Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
October 16, 1996
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, tonight welcomed a decision by the Ned Geref Kerk in the Eastern Cape to call on its members to testify before the Commission.
"The NG Kerk is going to make a phenomenal contribution to reconciliation in our country", he said. It was "particularly significant" that the appeal came from the Eastern Cape, where many human rights violations had occurred.
The full text of his statement follows:
"We are thrilled. Thank God for the response of the NG Kerk in the Eastern Cape to Gods grace.
"I have been saying since before 1980 that that without the contribution of the NG Kerk we will not achieve justice and reconciliation in South Africa. It is particularly significant that the call came from the Eastern Cape, where there have been many human rights violations.
"I just hope the NG Kerk at a national level, as well as other South African churches, will follow this outstanding example. The NG Kerk is going to make a phenomenal contribution to reconciliation in our country."
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