TRC Final Report

Volume 5

Chapter 9

Subsection 38

Reconciliation and individuals: registering one’s individual commitment

131 To coincide with the national Day of Reconciliation and to mark the second anniversary of the establishment of the Commission, four ‘Registers for Reconciliation’ were opened in December 1997, one in each of the regional offices.

132 The idea of such a register had been discussed informally among Commissioners and crystallised during a radio ’phone-in programme, when listeners expressed a need for some way in which to articulate the regret and contrition they felt for past wrongs. Announcing the Register, the Commission said:

It has been established in response to a deep wish for reconciliation in the hearts of many South Africans; people who did not perhaps commit gross violations of human rights, but nevertheless wish to indicate their regret for failures in the past to do all they could have done to prevent such violations; people who want to demonstrate in some symbolic way their commitment to a new kind of future in which human rights abuses will not take place.

We know that many South Africans are ready and eager to turn away from a past history of division and discrimination. Guilt for wrongdoing needs to be translated into positive commitment to building a better society – the healthiest and most productive form of atonement.

133 Within a short time, dozens of people had come to the Commission offices to sign the Register, and even more used the Internet website to convey their messages. Many letters that were written to the Commission were also attached to the Register. The oft-repeated theme was regret for the past, thankful recognition of the changes that had taken place, and commitment to making a useful contribution to the future. Some of the messages were accompanied by donations to the President’s Fund for Reparations. Many asked for forgiveness. Many expressed gratitude for the opportunity “of admitting how we feel publicly at last”, to use the words of one contributor.

134 Commissioners discussed the Register with many other organisations, in the hope that the idea would take root and not be regarded solely as a Commission project. They encouraged churches and all religious denominations to offer a similar opportunity to their members, creating appropriate ceremonies. They also proposed that other ways of expanding the concept should be considered, possibly by municipalities where such a register might become a part of the history of the period of transformation in their region.

135 During such discussions, the challenging question was sometimes posed: “Is this Register not simply a way in which those who were privileged in the past can easily shed their guilt and feel that they have now done all that is required of them?” The answer is to be found in many of the entries themselves:

I can only say I chose not to know. I chose the safety of my own comfort over the pain of knowing… I raised my children with privilege, whilst those around me were deprived. I am so deeply sorry! And the opportunity to express this regret and offer apology does not unburden me. This privilege allows me to reach even further into my soul to express the remorse that I feel. It impels me to seek in my own small way to repair the damage to our people and our land caused not only by ‘perpetrators’, but also by us, the bystanders, in the tragedy of our past. It impels me also to rejoice in the present freedom to build a new and great South Africa.

It’s not too late – yes, I could have done more in the past, could have been more courageous. I regret that I didn’t. But now there is a new opportunity to commit to this country… to build respect for human rights, to help develop the country, to make the ideals enshrined in the constitution real.