South Africans to recall painful memories

Hearings will expose abuses of apartheid

April 14, 1996
Web posted at: 11:10 a.m. EDT (1510 GMT)

From Correspondent Mike Hanna

EAST LONDON, South Africa (CNN) -- Victims of three decades of white repression against South African blacks will tell the world of their suffering Monday at the start of "truth commission" hearings.

The public hearings, which will begin in East London, South Africa, are guaranteed to stir up painful memories of apartheid while they try to heal past wounds.

Members of the government-appointed Truth and Reconciliation Commission will hold the hearings throughout the country for two years, despite a Constitutional Court challenge by families of apartheid martyrs.

The relatives object to the commission's plan to offer pardons or amnesties to people who committed murder and other human rights abuses, if they confess to their crimes.

Apartheid -- in effect, a race war -- was the culmination of a struggle for control of South Africa that had been waged since 1654 between indigenous tribes and European settlers.

In Lingalihle, a village not far from East London, there are marble slabs marking the graves of Sparrow Mkonto and three fellow anti-apartheid activists murdered in 1985 by agents of South Africa's brutal white regime.

Their funeral took place on the day the government declared a national state of emergency in a futile attempt to quell the passion and power of a people intent on gaining their freedom.

The government is adamant that the story of Mkonto and thousands of others like him be told.

Forgiveness possible

Some of those who lost loved ones in Lingalihle 11 years ago are willing to forgive.

Mkonto's brother, Makhaya, says the killers "were actually the tools of the evil system of apartheid. We are bound to forgive them."

And Bonginkosi Mhlauw, who also lost a brother that day, believes reconciliation is more important than punishment.

"The basic thing is to make sure there is peace and stability in our country," he says. (179K AIFF sound or 179K WAV sound)

The commission, chaired by Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was set up to investigate atrocities by all sides in the war for and against apartheid.

It will investigate events between 1960, when the African National Congress and other black liberation movements took up the armed struggle, and December 1993, the cutoff date for amnesty for political crimes.

About 30 people are expected to testify over four days during the first phase of the hearings. Their names won't be revealed until Monday, but they are known to include victims of torture by apartheid-era secret police and the relatives of activists who turned up missing.

Tutu says his main concern is with the victims and survivors of apartheid and not those responsible for crimes against humanity. (179K AIFF sound or 179K WAV sound)

But he also believes the hearings will be an opportunity for those who seek forgiveness to receive compassion. Many South Africans don't want revenge, just the truth, Tutu says. (187K AIFF sound or 187K WAV sound)

Punishment

Nevertheless, the truth commission process is not without controversy.

Relatives of Steve Biko, whose death in police custody more than 20 years ago focused world attention on the evils of apartheid, will not appear before the commission. They want those responsible for Biko's killing to be judged in a court of law before any form of pardon is considered.

The same sentiment is shared by the family of Victoria and Griffiths Mxenge, both murdered by security force hit squads. Granting a pardon or amnesty to criminals will violate the constitutional rights of the victims, argues Churchill Mxenge. The commission's findings will be "forced down our throats."

There is one issue opponents and supporters agree on: the evils of the past should not remain hidden.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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