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July/August 1999

"The Truth about the Truth Commission." The SAIRR exposes the distortions of the Truth Commission.

Dear Friends,

In July 1999 the book "The Truth about the Truth Commission " (TRQ was published by the Institute of Race Relations. Its author is Anthea Jeffery who holds a doctorate in human rights law from the University of London. After careful examination of the 3 500-page Report which the TRC submitted to the Government in October 1998 she comes to the conclusion that: "Far from being 'strong on truth, as the commission has claimed, it has produced a report which distorts as much as discloses the truth. The full story.. has yet to be written."(p.157) This book published by an institute which has an impeccable record of human rights commitment, has vexed the TRC. Barely a month later a conference on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was held at the University of Cape Town at which "three top former functionaries of the TRC - Alex Boraine, Dumisa Ntsebeza and Charles Villa-Vicencio - dismissed harsh criticism of the commission leveled by some academics, human rights activists and political commentators. " 1)

The TRC was established in 1995. Its purpose was "to foster reconciliation by revealing the truth about killings (and other gross violations of human rights) committed between March 1960 and May 1994. The commission's founding legislation requires that the TRC provide a factual, comprehensive, and even-handed account of the gross violations committed on all sides in the conflicts of the past.. The TRC published a 3 500?page report in five volumes. It found the former National Party (NP) government and the Inkatha Freedom Party IFP) the principal perpetrators of gross violations... " (p 7)

Though appointed by Parliament, the Truth Commission was a quasi-religious exercise. High profile religious leaders, by their very presence and prominence, seemingly guaranteed the TRUTH. 2) In the eyes of the world, a commission chaired by an archbishop bears Gods stamp of approval. It implies that the Church supports the work of the commission and gives to it added moral and spiritual authority. Thus the Truth Commission was hailed as setting a precedent for other countries. How then, does the TRC rate with respect to having been factual, comprehensive and even?handed?

In the foreword of "The Truth about the Truth Commission", Dr John Kane?Berman, the Chief Executive of the S.A. Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR), reminds us that from 1990-1994 alone nearly 15.000 people died in political violence in South Africa. It was a time when the 'liberation movements' were unbanned, the exiles returned, and the constitutional talks got under way. - The TRC was asked to investigate the politically motivated killings not only of that time span, but for the whole period March 1960 to May 1994. But Dr Jeffery found that "the TRC did not even try to determine how many political fatalities had occurred within its mandate period " (p 8 1) Of the total number of fatalities (as recorded by the SAIRR) the TRC had "left 12 000 or more killings unexplained.. " (Foreword) "Within KwaZulu and Natal, it has accounted for 5 600 killings out of a total varying from 10 500 to 20 000. Its report thus falls very far short of the comprehensive account it was supposed to provide , and casts no light at all on how or why these thousands of further killings occurred " (p 82) - The TRC was also mandated to examine all killings in their historical context, but in its Report it virtually ignored the fact that such violence and death had occurred during a 'people's war, a revolutionary struggle which was supported by outside Communist powers. It failed to place the killings into the context of a struggle that was directed not only against the government, but against all spiritual and social forces which stood for stability and reform. As Dr Kane-Berman puts it: "The commission has effectively consigned the people's war to an Orwellian 'memory hole"' (p.5)

Therefore the TRC "made little systematic attempt to probe the alleged role of the liberation movements in initiating and implementing 'people's wars' , " (p 100 ) Instead, it "concentrated on certain events and issues (such as the role in violence of the former State Security Council). Other events and issues meriting equal consideration were downplayed or ignored. These included a number of massacres.. The commission made little attempt to investigate the possible role in violence of the Politico?Military Council of the ANC.. supposedly the equivalent in some respects of the former government's State Security Council ?which was investigated at length for its role in violence against the ANC. " (p 12) So from the start, the Truth Commission's "approach was selective... " (Foreword) In its bias it distorted figures and events in order to avoid admitting that South Africa was gripped in a bitter and cruel revolutionary war in which the "Liberation Movements" sought to topple the government.

The TRC "simply depicted the former government as a criminal state. Contrary to its own mandate, it gave scant regard to the government's perspective that normal legal processes were ineffective against revolutionary violence, and that law and order had to be restored to protect vulnerable civilians and provide a framework within which constitutional negotiations could commence. " (p 13) In the same way, "the TRC omitted to probe the IFPs (Inkatha Freedom Party's) viewpoint that the ANC had declared war on all its political rivals, and especially on Inkatha. " (p 13) - No wonder then, that "the TRCs primary finding was that the former National Party (NP) government had committed the 'predominant portion of gross violations' in the mandate period and had done so in collusion with the Inkatha Freedom Party (IM. " (P 16 1)

Without doubt the Truth and Reconciliation Commission exposed some serious human rights violations. Dr Jeffery states:
"The commission has rightly castigated the former government for the methods of 'counter-revolution' it employed " However, by not acknowledging that these methods were used in a virtual war situation, "the TRC has obscured rather than revealed the truth. In fact, what the commission has done is to focus on only half the story - and to tell that half in a selective and distorted way. " (p 2 1)

But what is truth? - Dr Kane- Berman explains, saying: "The commission went so far as to redefine the meaning of 'truth' and indeed to denigrate the very notion of 'factual and objective truth' It invented 'narrative, 'dialogue, and 'healing' truths, tacitly admitting that the truth it told was something other than factual. " (Foreword) Of particular importance to the commission was "the creation of a 'narrative truth' that 'captured the widest possible record of people's perceptions, stories, myths, and experiences and thus facilitated the 'restoring of memory and humanity'. " (p 68) Perceptions? Stories? Myths? Or experiences? ? Another type of "truth" was "social or dialogue truth". - The TRCs "understanding of this kind of truth had been informed by Mr Justice Albie Sachs, a prominent participant in the debates preceding the establishment of the TRC and now a judge of the Constitutional Court. Judge Sachs had drawn a distinction between 'microscope truth and 'dialogue truth' , 'The first', he said, 'Is factual, verifiable, and can be documented and proved.' 'Dialogue truth,' on the other hand, 'is social truth, the truth of experience that is established through interaction, discussion, and debate.' "' (p 68) - Dr Jeffery examined these different versions of 'truth' and concludes: "The personal beliefs of individuals, however ?no matter how strongly held ? provide no proper basis for conclusions regarding culpability... The commission was called upon to focus solely on evidence that had been tested, corroborated, and adequately verified " (p 70)

When the TRC was first set up, it prepared a schedule of events (a chronology) according to which it called up victims, many of whom were "chosen individuals" who were "sought out" to testify - as in some areas 'few people were coming forward to make statements. " (p 43) The statement takers, who had to record these, were thoroughly briefed in advance about the human rights violations they had to record. "The chronologies played an important role in shaping the work of the commission. They were used to brief the statement takers (of the TRC) responsible for recording victim statements, and also to identify the individuals to besought out and requested to make statements. They also helped determine the focus of victim hearings, the nature of the evidence brought to public attention, and the process whereby conclusions regarding culpability were reached. " (p 90) - The victims were not placed under oath. They were not cross-examined. Their stories were barely corroborated. 'Many victim statements simply 'told a story' of past suffering and contained 'no supporting documentation or other evidence' " (p 34) Many were based on hearsay or heard in camera.

In its eagerness to ascribe culpability to the previous government and its security apparatus - or indeed to the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) - the TRC sometimes declared people guilty who had earlier been acquitted in a court of law. It also exaggerated the number of people killed, especially by the police or army. Or it ignored other rulings. Among such events were: The Sebokeng shootings of March and September 1990, the deaths in Tokoza in September 1991, the Boipatong massacre in June 1992, the Shell House shootings in March 1994, and others. (pp 129-154) In several instances the TRC also contradicts the findings of the Goldstone Commission. Dr Jeffery speaks of "errors, omissions, and (on occasion) misrepresentations" in the TRC Report. She calls them "serious" (p 146) and concludes: "There are many other indications, too, as earlier described, of deep flaws that pervade the TRCs report. Far from being 'strong on truth, as the commission has claimed, it has produced a report which distorts as much as discloses the truth. " (p 157)

The greatest of all distortions, however, is that the TRC, which was obligated to establish "as complete a picture as possible had, at the time when it issued its Report, "canvassed fewer than half the 20 500 political fatalities that occurred from 1984 to 1994" and "only a fraction of the applicable amnesty evidence. " (p 11) In addition to its garnered findings it had also used information from unverified and unprocessed amnesty applications (p 9) to declare to the world that "the former National Party (NP) government had committed the 'predominant portion of gross violations' in the mandate period and had done so in collusion with the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). " (p 161)

In having produced a "Truth " which raises so many questions the Truth Commission, especially through its "Liberation Theologians", casts doubt not only on our national integrity, but also on the integrity of the Christian Church. Its efforts at establishing the Truth and bringing about Reconciliation have been questioned after very careful examination by a human rights lawyer. Many people will see their suspicions confirmed that the TRC conducted largely a propaganda campaign. And yet, its Report is falsely hailed as a historical record. It is placed into the National Archives, and Archbishop Tutu expects that "this material will be of great value to scholars, journalists and others researching our history for generations to come. " 3)

May God bless you richly
D. Scarborough