TRC Final Report

Volume 6

Section 3

Chapter 2

Subsection 1

Volume SIX Section THREE Chapter T W O

The ANC and Allied Organisations

PART ONE: OVERVIEW OF THE ANC AND ALLIED AMNESTY APPLICATIONS: 1 9 6 0 – 1 9 9 4

■ INTRODUCTION

1. The purpose of this chapter is to review the information that emerged out of the amnesty process of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (the Commission) in respect of the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies and to consider its intersection with information that emerged through the processes of the Committee on Human Rights Violations (HRVC).

2. Broadly speaking, ANC-related amnesty applications can be divided into a number of categories. The first concerns applications from members of the ANC leadership. These were accompanied by a ‘Declaration of Responsibility’ and became known as the ‘collective responsibility’ applications. The second were applications from Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) operatives. The third were applications from self-defence unit (SDU) members, who can claim some level of practical and moral authorisation from the ANC.¹⁰⁸

3. A fourth category of applicants was made up of civilians who were members of, or who acted in the name of, or in support of the ANC. In this category, the political and moral responsibility of the ANC and those who acted in its name was considerably less. This is even so when considering applications from members of organisations that operated internally during the final years of the ANC’s exile from South Africa. The most prominent example is that of the United Democratic Front (UDF). Although the UDF and its affiliate organisations associated themselves with the ANC and its goals and principles, they operated as independent organisations.

4. This chapter will also distinguish between applications that relate to the period prior to the lifting of the banning order on the ANC (1960 to 1989) and those that relate to the period from 1990 to 1994 – that is, from when the ban on the ANC was lifted and negotiations began until 10 May 1994, the closing date of the Commission’s mandate.

STATISTICAL OVERVIEW

5. A total of 998 persons who were members or supporters of the ANC or related organisations applied for amnesty for 1025 incidents. Only twenty-six (or 3%) of these applicants were female.

6. The regional breakdown was as follows:

7. The annual breakdown was as follows:

8. The 1025 incidents involved the following acts:¹¹⁰