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Chapter 10 - Reconciliation and Social Justice in South Africa: Still the Unfinished Business of the Trc?
- Muxe Nkondo
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- Book:
- Social Memory as a Force for Social and Economic Transformation
- Published by:
- University of South Africa
- Published online:
- 11 November 2021
- Print publication:
- 26 March 2021, pp 101-116
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Summary
Introduction
The postapartheid government used South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as one of the vehicles to reconcile and heal a country emerging from a bitter, painful and divided past. Implemented in line with the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act 34 of 1995 (RSA, 1995), the TRC sought to reconcile and heal all survivors of apartheid—victims and perpetrators and/or victims and beneficiaries—of human rights abuses. Guided by the post-amble of the 1993 constitution (RSA, 1993), the TRC had to create an environment in which all citizens in the new democratic dispensation would tolerate one another's differences, live together peacefully with respect and human dignity, and promote national unity in the spirit of reconstruction and understanding. This, to transcend the conflicts and divisions of the past. Thus, instituting the TRC was necessary as a transitional mechanism to foster reconciliation and nation-building in the country. It was to give hope to all survivors of apartheid, for a better life in a democratic dispensation. The process had as its objective to transform victims into victors and create active citizens who could and would fully participate in a democratic society.
Notably, since the handing over of the final reports of the TRC to the former presidents, Nelson Mandela in 1998 and Thabo Mbeki in 2003, the recommendations of the TRC have not been adequately implemented. Many victims of apartheid— including those who did not appear before the TRC—have not received sufficient redress (despite promises), and few or no steps have been taken to rehabilitate or heal the pain and emotional wounds inflicted on the people of this country. To this day, the socioeconomic conditions of many ordinary citizens who voted for democracy in 1994 have not changed much, while many perpetrators have become even better off. This confusing turn of events is often attributed to the failure to fully implement the recommendations of the TRC, leaving it as “unfinished business” (Ngcebetsha, 2012, 2016).
The objective of this chapter is to unpack the unfinished business of the TRC, by placing its failure to reconcile the nation within the current context of growing inequalities and mass poverty, stark divisions and intense racism, gender violence, feminism and xenophobia in South Africa.
Chapter 25 - Memorialising Freedom During Covid-19 Lockdown in South Africa
- Muxe Nkondo
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- Book:
- Social Memory as a Force for Social and Economic Transformation
- Published by:
- University of South Africa
- Published online:
- 11 November 2021
- Print publication:
- 26 March 2021, pp 299-307
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Summary
The year 2020 will never be forgotten in the history of South Africa, due to the deadly Covid-19 pandemic that brought the country (and most of the world) to a standstill. Unlike similar global epidemics and disasters in the past, such as the Smallpox of the late 18th and 19th century, the Spanish Flu of 2018/19, the Swine Flu of 2009/10, the Covid-19 pandemic has had (and continues to have) ravaging effects. What makes the effects of this pandemic distinct in South Africa, is that, for the first time in 26 years of democracy, citizens’ basic rights and freedoms—as enshrined in the constitution—have been limited or curtailed. The enjoyment of the many rights gained through the sacrifices made by our struggle legends, who fought tirelessly and even died in the struggle to overcome the brutal colonial and apartheid systems, has been compromised.
The South African constitution (RSA, 1996) states clearly that our democracy was founded on the values of human dignity, the achievement of equality and social justice, and the advancement of human rights and freedoms. Caught unprepared, the majority of citizens whose rights had been undermined for decades during colonialism and apartheid, and who had barely begun to enjoy these rights, had to unite in fighting an invisible yet deadly enemy. They had to sacrifice some of their needs and rights, and change the ways in which they conducted their normal lives, to prevent the spread of the virus that was beginning to ravage the nation and the economy. In this regard, Covid-19 lockdown was a true test of citizens’ devotion to safeguarding those hard-won freedoms.
The first Covid-19 case in South Africa was confirmed by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (Nicid) on March 4, 2020, and the first death was recorded on March 27, 2020. Since then, the number of cases has been increasing, to the extent that, on March 15, 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a state of disaster in the country. In his address, he pleaded with all citizens to “wage war” against the invisible enemy—Covid-19 (Brookes, 2020), which the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2020) describes as the enemy of humanity.