Special Report Transcript Episode 86, Section 4, Time 29:00

For me it came as a huge surprise, even to be nominated because there was a long public selection and nomination process. I think 3 or 400 people were nominated by various organizations. I was nominated by the Human Rights Committee and it came as a great surprise that I should have been nominated and I never for a moment believed that I would have been appointed by the Government. But on that particular day, I can’t remember when it was, it was early in December, the 6th of December 1995 I was telephoned by someone in the Department of Justice and I was told that I had been appointed by the State President. And again, it was one of those days which you can never, ever forget. // I’ve always believed inherently in the goodness of people and I thought there’s not much of that that we can see in this work that we’re doing. I saw a lot of evil that people committed and I think it affected my world view of what people are capable of. But then, just as you are sailing down that particular road you’ll come up against a group of victims who in the face of incredible difficulty, adversity, they maintain their humanity in a very powerful way and they triumph over that adversity. And that really enables you to understand the strength and the courage that ordinary people have and it restores your faith in what humans are. // For me personally reconciliation is an extension of how I was brought up, recognize the humanity in each other, that’s what it is. We are human beings, we are not blacks, we are not whites, we are human beings and reconciliation is recognizing each other’s humanity and that’s what we have to do in this country.

Notes: Richard Lyster

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