Issued by: Truth and Reconciliation Commission
May 30 2001
President Thabo Mbeki issued a proclamation on 28 May 2001 dissolving the Amnesty Committee with effect from 31 May 2001. The Amnesty Committee has finalised hearing amnesty applications some time ago and is in the process of finalising the decisions and other outstanding matters.
The proclamation revives the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ("TRC") with effect from 1 June 2001 for the purpose only of completing its final report. A sub-committee convened by Commissioner Denzil Potgieter and consisting of some of the Commissioners who were involved in the process subsequent to October 1998, will attend to the preparation of the report prior to a brief recall of the entire TRC to finalise the report. It will be presented to the President towards the end of the year.
The report will consist of two volumes (nos 6 and 7). Volume 6 will contain summaries concerning the circumstances of each victim identified through the TRC process as a whole. Volume 7 will contain the reports of the Amnesty Committee and an account of the activities concerning human rights violations and reparations subsequent to the submission of the interim TRC report of October 1998. It will also include any further issues which the TRC may wish to deal with in amplification of its October 1998 report in the light of the other reports referred to.
In the proclamation December 31, 2001 is the date cited for the dissolution of the TRC. When parliament passed the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act in 1995, it anticipated that the whole process will take only about two years. Despite our best efforts to finalise the process as promptly as possible, it took about six years to finish the mammoth but necessary task to address the past political conflict in our country.
The life of the Commission was extended on a number of occasions for this purpose.
Phila Ngqumba (021) 4238741 / 4245161