Lamola calls for reparations at Durban Declaration anniversary meeting

South Africa has renewed its call for formal apologies, reparations and the return of cultural artefacts as the United Nations marks 25 years since the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action against racism.

International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola made the appeal at a UN General Assembly high-level meeting in New York on Monday, 28 September. In remarks published by his department, he said states should address the legacies of slavery, colonialism and apartheid through truth-telling and practical measures, including the return of cultural objects to their countries of origin.

The 2001 declaration was adopted at the World Conference against Racism in Durban. It set out an international programme to combat racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. The UN describes it as a political commitment, not a legally binding treaty.

South Africa’s call at the UN

Lamola welcomed the political declaration marking the anniversary and called for stronger, independent national human-rights institutions to monitor whether governments are meeting their commitments. He also backed progress towards a separate UN declaration on the rights of people of African descent. That proposed instrument is not yet an adopted declaration.

The minister pointed to recent General Assembly decisions concerning the trafficking and enslavement of Africans and the way world maps represent the continent. He presented those decisions as part of a broader push to confront historical injustice. His remarks did not announce a new South African reparations programme or a domestic law change.

UN General Assembly President Khalilur Rahman, addressing the same meeting, said the Durban framework had drawn on South Africa’s defeat of institutionalised racism. He urged governments to turn commitments into funded national action plans and measurable results. The UN Secretary-General’s office said António Guterres had similarly called for stronger anti-discrimination laws and measures against bias in technology.

The UN meeting commemorated the declaration adopted in South Africa a quarter of a century ago. Lamola said the anniversary should become a turning point in protecting rights and reducing inequality, rather than only a remembrance of the 2001 conference.