TRC Final Report

Volume 6

Section 6

Part Managerial_Reports

Subsection 4

MEDIA DEPARTMENT

17. The Media Department was central to the planning of each and every amnesty hearing. The department would place advertisements in various newspapers and on various radio stations in order to contact victims and/or perpetrators on behalf of the Amnesty Committee before hearings. This work was performed mainly by the media secretary with the assistance of evidence leaders and analysts. The purpose of this practice was two-fold: it helped the Amnesty Committee locate individuals and also informed members of the public about future hearings.

18. The Media Department was the first source of information for journalists and members of the public with enquiries about the Commission and specific amnesty hearings. The department was also responsible for preparing statements about decisions published by the Amnesty Committee.

Interpreting at the Commission’s hearings

19. Although interpretation services were not a department of the Commission but were provided for by the Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment (ULFE) of the University of the Free State, they formed an integral part of the processes of the Commission and need to be reflected upon.

20. Section 11(f) of the Act stipulated that: ‘... appropriate measures shall be taken to allow victims to communicate in the language of their choice’. The hearings ‘dramatised’ the right of victims and those applying for amnesty to follow proceedings in their own language and of course the right to give testimony in their own language. To respect this, the Commission was compelled to institute a multilingual interpreting service with the applicable infrastructure .

21. In the early part of 1996, the Commission finalised an interpreting service agreement with the Language Facilitation Programme of the University of the Free State. This involved the recruitment, appointment and training of inter-preters to manage the service. Technical support was provided by Giant Video Screens (Pty) Limited.