Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
January 27, 1998
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission resolved today to begin consultations on mechanisms for handling outstanding amnesty applications once the Commission has completed its work in July this year.
Figures tabled by the Amnesty Committee in its monthly report to today's Commission meeting indicated that another 1,387 applicants still need to be heard at public hearings. In addition, 521 applications still have to be dealt with in Chambers.
The Committee said its objective was to finish its work as quickly as possible and to do everything within its power to expedite the process, but that it was highly unlikely it would complete its work before its deadline of June 30.
The Commission recognised that while efforts to complete the Amnesty Committee's work need to be intensified, it will not complete its work. We have accordingly resolved to begin discussions involving the Commission's leadership and the Amnesty Committee on options for completing the amnesty process. The proposals will also be discussed with the Ministry of Justice.
In preliminary discussions today, two tentative options were raised: Amending the law to keep the Amnesty Committee in existence after the Commission has closed down in July: and Replacing the TRC's amnesty process with another mechanism for hearing and deciding on outstanding amnesty applications.
A TRC survey of amnesty applications still to be dealt with indicates that a number of major hearings, including those of high-profile applicants who served the former Government, the ANC and the PAC, still have to be conducted.
The results of this survey, published for the first time today, indicate that hearings will cover a wide range of activities not previously disclosed by the Commission as being the subject of amnesty applications. For example, applications not previously announced by the Commission concern:
State structures:
Cross-border operations, including the June 1985 Botswana Raid and the December 1985 Maseru Raid; Assassinations outside South Africa; and The bombing of the ANC's London office when its leaders were in exile.
ANC:
Human rights violations in ANC camps in Angola, Botswana and Zambia; Assassinations within South Africa; Landmine operations in the former Transvaal; The Church Street bomb, Wimpy Bar bombings and the bombings of Wits Command and the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court; Attacks on policemen and police stations; The killing of IFP members by ANC SDU members on the East Rand in the 1990s; Involvement in KwaZulu/Natal violence; and The Shell House shootings in 1994.
PAC:
Attacks at the Crazy Beat Disco, Newcastle, and the Yellowwoods Hotel, Fort Beaufort; Farms in the Tzaneen, Grahamstown and Pietermaritzburg areas; Robberies at businesses by APLA Re-Possession Units; and Attacks on policemen.
Community members acting in the name of liberation movements: Necklace killings and burnings of people including alleged informers and Community Councillors.
IFP:
Hit squad killings; Weapons supplies to IFP-aligned operatives in the 1990s.
The right wing:
The purchase and smuggling of illegal weapons.
The survey of amnesty applications was carried out last year in an effort to assess the type of information which is available to the Commission in amnesty applications. It was based on a perusal of
- About 465 applications from applicants who operated in or with State structures; About 600 applications from those who supported liberation movements; About 50 right-wing applications.
In line with the provisions of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, and with its normal practice, the TRC will not disclose further details of the abovementioned amnesty applica- tions before they are heard. Details of individual applications, including the names of applicants, can be released only when hearings commence or by special resolution of the Commission.