Abstract

This article investigates the articulation of political demands by Khulumani, a South African a victim support group. The analysis of their demands is situated in the context of their response to the shortcomings of the TRC and the failures of the South African government to live up to their promises and commitments on reparation for victims of gross human rights abuses under apartheid. The article draws on a post-structuralist approach to discourse analysis, in particular on the work of Laclau and Rancière, to analyse the processes through which demands appear on the political stage and are articulated in response to other political projects. Concretely it traces out the change from a discourse of ‘reconciliation’ to one of ‘redress’, showing how the latter opens up a new horizon of political imagination and action.