SA 1990-1994 Notes PDF

Page |1 TOPIC 5 The coming of democracy in South Africa and coming to terms with the past  Page |2 Contents The negotiated settlement and Government of N...

Page |1 TOPIC 5 The coming of democracy in South Africa and coming to terms with the past  Page |2 Contents The negotiated settlement and Government of National Unity......................................... 4 Background:.......................................................................................................................... 4 Secret negotiations with the ANC-in-exile and negotiations with Mandela;............ 4 1990 to 1991:........................................................................................................................ 5 Release of political prisoners and the unbanning of organisations;............................. 5 Debates around negotiations............................................................................................. 6 CODESA 1:........................................................................................................................... 7 CODESA 2:........................................................................................................................... 8 Breakdown of negotiations:................................................................................................ 9 Multi-party negotiation process resumes........................................................................ 11 Murder of Chris Hani...................................................................................................... 11 Ongoing violence................................................................................................................ 11 AWB invasion of World Trade Centre......................................................................... 12 St James Massacre, Amy Biehl and killing at the Heidelberg Tavern................... 12 Final road to democracy in 1994:........................................................................................ 13 The drafting of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights...................................................... 13 The fall of Mangope and Gqozo and the Bophuthatswana shootings;.................. 13 Inkatha Freedom Party March to Shell House and Shell House Massacre.......... 14 Freedom Front and IFP join elections......................................................................... 14 27 April Election.............................................................................................................. 14 The Government of National Unity and the making of the new Constitution................ 15 How has South Africa chosen to remember the past?..................................................... 15 The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)........................................................ 15 Reasons for the TRC..................................................................................................... 15  Page |3 DATE EVENT 1986 The ANC agrees to negotiate with the NP 1989 End of the Cold War February FW de Klerk elected NP leader after PW Botha suffers a stroke 5 July PW Botha and Mandela meet at Tuynhuys 14 August PW Botha resigns from the state presidency September FW de Klerk elected at President October Namibia becomes independent October Walter Sisulu and seven other ANC leaders released from prison November Separate Amenities Act repealed December De Klerk meets Mandela 1990 2 February De Klerk unbans ANC, SACP and other organizations 11 February De Klerk releases Mandela 26 March Shootings at Sebokeng 4 May Talks begin at Groote Schuur Estate in Cape Town – Cape Town Accord 6 August Pretoria Minute – ANC agrees to suspend arms struggle 1991 January Nelson Mandela and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelzi meet March repeal of Group Areas Act and Population Registration Act June Violence escalates in Johannesburg area July ANC holds key policy conference in Durban July Inkathagate scandal = suspicions that government is aiding Inkatha in townships (Third Force activities) 14 Sept National Peace Accord (also known as DF Malan Accord) 20 December Start of CODESA I 1992 17 March White only referendum May Start of CODESA II June Boipatong Massacre August Two-day national strike Sept Bisho Massacre 26 Sept Record of Understanding 6 October COSAG 1993 10 April Assassination of Chris Hani; 72 people die in violence that follows April MPNP starts in Kempton Park June AWB attacks World Trade Centre July IFP and CP walk out on talks 25 July St James Massacre August Murder of Amy Biehl 31 December Heidelberg tavern attack 1994 March Governments pf Bophutatswana and Ciskei collapse and are incorporated into SA 28 March Shell House Massacre April ANC wins election May Mandela inaugurated as president; GNU formed 1995 TRC set up  Page |4 The negotiated settlement and Government of National Unity Background: The collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War in 1989 brought about a change in countries around the world, including South Africa. Western countries no longer had a reason to support the Apartheid government in South Africa. At the same time, with the collapse of communism, the ANC lost its support and funding against the apartheid regime from the USSR. In addition, there was mounting pressure from business who were suffering as a result of economic isolation and disinvestment. Changes in South Africa in 1989 included the withdrawal from Namibia and the Angolan Civil War after the SADF was defeated at Cuito Carnavale, and PW Botha being replaced by FW de Klerk as the new president. Secret negotiations with the ANC-in-exile and negotiations with Mandela; By the mid-1980s the ANC’s leading role in the liberation struggle was recognized by leaders of big business.  In September 1985 a delegation of businessmen led by Gavin Relly of the Anglo American Corporation visited Lusaka for talks with the ANC’s exiled leaders. This was followed by others meetings with various groups, like the editor of Beeld, Piet Mulder, and academics such as Professor H van der Merwe who travelled to Harare to have discussions with the ANC  in 1986 an ANC delegation and prominent Afrikaners held a conference in New York  in 1987 Frederick van Zyl Slabbert, from IDASA and a group of Afrikaner intellectuals met with Thabo Mbeki, who led the ANC delegation in Dakar Senegal. This meeting culminated in the Dakar conference from 9 – 12 July President Botha and his National Party distanced themselves from some of these meetings, but by the early 1980s they began to realise that Apartheid had to be reformed, and hence began to assess whether political engagements with the ANC would be possible. At this point the government did not want to abandon Apartheid, but they did want to reduce the increasing violence and international disapproval. Thus a number of meetings were held between the ANC and the NP.  The first meeting between the government and the ANC took place in November 1985 when the then Minister of Justice, Kobie Coetsee, met with Nelson Mandela.  Mandela was moved from Robben Island to Pollsmoor Prison in 1982, and in 1988 he was moved to the Victor Verster Prison. Despite Mandela’s insistence that he could not negotiate on behalf of the ANC, a series of meetings were held with him over the next four years.  On 4 July 1989 PW Botha met with Mandela for the first time at the presidential office, Tuynhuys, Cape Town.  Page |5 1990 to 1991: Release of political prisoners and the unbanning of organisations;  In February 1989 FW de Klerk was elected leader of the National Party  In August 1989 he replaced PW Botha as president.  In October 1989, acting on the advice of his security advisors and mindful of the requests of businessmen as well as the growing mass action of the UDM, de Klerk decided to unban political organizations and to release eight prominent political prisoners, including the remaining Rivonia trialists (except Nelson Mandela).  In December 1989 de Klerk met Mandela at Tuynhuys, thus paving the way for significant changes. Also in December de Klerk persuaded his cabinet to accept the need to unban the ANC, PAC and other liberation movements, and to begin all-party negotiations for a new constitution without preconditions. Thus at the opening of parliament on 2 February 1990 President FW de Klerk, announced:  the un-banning of the ANC, PAC, SACP;  the release of political prisoners who were arrested because they were members of these banned organizations;  unconditional release of Nelson Mandela;  the removal of censorship of the media;  the removal of emergency regulations placed on educational bodies such as the South African National Students Congress, organizations such as the UDF, COSATU etc;  the limiting of the detention period in terms of emergency regulations to 6 months with prisoners being allowed to legal representation as well as medical treatment. The news of these changes was received with euphoria, both in the country and by foreign leaders such as Thatcher and Bush. Naturally this was not the case for all sections of the South African population, particularly the right wing. The Conservative Party (CP) and organizations such as the AWB (Afrikaner Weerstand Beweging) led by Eugene Terre’Blanche, reacted with fear and anger at what this would mean in the loss of a privileged way of life. Many traditional NP supporters now turned to these extreme groups. Nelson Mandela was released from the Victor Verster Prison in Paarl on 11 February 1990. Shortly afterwards he flew to Lusaka for discussions with the ANC’s National Executive Committee. Due to the ANC President, Oliver Tambo’s ill health, Mandela, who was the deputy president of the ANC, was forced to take over the leading role  Page |6 The unbanning of the ANC, the return of the exiles and the release of political prisoners did not bring an end to the problems. Instead the negotiations would be threatened by differences in opinion and the continuing violence in many parts of the country, especially KZN and the Transvaal.  In 1990, overnight the liberation movements had to transform their role from protest and resistance to negotiation  the ANC had been banned and been in exile for more than 30 years and now had to rebuild its organization and iron out differences of opinion regarding ideology.  there were major differences, especially in the beginning between the more senior moderate members and the militant younger generation as to how their ideal was to be achieved. The moderates managed to convince the militants to follow party discipline. Debates around negotiations Following Nelson Mandela’s release, preparatory discussions between the ANC and the government began. The first talks were scheduled for April 1990, but were called off when police killed 12 residents of Sebokeng township on 26 March 1990. After concessions were made by the government, negotiations eventually got underway on 2 May 1990 at FW de Klerk’s home in Groote Schuur, Rondebosch. In a series of agreements –  the Groote Schuur Accord (May 1990),  Pretoria Minutes (August 1990) and  DF Malan Accord also known as the National Peace Accord (September 1991), the government and ANC agreed to seek a negotiated political settlement. The ANC agreed to suspend the armed struggle but not to disband its armed wing, MK. Not everyone agreed to the outcome of these talks, e.g. Chris Hani, leader of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and an active member of the ANC’s armed wing, MK. He believed that the training of MK soldiers should continue, saying that there was no guarantee from the NP government that it would not return to apartheid. Hani’s support for the negotiation was important as he had the support of the militants.  Page |7 Summary of agreements: When did the What was the What decisions were made? agreement agreement take place? called? 4 May 1990 Groote Schuur  A commitment to resolve violence; Minute  Exiles to return and political prisoners to be released 6 August 1990 Pretoria  MK to suspend the armed struggle in return for the lifting Minute of the state of emergency and the release of political prisoners. The release of these prisoners began in September 1990 and was only completed in 1992. 14 September National  Critical step to formal negotiations 1991 Peace Accord  27 political organizations sign (including business leaders and church groups)  Facilitated negotiations between political parties - laid down the rules for parties, the police and other bodies  Agreed that police force and SADF would be transformed CODESA 1: Despite the agreement reached at Groote Schuur and Pretoria, there were still key differences between the ANC and the government. Nevertheless the ANC and the National Party continued to work towards a process whereby a peaceful settlement could be negotiated.  In October 1991, 92 organizations that opposed apartheid met in Durban to form the Patriot Front.  This group put forward a plan to manage the transition process. It called for the establishment of an interim government which would control the electoral process, the security forces and other government business such as finance.  Negotiations for a new Constitution began on 20 December 1991 where  228 delegates from 19 political parties met at the World Trade Centre at Kempton Park for a conference which would be known as CODESA (the Convention for a Democratic South Africa), to thrash out a new political dispensation for South Africa.  The dominant parties were the NP government, the ANC, and the Inkatha Freedom party (IFP).  The key figures in the negotiations were Cyril Ramaphosa (ANC), Roelf Meyer (NP) and Zack de Beer (DP).  The PAC, AZAPO, AWB and the Conservative Party boycotted these negotiations. Later in the negotiations, Mangosutho Buthulezi of the IFP withdrew in protest at the exclusion of the representatives of the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelethini and the KwaZulu homeland.  Despite the two major parties having different ideas of what purpose CODESA should serve, all parties signed the Declaration of Intent, committing them to “a united, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist state in which sovereign authority is exercised over the whole of its territory.”  Page |8 However, frustration was building up among ordinary black people, especially workers outside the conference halls. They felt that they should be playing a more active role in the negotiations. COSATU joined with the unbanned ANC and the SACP to form the Tripartite Alliance. Although COSATU wanted to represent itself in its own right in political negotiations, only political parties were given representation at CODESA. Therefore COSATU members attended as ANC and SACP delegates. In 1992 when CODESA negotiations collapsed, COSATU was central in planning and sustaining the campaign of ‘rolling mass action’. Some of the features of the constitution that was later adopted, e.g. proportional representation and a presidency limited to two terms, was suggested by COSATU. It was as a result of their pressure that the government addressed issues such as poverty and housing shortages. CODESA 2: After CODESA 1 had provided South Africans with hope for a negotiated solution at the end of 1991, five working groups were formed on 20 January 1992 and began their work shortly thereafter. However, its process was threatened by the rise of the ultra-right wing, signified by the Conservative Party’s victory in a series of by-elections, including in the historically safe NP constituent of Potchefstroom. Working Group Matters dealt with 1 Creating a climate for free and fair elections, access to the media and security forces 2 Drawing up constitutional principles and guidelines on how a constitution should be drawn up 3 Investigating an interim government and how power could be transferred 4 Considering the future of the homelands – Transkei, Ciskei, Venda and Bophuthatswana 5 Looking at time frames for implementation of changes Negotiations of CODESA 2 started in May 1992, two months after its original start. CODESA 2 reached consensus on the role of the SABC and the fact that an interim government was needed. These negotiations struggled due to a number of fundamental differences. These included:  The government, ANC and other negotiating parties could not agree about the format of an interim government. The NP wanted a non-racial interim government, consisting of all parties in parliament and a minority veto within such a parliament. It also suggested a federal system with strong regional and local governments. The ANC rejected the NP’s proposals.  A disagreement on what percentage was required to change the constitution – the NP proposed that a 70% majority was required while the ANC wanted 66,7%  The government had failed to stop the ongoing violence.  Page |9 However, the incident which was to end talks at CODESA 2 was the Boipatong massacre.  On the 17 June 1992 armed IFP members, residing at Kwa Madala hostel, attacked ANC funeral goers in their homes and killed 49 people at the Boipatong squatter camp, south of Johannesburg.  Survivors said that they saw police trucks bringing Inkatha supporters to the camp. The ANC was furious and walked out of the negotiations in protest.  Along with the trade unions and the Communist party the ANC embarked on a campaign of rolling mass action, declaring that what it could get at the negotiating table it would get by demonstrating its popular support.  On 3 and 4 August, about 4 million workers took part in a two-day national strike. The Goldstone Commission of Enquiry confirmed suspicions that the police were involved and the international community put pressure on de Klerk. Boipatong was the turning point in the negotiations: whereas previously the ANC and the NP government had been evenly balanced, the balance now tipped in favour of the ANC. CODESA 2 had thus failed to reach a significant breakthrough. Breakdown of negotiations: 'Whites only' referendum Conservative white voters were very concerned about the ongoing violence in the country, the return of political exiles and the participation of SACP members, such as Joe Slovo in the negotiations with the government. Many of these turned to the Conservative Party (CP) or the AWB to protect their interests. When the NP suffered a huge defeat in the Potchefstroom by-election early in 1992, the CP, which criticized the government’s reforms, demanded a general election. De Klerk took a risk and called a referendum in March 1992. All white voters were asked whether they supported the reform process and the talks on a new constitution. Nearly 70% of the voters said ‘Yes’. Some voters were probably influenced by positive changes in the international scene (some sanctions had been lifted, SA was allowed to participate in the 1992 Olympic Games and the Cricket World Cup in Australia), while those who did not believe in a whites only referendum were afraid that if they stayed away from the polls it would strengthen the position of the right-wing. Tension reached a peak when, on 7 September 1992, during an ANC march at Bisho, in the Ciskei, local and SADF troops opened fire on a crowd of about 70 000 people who had gathered to protest against the homeland government of Oupa Gqozo and killed 29 and wounded over 200. The ANC was furious. South Africa was on the edge of a civil war.  P a g e | 10 De Klerk and Mandela, both realizing the possible outcome of the violence, held a summit meeting to try to settle their differences. This was followed by 19 days of ‘behind-the-scenes meetings’ between Cyril Ramaphosa of the ANC and Roelf Meyer of the NP. This led to the signing of a Record of Understanding on 26 September 1992 and the subsequent Multi-Party Negotiation Process (MPNP) which began on 2 April 1993, in Kempton Park. Both the ANC and the government were prepared to make concessions:  The government agreed to release more political prisoners, to erect fences around the migrant hostels and to ban the carrying and displaying of ‘traditional’ weapons by IFP members at their rallies;  The ANC agreed to a government of national unity, which would include parties that obtained 5% of the vote in the democratic elections, for the first five years under the new constitution. Parties with more than 20% of the votes, would be entitled to choose a deputy president. The president would be obliged to consult with the deputy presidents. The ANC’s concession about a government of national unity, suggested by Joe Slovo, is regarded as the breakthrough that kept the negotiations going. This proposal was called the ‘Sunset Clause’ because the five-year period would mark the old order gradually fading away. Not everyone welcomed the Record of Understanding. Chief Buthulezi was angry and said that de Klerk had betrayed him, and broke off relations. On 6 October 1992 an alliance was formed between former black homeland leaders and the white right wing. Mangasothu Buthelezi of the IFP (Natal), Oupa Gqoza (Ciskei), Lucas Mangope (Bophuthatswana), the Afrikaner Volksunie and the Afrikaner Freedom Foundation united under the banner of the Concerned South African Groups. (COSAG). They called for the resumption of the CODESA talks and the disbanding of the ANC’s armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK).  P a g e | 11 Multi-party negotiation process resumes Formal multi-party negotiations resumed As noted earlier, the MPNP began in Kempton Park on 2 April 1993. This time the PAC decided to join the negotiation process. However, these talks were marred by a new bout of conflict. Murder of Chris Hani The assassination of the ANC and MK member and leader of the SACP, Chris Hani, on 10 April 1993 brought South Africa to the brink of civil war and a turning point in the negotiations. He was assassinated by a Polish immigrant, Janusz Waluz, who supported the radical right and the idea of white supremacy in South Africa. He shot Hani in front of his home in Boksburg. A neighbor, a white Afrikaans woman, found him and immediately called the police. When it was discovered that Waluz had shot Hani with a gun belonging to the CP MP, Clive Derby-Lewis, both men were arrested and sentenced for his murder. After his death tension ran high and many feared that his death could derail the already sensitive negotiations taking place. There were violent riots over Chris Hani’s assassination where cars were set on fire and police fired at the protestors. In an attempt to calm the situation, Mandela appeared on TV asking for calm. The assassination of Chris Hani is seen as a turning point in the negotiations as the main parties pushed for a final settlement with more determination. On 18 November 1993 the Multi-Party Negotiation Process (MPNP) confirmed the interim Constitution. It set up a Transitional Executive Council which oversaw the run-up to the first democratic election to be held on 27 April 1994. Ongoing violence Although there was much more certainty about South Africa’s future, political violence continued to rise during 1993. Attempts to derail negotiations flares up after agreements are reached As the negotiations between the multiple political parties became more formal, the violence that existed in some areas became attempts at derailing these negotiations. Specifically after the agreements had already been reached, incidents of violence broke out, orchestrated by those who did not want Apartheid to end. These included extreme right- wing movements e.g. AWB. Also militant factions of political groups caused violence as a demonstration against the ANC’s call to end the armed struggle. Political tensions erupted around the country as the negotiations continued.  P a g e | 12 AWB invasion of World Trade Centre The AWB had been established in 1973 because they felt that Apartheid was not meeting their demands. By the 1980s they had several thousand followers who violently opposed the reform of the Apartheid laws in the 1980s.  On 25 June 1993, the AWB tried to sabotage the negotiations when some 3000 of its members protested outside the World Trade Centre in Kempton Park where the Multi Party Negotiating Process (MPNP) was in session.  Although the protest started peacefully it turned violent when people started rocking cars and rioting and at one point an armoured car crashed through a glass door of the building.  About 200 AWB members occupied the building, causing considerable damage and concern.  The police finally convinced them to leave when they promised that no-one who had participated in the protest and the storming of the building would be arrested St James Massacre, Amy Biehl and killing at the Heidelberg Tavern Shortly afterwards APLA, the PAC armed wing also tried to disrupt the negotiation process. APLA believed that the ANC was conceding too much to the whites and that white domination would only end once every white settler had been killed.  On 25 July 1993, APLA combatants threw a grenade into the packed St James Church in Kenilworth in Cape Town and opened fire, killing 12 and wounding 56.  In August 1993, Amy Biehl, a 26-year-old American student, was stoned and stabbed to death by a mob in the township shouting anti-white slogans. She was driving three black colleagues back to Cape Town's Gugulethu Township when a group of youths threw stones at her car and forced it to stop. Dozens of young men surrounded the car repeating the chant, "One settler, one bullet!" Amy Biehl was then pulled from the car, struck in the head with a brick, beaten and stabbed in the heart while she lay on the ground. During the attack, Amy's black friends yelled that she was a "comrade" and friend of black South Africans.  APLA were also responsible for the killings at the Heidelberg Tavern in Observatory in Cape Town on 31 December 1993. Four people were killed, two of whom were students at UCT.  On 8 October 1993 the SADF killed five school children in a raid conducted in Mthatha. The raid was organized because the house the young people were staying in was believed to be the storage facility for APLA. As APLA was a civil threat, the SADF raided the home  P a g e | 13 Final road to democracy in 1994: The drafting of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights Despite such setbacks, the Negotiating Council at the World Trade Centre continued talks until an agreement was reached. It was decided that  South Africa’s first democratic election would be held on 27 April 1994  negotiators set about writing the interim constitution based on an Interim Bill of Rights, a Children’s Charter and a Women’s Charter.  An Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), under the leadership of Justice Johann Kriegler was established to administer the election which was contested by 19 political parties.  Negotiating parties also agreed on a government of national unity (GNU) that would last for 5 years.  This government would be made up of representatives of parties that won at least 5% of the votes during the election. Parties with more than 20% of the votes, would be entitled to choose a deputy president. The president would be obliged to consult with the deputy presidents. However, there were even more obstacles to be overcome before democracy was finally achieved. Right-wing Afrikaners continued in their attempts to disrupt the elections. In the first four months of 1994 some 40 bombs went off in various areas. In one incident, in central Johannesburg, a car bomb went off, killing nine people. Another bomb campaign left killing 21 people and wounding 200 more. The fall of Mangope and Gqozo and the Bophuthatswana shootings; The AWB tried to prove that they were indeed a force to be reckoned with. They did this by going to the assistance of Lucas Mangope, the Chief Minister of Bophuthatswana. At the MPNP in 1993, Mangope had made it clear that Bophuthatswana would remain independent and would not be integrated into a new South Africa. He also refused to allow his people to register for the April elections. The situation spiraled out of control after the ANC initiated mass action. Mangope sought help from Constand Viljoen and the Afrikaner Volksfront, with whom he had a loose alliance. Viljoen undertook to assemble a force of 3000 men, while Mangope was to supply arms. But before Viljoen could act, AWB members decided to act. They opened fire on any groups of black people they came across. The Bophuthatswana Defence Force then fired on AWB gunmen. Mangope was forced to flee. Viljoen and his men quickly withdrew and disassociated themselves from it. A few days later he announced his intention to participate in the election as leader of the Freedom Front. In 1994 Bophuthatswana was reincorporated into South Africa.Ten days later the civil servants of the Ciskei homeland went on strike, demanding pay out of their pensions. Fearing the mutiny of his army and police forces, the military leader of the Ciskei, Oupa Gqozo resigned.  P a g e | 14 Inkatha Freedom Party March to Shell House and Shell House Massacre Just a week before the elections, the IFP, representing part of South Africa's isiZulu- speaking people, had not yet found its way into the election.  On 28 March 1994, thousands of Inkatha demonstrators marched through the streets of Johannesburg carrying traditional weapons. Near the ANC headquarters at Shell House, Inkatha marchers and ANC security guards clashed. At the end of the day 53 people were dead. This event further embittered relations between the ANC and IFP.  Just two days before the election, Central Johannesburg suffered a bombing carried out by the white right-wing. The bomb went off outside the ANC regional and national headquarters. Nine people were killed including ANC Johannesburg secretary-general Susan Keane and 92 people were injured.  On 26 April 1994, a day before the election, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, a bomb blast rocked a taxi rank, and an explosive device was thrown at minibus taxis parked under a bridge. Nobody was injured in either incident.  On Election Day, a car bomb at Johannesburg's Jan Smuts Airport injured 16 people and caused massive structural damage to the north face of the building. These serious incidents of political violence were carried out by members of the AWB in support of the organisation's struggle to prevent majority rule. Freedom Front and IFP join elections The IFP and CP initially refused to participate in the elections.  The CP was divided over the issue of participation, but two months before the election, General Constand Viljoen formed the Freedom Front and decided to participate in the election.  The IFP continued to refuse – they only conceded one week before the elections after a consensus had been reached that the Kingdom of KwaZulu was recognized and the status of the Zulu monarch was protected.  The Interim Constitution was amended and new ballot papers printed. 27 April Election The elections started on 27 April 1994 and after 4 days of voting the counting process began. The results of the major parties were as follows: Party Votes National % of seats National Assembly Seats ANC 12 237 655 62,65 252 NP 3 983 690 20,39 82 IFP 2 058 294 10,54 43 FF 424 555 2,17 8 DP 338 426 1,73 7 PAC 243 478 1,25 5  P a g e | 15 The Government of National Unity and the making of the new Constitution As agreed in the CODESA negotiations a Government of National Unity (GNU) dominated by the ANC and NP was established to last five years until the next general election. On 6 May 1994 Nelson Mandela became the first President of the new democratic South Africa. His two deputies were Thabo Mbeki and FW de Klerk. After a long process of consultation and compromise, the Constituent Assembly accepted South Africa’s new Constitution on 8 May 1996 when it passed the Republic of South Africa Constitutional Bill. The constitution has many liberal democratic features, including a justiciable Bill of Rights. Any constitutional matters would be heard in the new constitutional courts. How has South Africa chosen to remember the past? The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Reasons for the TRC The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up under the chairmanship of Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 1995, in an attempt to heal the wounds of the past and to build a new South Africa.  The TRC was not a court of law.  It could not prosecute people or hand out judgments. Its function was to create a process for uncovering the truth about what happened.  It was hoped that knowing the truth would bring about reconciliation. The idea was that victims and perpetrators of apartheid-related crimes would tell their stories and then ask forgiveness, or in some instances, to seek compensation, while those who remained silent were to be prosecuted. The TRC started its work in 1996 after 19 commissioners had been appointed. Its task was to establish ‘a complete picture as possible of the causes, nature and extent of the gross violations of human rights committed by South Africans from 1960 to 1994, including the circumstances, factors and context of such violations, as well as the perspectives of the people responsible’  P a g e | 16 There were three separate committees involved in the TRC:  Committee on Human Rights Violations – some 21 300 victims came to give their statements on gross human-rights violations. Their testimonies received national coverage, both on TV and in the press.  Committee on Amnesty – it could grant amnesty from prosecution to perpetrators of human rights violations as long as full disclosure was made and the act was politically motivated;  Committee of Reparations and Rehabilitation – it investigated the stories told by the victims and made recommendations about reparations for their suffering and loss, to the government. The TRC was given two years to complete its work. In October 1998 the chairman, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, handed a five-volume report to President Mandela.  It concluded that PW Botha’s government had moved from a policy of repression to one of killing its opponents.  The report also criticized FW de Klerk for the activities of the ‘third force’ which had tried to disrupt negotiations.  It was also critical of the ANC for civilian casualties in MK operations, for the torture and executions which took place in ANC camps in exile, and for the use of violence against its opponents. However, as the amnesty work of the TRC was not yet complete, it continued for another two years. The work of the TRC was only completed in 2003 when an additional two volumes of the TRC report were published. Only then did the government put its mind to the final reparation payments of the victims. Did the TRC succeed in dealing with the past? Not everyone was satisfied with the work of the TRC.  The ANC felt that the TRC had tried to criminalize significant parts of the liberation struggle and that it suggested that the gross human-rights violations that occurred in its struggle were morally equivalent to acts carried out by the NP government;  FW de Klerk criticized the TRC for alleging that he was responsible for human-rights violations while he was president. He claimed that he had not known of these, and when he had been told, he acted against them;  Some of the victims, or their families, were angry that the perpetrators of gross human- rights violations, such as cabinet ministers, generals and judges, escaped punishment. They believed that they should have been tried in a court of law and sentenced for their crimes. They wanted justice rather than simply forgiveness. Not all were willing to forgive; (Only a few, such as Wouter Basson were charged and sentenced).  Many people found it difficult to accept that men who had been guilty of appalling crimes were allowed to walk free, simply because they had made a public confession;  Some such as old president PW Botha refused to give evidence.  P a g e | 17 The TRC undoubtedly uncovered new information about how atrocities were committed, and what happened to people who disappeared, but its findings remained controversial.  The TRC Report is also rather vague on what happened outside South Africa in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, e.g. atrocities committed by South Africans in Namibia.  It also largely ignores the atrocities involving Inkatha. The report concerns itself more with what happened, rather than why things happened.  By telling the story of high-profile cases without sufficient context, the report fails to adequately show how things changed over time.  In failing to analyse the structures of apartheid, and show how they changed over time, the report gives a misleading picture of the main cause of the gross violations of human rights in the period with which the TRC is concerned.