Special Report Transcript Episode 38, Section 7, Time 19:59

With these words another dimension has been added to the task of the Truth Commission and that quite simply is to start a national debate on what should be done for the many, many victims of gross human rights violations. While some perpetrators have already been granted amnesty, victims have not even begun to have their losses restored. What then is to be done? One of the ways in which it is said victims can be compensated is through symbolic reparation. In other countries like Germany and Argentina, which also instituted Truth Commissions, past atrocities and acts of resistance were symbolically remembered through national monuments and memorials. Symbolic reparation then could be one way of remembering suffering and strength. It could also serve as a powerful warning to future generations not to repeat the mistakes of the past. But how do we in South Africa do this? For instance Vlakplaas, the death squad headquarters, could be turned into a public park or Steven Bantu Biko’s gravesite into a national monument. Robben Island or the place where Hector Pieterson was shot in 1976 in Soweto could be developed into historical museums or could be places which contained war memorials. Not everyone agrees with the idea of symbolic reparation. Those who do, feel that it should never be a substitute for material or economic development. There’s also disagreement as to whether symbols like war memorials and heroes’ acres would heal or keep alive the wounds of the past.

Notes: Images, photos: victims of human rights violations; Jane Alexander sculpture

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