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“We have set out on a quest for true humanity, and somewhere on the distant horizon we can
see the glittering prize.”
—Stephen Bantu Biko
What are the first steps that should be taken when a regime falls or when a period of conflict or violence comes to an end? Should there be a democratic vote? The development of a new constitution? Try the former regime in a court of law? Set up Truth Commissions to learn what happened and who was involved? Begin reconciliation initiatives to bring together people who were divided by the conflict or the regime and its ideologies?
South Africans entertained all of these questions and more as they entered the long period of transition leading to the end of apartheid and the first truly democratic elections in April 1994. While 1994 is a date that we might mark on a calendar and attach to particular events and ceremonies, the South African transition really began much earlier. The “South African miracle” is not a story of a country turning to democracy overnight. Nor is it a story of a country that has “conquered” democracy. Rather, South Africa sheds light on a process, a series of roads taken and experiments tried. Stephen Biko did not live to see “the glittering prize,” but his efforts helped pave the way for one of the most significant political and social transformations of the twentieth century.
In this section of our website, we look at the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), a noble attempt to find justice and healing for a citizenry devastated by decades living under an oppressive, racist regime. Chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and deputy chair Dr. Alex Boraine, the TRC dealt with gross crimes against humanity and focused on the period between the Sharpeville massacre in 1960 and 1994. Perpetrators had the opportunity to apply for amnesty for crimes committed during that period. The TRC would award amnesty if the individual could demonstrate a political objective and if they told the complete truth. The South African TRC was unique because of this amnesty in exchange for truth formula. And it was unique, relative to other truth commissions, because it was widely covered by the media, sessions were open to the public, and the records of the commissioners were turned over to the government and the public at large.
Like the Nuremberg Trials in Germany, the TRC has changed the way future generations look at justice after mass violence. Although Nuremberg and the TRC both have their champions and detractors, the importance of each in the evolving arena of international transitional justice is beyond dispute.
In this section, however, we also look beyond the TRC to other key issues and strategies unique to South Africa as it transitions towards a more democratic society. We look at how some individuals worked from within the system to create change, while others took a more revolutionary approach; we examine the power of forgiveness for both ordinary citizens as well as some of the remarkable leaders of South Africa; we explore the issue of land reparations for those non-whites who--during Apartheid--were forcibly removed from their homes; we look at the role of satire and art in bringing about change; and we examine the price paid by the perpetrators as well as the victims of this painful history.
The South Africa of today, recently free from the oppression of apartheid, is a complex nation filled with contradictions: beauty alongside pain, wealth next door to squalor, reconciliation enmeshed in resentment. The resources in this section open a conversation on South Africa and the several paths to reconciliation, stability and justice that the country and the people have attempted since the post-apartheid era began.
We would encourage you to research the history of South Africa. Some websites we would suggest as you begin your research include:
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