Issued by: Archbishop Desmond Tutu
CAPE TOWN - Leaders of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hope to hold the first commission meeting before the end of the month.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, chairman of the commission, and Dr Alex Boraine, the vice-chairman, met in Cape Town to prepare for a meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) with Mr Dullah Omar, the Minister of Justice.
Archbishop Tutu said in a statement released afterwards that he and Dr Boraine envisaged that a preliminary meeting of the full commission would make recommendations to President Nelson Mandela on the permanent seat of the commission.
The full text of the statement follows:
STATEMENT BY ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU, CHAIRMAN OF THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION
"The vice-chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Dr Alex Boraine, and I met this afternoon to prepare for a meeting tomorrow with the Minister of Justice, Mr Dullah Omar, and officials of his department.
"Matters which we discussedincluded:
"- The possibility of convening a preliminary meeting of the full Commission. We hope to convene such a meeting at Bishopscourt, Cape Town, before the end of the year.
"- The seat of the Commission. While the legislation provides that the President will determine where the Commission will sit, we envisage that the full Commission will make recommendations to the President.
"- Appointments to the various committees of the Commission, as well as staffing. We held a very preliminary discussion on the spread of membership of the committees, but I am anxious that the Commission should operate by consensus, so we would like the full Commission to convene as quickly as possible to discuss these and other matters."