Seeking answers to heal the bitter wounds of the past
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was the foundation of South Africa's remarkable negotiated transfer of power. After decades of gross human rights abuses, including state-backed assassinations and torture, the country needed a mechanism for dealing with its past, writes Mary Braid.
A negotiated deal between the African National Congress and the National Party ruled out Nuremburg-style trials. And if all the guilty men had been pursued through the courts, it would have paralysed the justice system.
Thabo Mbeki, now the country's deputy president, and Kadar Asmal, now a government minister, came up with the idea of an independent Commission. The TRC would expose the truth about the apartheid era as a first step to healing a divided nation. The Commission began with public hearings for thousands of victims which proved harrowing but relatively uncontroversial.
In return for the truth, the TRC also offers perpetrators amnesty if they fully disclose their crimes and prove they were politically motivated. Victims are then barred from taking civil or criminal action against them. Last month the amnesty hearings began in earnest and are proving far more divisive as the killers of liberation heroes step forward.
There are complaints that whites ignore the TRC. It is also claimed that the politicians who gave the orders are escaping, while the foot soldiers take the rap. The National Party, on the other hand, now claims that the TRC is conducting a witchhunt against it, and the Zulu Inkatha Freedom Party alleges the same.
The commission should have finished work in June but has been extended to December.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments