Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
STATEMENT BY DR ALEX BORAINE, ACTING CHAIRPERSON, TRC
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission resolved today that despite predictions that amnesty hearings will not be completed, the Commission must end its work by the scheduled date of March next year. We accordingly decided that we would submit our Final Report to the President in March, as envisaged by the Act under which we operate, and that we will not ask Parliament for an extension of our life.
These decisions were taken at our monthly meeting after we gave thorough consideration to reports indicating that the Amnesty Committee will not complete its work by the time the Commission is due to close.
The latest analysis of amnesty applications reveals that 6,944 applications have been registered. Of these, about 1,700 have been dealt with so far. (Fifty amnesties have been granted after hearings and 23 in chambers; 17 have been refused after hearings and 1648 have been refused after consideration in chambers.)
It is estimated that another 627 applications need to be considered in chambers, and another 1,635 need to be dealt with in hearings.
Since May last year, a single panel of the Amnesty Committee - which originally comprised five members - has been conducting hearings. However, recent amendments to the Act have enabled the appointment of another eight members. Two nominees have already been chosen by the TRC from within its ranks and the President is expected to appoint another six in the near future.
As a result, it should soon be possible to have up to four panels conducting amnesty hearings. Nevertheless, indications are that we will be unable to process all the amnesty applications by March.
The ultimate responsibility for deciding how uncompleted work should be handled lies with the Government. However, after consulta- tion with Government, we have resolved to make recommendations about how to complete the work, especially that of the Amnesty Committee. We appointed a top-level committee of the Commission today, which I will chair, to put together proposals for the Government.
Broadly speaking, the Commission envisages recommending that the Act governing the work of the Commission be amended to allow remaining amnesty applications to continue to be heard by panels of the Amnesty Committee, after the Commission has closed down if necessary, and for the Committee to continue to operate until it has completed its work. A report on the completed work of the Committee would then be published as an appendix to the Final Report.