ANB-BIA SUPPLEMENT

ISSUE/EDITION Nr 321 - 01/04/1997

South Africa

The Price of Truth in the Quest for Reconciliation

by Sean O'Leary, South Africa, March 1997

THEME = JUSTICE

INTRODUCTION

South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission has already achieved a great deal in healing the wounds of a divided and stricken nation, but a lot more still has to be done

In a hall full to capacity, about four hundred people listen with bated breath to the testimony of five white security policemen. They tell in graphic detail the circumstances surrounding the killings of leaders in that community in the eighties. This is not an amnesty hearing, but rather a hearing into gross violations of human rights. The five policemen have been encouraged to come and face the community for whom they have caused so much pain and grief. Family members of the victims listen in silence. There is neither admiration nor condemnation of the policemen for their presence and what they are saying. But something very deep is taking place between the perpetrator and the victims. Healing is taking place. The policemen do not say they are sorry, nor do they ask for forgiveness. What they do is acknowledge that what they did in the past was wrong.
Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, Deputy Minister of Education, sits in an amnesty hearing, and hears for the first time that an attempt was made on his life at Durban Airport in 1987. The policeman explains that a woman continued to walk in between the telescopic sight of a hidden rifle and the head of the priest. This time the policeman asks for forgiveness, and Father Mkhatshwa invites him to his parish to ask forgiveness from the community. Again something sacred is happening. Healing is taking place.
For the first time in twenty years the names of those responsible for the killing of Steve Biko are public knowledge. Five policemen have made an application to the Truth Commission for amnesty for their part in killing Biko.
The killers of Matthews Goniwe and his three comrades have also applied for amnesty. Slowly but surely the truth behind the hidden hand of violence is being revealed, and countless abductions, murders and disappearances are being connected to the names of security policemen and other agents of the apartheid government.
The hearings into gross violations of human rights have taken place across the length and breadth of the country. Complementing these hearings is the work of statement-taking, where victims of abuses have their story recorded by officials of the Truth Commission. To date close on 10,000 statements have been recorded. For the victim, the pouring out of grief, of loss and anger, and allowing themselves to fully feel the extent of their suffering has brought about healing. It is important that the Commission in no way minimises that suffering, and ensures that the victim is treated with dignity and their pain acknowledged.

Amnesty process

There has been less progress made in the amnesty process. To date there are approximately 6,000 applications for amnesty. Many of these are from hardened criminals who see the Truth Commission as a possible avenue for early release. However, the few decisions to date of the Amnesty Sub-Committee, would indicate that the vast majority of those who have applied for amnesty will not be successful. It would seem that the applicant must not only give full disclosure of what he or she did, and prove it was done for a political purpose, but they must also prove they were part of a political structure that sanctioned such behaviour. A clear example of this is the two applications from the killers of Chris Hani. The applicants, Polish immigrant Janusz Waluz and Clive Derby-Lewis, the Conservative Party Member of Parliament, have given full disclosure. Their act was clearly politically motivated. However, their application falls down on the fact that their political structure, the Conservative Party, did not embrace a policy of political assassination of opponents. Therefore their application, and many more, is doomed to failure because they acted independently of their political structures. It would seem that those working for the state and its myriad of security apparatus have the most chance of receiving amnesty.
The question then must be asked: From how far up the line of command did these orders come? As more and more truth is revealed, it would seem the orders came from the highest political authority, and one would expect that both presidents P.W. Botha and F.W. De Klerk have blood on their hands. Whether they will be brought before the Truth Commission, remains to be seen!

Restitution and Rehabilitation

Where the Truth Commission is falling down, is in the area of restitution and rehabilitation. This sub-committee is a policy- making committee which makes recommendations on what type of restitution or rehabilitation should take place. Only those victims who have appeared at hearings of the human rights violations committee, or have had their statement taken, qualify for restitution. The implementation of the recommendations will only begin after the Truth Commission's term has expired. It is envisaged that government line ministries will be responsible for implementation of the recommendations. The problem is that the ministries have not budgeted for this to date.
Recipients of restitution have been divided into five categories. The first covers those still psychologically traumatised by the events of the past, and are in urgent need of professional treatment. The second category includes those who are physically impaired, one way or another, as a result of the abuse, and need urgent medical attention. The third category consists of those who need financial assistance, usually because the bread winner was killed. These people will perhaps receive pensions or living assistance. The fourth group is those who have been deprived of access to education. It is suggested that they receive bursaries. The fifth and final category is characterised by its symbolic function, and exhorts the nation to be true to its duty and obligation to remember. Here it is envisaged to create monuments to the past, such as a "grave for the unknown comrade" (term used to describe anti-apartheid activists), re-burials of those who died in exile, or the recording of the names of all those who died in the struggle for freedom.

Involving the whole country

In a sense, the restitution and rehabilitation sub-committee offer the greatest opportunity for obtaining the dual objectives of healing and reconciliation. Many believe that a trust should be formed where the entire country can contribute financially to this healing process. As in the past, in the years of apartheid, the business community remains conspicuously silent as regards the work of the Truth Commission.
Fifteen months down the line, the Truth Commission is finally getting into top gear. Hardly a day goes by without some revelation of the horrors of what happened. There is no doubt that these truths about what happened in the past are contributing to South Africa coming to terms with its horrific legacy. The fact that there is no individual justice for the victims, has in some way been cushioned by the amount of information now available on the events of the past. What is a feather in the cap of the new South Africa is, that despite the horrors of the past, nobody from any quarter is calling for revenge. This is an indication of the maturity and oneness of the "rainbow nation" that has stepped out of the ashes of apartheid a mere three years ago. A lot has been achieved, and a lot still has to be done to heal the wounds of our divided and wounded nation.

END

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PeaceLink 1997 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement