Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
16 February 1998
A workshop will be hosted this week by the Reparations and Rehabilitation Committee of the TRC to formulate possible projects aimed at promoting the healing of survivors of apartheid.
The consultative workshop will be led by Dr. Yael Danieli, the director of the Group Project for Holocaust Survivors and their children in New York. Her visit has been paid for by the United States State Department.
Dr Danieli is a clinical psychologist in private practice, specialising in victimology and traumatology. She is also a founding director and former president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and a representative of the World Federation for Mental Health.
The first day will be devoted to discussions around the conspiracy of silence, while the focus will be on the legacies of trauma on the second day. On the last day, the meaning of restitution, compensation and rehabilitation of victims will come under the spotlight.
Ms Hlengiwe Mkize, the chairperson of the R & R Committee, says the workshop will also open up possibilities for academic and research institution to evaluate and monitor the implementation of the Commission's reparation policies, specifically in terms of the healing of memories and reconciliation.
The workshop will start on Wednesday, February 18 and close on Friday, February 20 in the TRC's Gauteng offices in the Sanlam Building, cnr Von Wielligh and Jeppe Streets, Johannesburg.
Members of the media are welcome to attend. Please call Mbulelo Sompetha on 082 452 7870 for more information and to indicate your wish to attend.