Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
5 March 1997
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is to give strong consideration to investigating allegations that people now in government acted as informants for the Security Police in the apartheid era.
I have noted the decision of the TRC's Amnesty Committee this week that it does not consider the naming of alleged informants to be appropriate for the present purposes of the Committee in the hearing that it is currently conducting in Pretoria.
I shall be discussing the matter fully with the Amnesty Committee. However, I do not understand that their decision necessarily precludes other sections of the Commission from conducting an investigation, at least for purposes other than those of the amnesty process.
Should the Commission decide to investigate the matter, we would first call for statements from those making the allegations. Then, in terms of the recent Appellate Division judgment requiring us to give adequate notice of allegations implicating individuals, we would give the individuals 21 days' notice to prepare a response, and take the matter from there.