TRC Final Report

Volume 1

Chapter 5

Subsection 3

Different levels of reconciliation

13 The work of the Commission highlighted the many different levels at which reconciliation needs to take place. Some of these levels, and the complex links between them, are illustrated in the chapter on Reconciliation. They include:

Coming to terms with painful truth

14 In some cases, especially where the remains of loved ones were exhumed and dignified reburials were made possible, the Commission’s disclosure of truth helped people to reach ‘closure’, to make peace with what had happened. However, the reconciliation of victims with their own pain is a deeply personal, complex and unpredictable process. Knowing the complete picture of past gross human rights violations, or even the facts of each case, may not lead to reconciliation. Truth may, in fact, cause further alienation.

15 The Commission’s work, in particular that of the Amnesty Committee, also illustrated the difficulties faced by perpetrators (with varying degrees of responsibility for past violations) in coming to terms with their guilt and shame.

Reconciliation between victims and perpetrators

16 The contribution of the Commission to reconciliation between specific victims and perpetrators was necessarily limited (by its time frame, mandate and resources). In some cases, however, the Commission assisted in laying the foundation for reconciliation. Although truth does not necessarily lead to healing, it is often a first step towards reconciliation. Father Michael Lapsley, who lost both arms and an eye in a near fatal security police parcel bomb attack in Harare in 1990, told the Commission: “I need to know who to forgive in order to endeavour to do so”.

Reconciliation at a community level

17 The effects of human rights violations were multiple, inflicting lasting damage on social relations. At a national level, the main dimension of the conflict was between the oppressed black population and the former state. However, within and between communities, conflict played itself out in various, often insidious, ways. Internal divisions occurred between the young and the old, men and women, neighbours, as well as between different ethnic and racial groups. All these aspects required attention.

18 In some cases, the Commission was able to assist in the process of reconciliation at the micro-level. In others, local conflicts may have been additionally complicated by the different levels of recognition and priority brought into being by the Commission itself.

Promoting national unity and reconciliation

19 The experiences of the Commission illustrated the particular difficulty of understanding the meaning of unity and reconciliation at a national level. They also highlighted the potentially dangerous confusion between a religious, indeed Christian, understanding of reconciliation, more typically applied to interpersonal relationships, and the more limited, political notion of reconciliation applicable to a democratic society.

20 Many people within and outside the Commission warned against expecting too much, too soon from the reconciliation process at a national level. They were concerned about the imposition of a notion of reconciliation - associated with contrition, confession, forgiveness and restitution – on a diverse and divided society attempting to consolidate a fragile democracy. They argued that the most the Commission could and should hope for, at least in the short term, was peaceful coexistence. Thus, a healthy democracy does not require everyone to agree or become friends. However, a culture of human rights and democracy does require respect for our common human dignity and shared citizenship, as well as the peaceful handling of unavoidable conflicts.

21 Others cautioned against accepting too limited a notion of reconciliation. They argued that the Commission should not underestimate the vital importance of apologies - by individuals, representatives of institutions and political leaders coupled with forgiveness by those who had been violated. They saw such gestures as important in the public life of a nation attempting to “transcend the divisions and strife of the past…leaving a legacy of hatred, fear, guilt and revenge”. In the chapter on Reconciliation, there are many extracts from testimonies which illustrate these different perspectives.

22 The following aspects of the Commission’s contribution to the promotion of national unity and reconciliation need to be noted:

a The democratic, transparent, inclusive process of the Commission and the extensive public debates surrounding its work attempted to nurture and promote the central values of open debate and a democratic culture.

b The Commission made significant progress in establishing “as complete and reliable a picture as possible of past violations”.

c The Commission facilitated the official, public acknowledgement of these violations. In so doing, it sought to restore the dignity of those who had suffered.

d By holding accountable not only individuals, but also the state and other institutions, and by making recommendations aimed at preventing future violations, the Commission sought to help restore trust in these institutions. Such trust is necessary for the functioning of a healthy democratic system.

23 Reconciliation is needed, not only at an individual level, nor only between individuals, but also within and between communities and the nation as a whole. Another very important dimension of reconciliation was emphasised by an unidentified thirty-nine year old man from Bongolethu, Oudtshoorn:

What does reconciliation mean for you as a young person? Reconciliation means people forgiving each other and working together as one nation. It does not matter as to what one has done to another in the past. Well, at some stages it does matter…

What would be ideal reconciliation for you? That is that the many people who do not have education are reached. Reconciliation starts with building up these people who are uneducated. Employ those who are unemployed. Train those who are not trained. Develop those who are not developed.⁴