Speaker, I would like to respond by informing the hon member that the applications for pardon of the persons identified in this question were submitted and received by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development on 30 May 2008. These applications for pardon form part of the 2 114 applications for special dispensation for offenders allegedly convicted of offences in pursuit of a political objective.
All these applications, including those in question, were processed and they are currently in the Office of the President. As the hon member may be aware, the President was interdicted from processing these applications for pardon by the victim support groups and the Khulumani Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, as well as others in March 2009.
This matter was first heard at the Gauteng North High Court and is now going to be heard at the Constitutional Court on 10 November 2009. At present the President cannot make a decision on this issue until the Constitutional Court has ruled on the matter.
Yes, I will make the following statement: It should be noted that the decision to pardon or not to pardon is, in terms of section 84(2)(j) of the Constitution, a decision of the President. The former President of the Republic, Mr Thabo Mbeki, in a Joint Sitting in Parliament on 21 November 2007, announced a special dispensation pardoning certain individuals who had been convicted of crimes before 16 June 1999 in furtherance of their political objectives. He announced a window of opportunity for affected individuals to apply for a presidential pardon from 15 January 2008 to April 2008. Those are the people who were convicted for offences they believe were similar to those considered by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.