Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
November 3, 1997
STATEMENT BY ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU, CHAIRPERSON, TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been rocked in the past week by the allegations made against our fellow commissioner and head of the Investigative Unit, Dumisa Ntsebeza. The shock and trauma which this has caused for Commissioners and staff have reminded us a new of how painful the process of searching for the truth and promoting reconciliation can be.
The Commission today held a special emergency meeting to discuss the implications for the Commission of last week's amnesty hearing in Cape Town. In my introduction to the debate, I acknowledged that in my handling of the matter when it first came to my attention some months ago, I may have given the impression that we were less than transparent. Specifically, with the benefit of hindsight I should have alerted my fellow Commissioners to the allegations at an earlier stage, told the media about them and possibly at that stage referred them to an outside agency for further investigation.
Be that as it may, after discussions lasting nearly three hours, the Commission decided unanimously on the following:
- To make clear our faith in our colleague, Dumisa Ntsebeza: Members of the Commission have worked very closely with him for nearly two years, in situations of great pressure and sometimes crisis, and we all believe implicitly in his integrity. This must not be construed, however, as representing a judgment on the facts in the current matter. The full Commission did not have all the evidence before it and even if it did, it quite clearly cannot be a judge in its own cause.
- To affirm our faith in the integrity of our own processes: We are absolutely committed to the integrity of our processes as laid down by Parliament in the Act which governs our activities and we believe that the Amnesty Committee's actions have reflected that commitment.
- To ask the Minister of Justice and the President as a matter of extreme urgency, and in the interests of the credibility and integrity of the Commission, to appoint a top-level independent inquiry from outside the ranks of the Commission to probe not only the allegations against Mr Ntsebeza, but the whole handling of the matter from the outset, both by the police and by the Commission. Such an investigation should be completed by the end of this month.
We envisage the appointment of a high-profile figure with impeccable credentials and undoubted impartiality, such as a top advocate or even a judge of the Constitutional Court. Such a person should head a team including experienced investigators broadly acceptable across the divisions of South African society, and capable of conducting this as a full-scale criminal investigation.
We believe that only such an investigation will clear the air, and its terms of reference need to include a full examination of whether the allegations against Mr Ntsebeza could possibly be part of a conspiracy to discredit the Commission as it comes to the end of its work.
Earlier this afternoon, after the meeting, I spoke to both the Minister of Justice and the President, who agree on the need for the urgent inquiry we have requested. The President says he will discuss the matter more fully with the Minister when he arrives back in Cape Town later today.
- To ask Mr Ntsebeza during the course of the investigation to recuse himself from any investigations involving APLA cadres. The Commission discussed the possibility of Mr Ntsebeza taking leave, but decided against this. The call on him to resign is only one of a number which political parties have made of Commissioners during the process and we have not until now acceded to them.
We believe the steps we have outlined will enable this matter to be put to rest, and to focus our energies once again on such critical issues as the reparations and rehabilitation proposals we presented to the public 10 days ago. We need to move the focus of the Commission's work, and public attention, back to where it belongs - the victims and survivors of human rights violations.
Inquiries: John Allen, 082- 452-7859