and Galela Campaign members from the Thus, by the time of the 14 May broadcast, NewzRoom Afrika had been informed of Dr Jobson’s illegal
East Rand include both those who appeared before the TRC and those who did not. Dr Jobson’s status; and we had requested, and not received, a right to equal space to correct her falsehoods. New-
comments dismissing as “technical issues” the problems of reparations for those who qualified as zRoom Afrika instead went back to Dr Jobson, to publicly broadcast defamatory and factually false
victims of apartheid-era violations but were unable to appear before the TRC” belittles and under- statements detailed above.
mines this massive problem. This statement, by a person falsely claiming to lead the main organ-
isation of veterans, survivors and victims of apartheid era violations, can cause severe damage to
the public understanding of our struggle to ensure reparations and redress. We as members of the Galela Campaign and Khulumani Support Group, are mandating our legitimate
officials to take all necessary steps, with the media and/or through the courts, to rectify this matter; to
4. Dr Jobson states that the government only cares for people from exile and the armed struggle, ensure that the public is fully informed about the mischievous and defamatory material that has been
stating “Exiles and military veterans in particular get privileges that have never been afforded broadcast about us; and that the public has access to accurate and factual reporting on our Campaign.
to the people in the country, who faced much greater danger in the country… government only
wants to recognise people who carried a weapon and went into exile.”

Again, statements of this nature only serve to drive a wedge between people who went into exile,
and especially into the liberation armies, and those inside the country. It ignores and dismisses
the fact that many of those in exile also had a long history of struggle – and violations -- inside the
country, before going into exile. It falsely suggests that Khulumani Support Group sees one group
(“exiles”) as privileged by our government, while the other (“inside”) is ignored. This is potentially
damaging to public understanding of our struggle for full and fair reparations for all who suffered
apartheid human rights violations.

5. Dr Jobson concludes with a direct attack on the Galela Campaign demonstrators, and their
organisers. She states that the demonstration is “… affiliated with a part of Khulumani led by
Nomarussia Bonase, who was a national organizer… They have reached a point of such desper- Signed by Khulumani Members during the Galela Cammpaign at Constitution Hill, 15 May 2022:
ation that they are taking these actions independent of Khulumani’s governing structures. I
believe they have gone home…I went to visit them last weekend. They are being whipped up
into a frenzy, where you create a mob that is of one mind, it is very difficult to hold any negotia-
tions.”

Again, for a person claiming to be national director of a Khulumani to disown the demonstration,
describing them as ‘a mob’ that has been ‘whipped up into a frenzy”, can only be a deliberate at-
tempt to cause massive damage to the public view of the Campaign.

In terms of NewzRoom Afrika providing Dr Jobson with this public platform:

Twice previously in the last two years, during our first sleepin at ConHill in October 2021, and follow-
ing the launch of the Galela Campaign on 28 April 2022, NewzRoom Afrika asked Mr Lepile, speaking
for Dr Jobson’s illegitimate splinter group to speak about our protest actions on their nationally broad-
cast program. After both of these statements, the legitimate structures of Khulumani Support Group
filed written complaints with the NewzRoom Afrika complaints line, pointing out Dr Jobson had been
dismissed from Khulumani; that she is falsely and maliciously misrepresented herself as a leader of
these demonstrations; and that this was distasteful and potentially damaging to our organisation and
campaign. Our complaint to NewzRoom Africa on 28 April stated that:

“Dr Jobson’s claim to speak on our behalf, the office she has subsequently established in Pretoria,
the officials she employs through that office, as well as her continued use of the KSG name, website,
membership data, and NPO number, have no legal standing. Dr Jobson has no mandate to represent
KSG members; she has no involvement with the Galela Campaign; she has no right to make claims
or actions on behalf of our organisation.”