The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the brainchild of Nelson Mandela, is one of the most internationally heralded means of peace and conflict resolution. The major objective of the TRC was to allow those who had not only been subjected to the gross crimes against humanity that were prevalent during the apartheid era, but also so that those who had committed such atrocities could have the opportunity to come forward, with the guarantee of total amnesty, share with the TRC what they had done to their fellow man, and ask for forgiveness from either the victims or the family and friends of the dead. However, the TRC is not without its flaws.
We have learned much about the TRC while here in South Africa, and it has been interesting to hear from those who were – but mostly were not – able to participate in the TRC. The TRC, led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, began its work in 199() at the Regina Mundi Catholic Church in Soweto. It seems appropriate that Regina Mundi be the site for the TRC to occur because of the role Soweto played in ending apartheid.
In 1976, the apartheid government, to further the reach of the Bantu Education Act, mandated that all black schools be educated in Afrikaans, the official language of the apartheid regime. This was done in order to prevent black students from passing their matriculation exams to go beyond primary and secondary school to higher education; another means of keeping black and white apart. In response to this, the students of Soweto began to boycott school in May of 1976 to show their opposition to the new law. On June 16 of that year, the students organized a march that would take them through Soweto to the soccer stadium in Orlando where they would list their grievances against the government and then have a rally. However, that plan never came to fruition. On the way to the stadium, the students met a line of police who eventually began to shoot on the protestors. 23 students were killed on June 16 and more on the following days. Students seeking shelter fled to the Regina Mundi Catholic Church and immediately began to dowse water on those who had been subjected to tear gas thrown at them by police. However, the police followed them and began shooting inside the church (no one was killed in the church) upon those seeking shelter. Our class was able to see some of the remnants of the raid on the church as there are still bullet holes in the ceiling of the church; an eternal reminder of this country’s past.
Eighteen years later, Desmond Tutu and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission began the long and arduous process of helping South Africa begin to heal from the pain inflicted upon a country broken by apartheid in the place where some of the most heinous crimes took place in Soweto.
It has been over 10 years since the TRC presented its findings and the pain of apartheid is still present. There are many who were deeply affected by apartheid who feel that the TRC did nothing to solve the deep-seeded roots of the conflict. James Matthews, a dissident poet we met in Cape Town, was arrested during the apartheid era and jailed on Robben Island. I had the opportunity to speak to him and our conversation eventually led towards the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He asked me how I had learned of it, what I knew of it, and how I felt about it. I told him how I had originally learned of the TRC while reading the book “Bono: In Conversation”, and how I felt that it seemed to be an excellent way for people to be able to share their pain and come together for the common purpose of forgiveness. I then asked him what he thought of the TRC. Mr. Matthews did not share my opinion. He felt that those who committed the gravest crimes got away much to easily, and would have preferred that those who were at fault be tried more on the lines of Nuremburg, the trials that prosecuted those who led and enacted the Nazi’s “Final Solution” to eliminate all people of Jewish heritage. At first his response was surprising, and I didn’t understand why he would say such a thing, mostly because I thought all of South Africa loved Mandela and that anything he was involved with was regarded as almost holy. But, that is not always the case, and forgiveness without accountability may not necessarily the best means to resolve conflict.
There have been many conflicts across the world that have required the people of the nation to come together and resolve their differences before moving forward. Many different means have been used to try to tackle the issues, the TRC only being one of many different approaches. However, there still seems to be a lot of unresolved problems left over from apartheid. Bitterness, resentment, and at times hatred, while not nearly as prevalent as they were during the apartheid and early post-apartheid eras, are still present in South African society. There are many who feel that sacrifices of those who were abused, tortured, or murdered by the system were not justified by the TRC that did not prosecute those who were responsible for these atrocities. They have yet to see justice, and want to see the government carry it out. There were also many cases that were not able to be heard by the TRC and some are still looking for answers to the questions that remain. It is an issue that still hangs over this country and prevents the rainbow nation from achieving its goal of unity and peace. So now the question remains: Was the TRC effective as a means of helping the people of South Africa forgive each other? Or is there still unsolved conflict that the TRC with its set mandate could not address? Only time will reveal the answer to those questions.