Special Report Transcript Episode 77, Section 1, Time 00:28

Winnie Mandela, PW Botha, Magnus Malan, Clive Derby-Lewis and Janusz Walus. That’s who the Truth Commission had to deal with this past week. In today’s programme we have full reports on the amnesty applications of Chris Hani’s murderers, the testimony by former Defence Minister Magnus Malan and National Intelligence boss Neil Barnard and PW Botha’s refusal to appear before the Truth Commission. But the week was clearly dominated by the woman once called ‘the mother of the nation,’ Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. For eight days a long line up of victims, survivors, eyewitnesses, church leaders, community leaders and prominent figures of the internal liberation movement painted a devastating picture of lawlessness, rumour mongering, kidnapping, vicious assaults and eight brutal murders. The dead people are: Vincent Sefako, Susan Maripa, Stompie Seipei, Lolo Sono, Sibuniso Tshabalala, Finki Msomi, Koekie Zwane Miya, Abubaker Asvat. Every single one of these murdered people had some connection with the struggle against apartheid; not one of them could be regarded as an enemy of the people. The people held responsible for this mayhem in Soweto in 1987 and 1988 were Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and her Mandela United Football Club. The most remarkable feature of this special Truth Commission hearing was not the 80 hours of horrifying tales; it was the fact that Winnie Madikizela-Mandela did not bring a single witness and not a shred of evidence to refute the allegations. She merely denied everything, calling her accusers ‘ludicrous,’ ‘ridiculous,’ ‘outrageous’ or ‘senile.’ Twice the Truth Commission had to warn her and her supporters not to intimidate witnesses and twice she showed her own racial bias against Indian South Africans. At the end of the proceedings she failed to respond to several pertinent questions put to her by Truth Commissioners. Before we get to Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s moving plea to Madikizela-Mandela and her forced half-apology, let’s take you through the main accusations against her and her team.

Notes: Max du Preez

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