Truth and reconciliation
commission (TRC)
Reasons for and origins of the TRC
• The idea for the TRC rst came from the anc
• After the unbanning of the liberation organizations, the
ancient faced accusations of human rights abuse in its
training camps in Tanzania and other parts of southern africa
• It set up an internal inquiry and it was revealed that human
rights violations had occurred in the ancient camps
• The ANCs national executive committee accepted the
ndings, but decided that these violations need to be seen
against the overall human rights violations that were
perpetrated over decades in SA
• So rather than the ANC looking for general amnesty for itself,
it called for an independent truth commons so that everyone
could be accountable for the past
The options facing south africans in terms of dealing with the
past were
• Either a blanket amnesty, which would’ve meant that the
ANC would not have
What is the TRC Act?
This outlined the three preconditions to be met before amnesty
could be granted:
• applicants had to make a full and truthful disclosure of events
and actions around
the act of violence for which amnesty was applied;
◦ the applicant had to prove he/she had a political
motive;
◦ and the act could not be out of proportion with the
political objective. In other
words, amnesty would not be granted to someone who had
committed murder
because of a political di erence of opinion.
fi fi ff
, The role of the TRC
• To compile as complete a picture as possible of gross human
rights violations that
had taken place on all sides between 1960 and 1993.
◦ To hear testimony from victims and perpetrators.
◦ • To grant perpetrators amnesty from prosecution or
civil action, where there was full disclosure and a clear
political motivation.
◦ • To suggest how victims could be compensated
through reparations
commission (TRC)
Reasons for and origins of the TRC
• The idea for the TRC rst came from the anc
• After the unbanning of the liberation organizations, the
ancient faced accusations of human rights abuse in its
training camps in Tanzania and other parts of southern africa
• It set up an internal inquiry and it was revealed that human
rights violations had occurred in the ancient camps
• The ANCs national executive committee accepted the
ndings, but decided that these violations need to be seen
against the overall human rights violations that were
perpetrated over decades in SA
• So rather than the ANC looking for general amnesty for itself,
it called for an independent truth commons so that everyone
could be accountable for the past
The options facing south africans in terms of dealing with the
past were
• Either a blanket amnesty, which would’ve meant that the
ANC would not have
What is the TRC Act?
This outlined the three preconditions to be met before amnesty
could be granted:
• applicants had to make a full and truthful disclosure of events
and actions around
the act of violence for which amnesty was applied;
◦ the applicant had to prove he/she had a political
motive;
◦ and the act could not be out of proportion with the
political objective. In other
words, amnesty would not be granted to someone who had
committed murder
because of a political di erence of opinion.
fi fi ff
, The role of the TRC
• To compile as complete a picture as possible of gross human
rights violations that
had taken place on all sides between 1960 and 1993.
◦ To hear testimony from victims and perpetrators.
◦ • To grant perpetrators amnesty from prosecution or
civil action, where there was full disclosure and a clear
political motivation.
◦ • To suggest how victims could be compensated
through reparations
