May 19th, poltitical context and the TRC

Professor Zwelethu Jolabe was great at giving us a political context for the TRC (among other events). Breaking down the concept of reconciliation is hard right now. Personally, I have been making reconciliation, community, and inclusion synonymous. While I still am thinking they each may be part of a philosophical mindset, there are differences that I need to explore.

One major idea from the lecture was that negotiations happened more out of necessity than reconciliation. Specially, the negotiations between the National Party and the ANC were from a political understanding that violence was increasing and ‘something needed to be done.’ Within a more global context, the Cold War definitely affected South Africa. In the Nelson Mandela house, I noticed a letter from the state of Massachusetts apologizing to Nelson Mandela for the CIA’s involvement in his arrest. The CIA involvement now makes more sense because of the role of the Cold War and the Soviets support of the ANC. Professor Jolabe presented the viewpoint that the TRC was representative of a closing to the negotiation period. How then does the TRC work in the concept of reconciliation as a process and not simply an outcome?

The role and expectations of the TRC seem to vary widely. With so many roles involved (victim, perpetrator, commissioner, journalist), individuals are benefiting in various ways. Again, I am seeing this view point of something larger functioning for individually. Ideally, these individual benefits work for building stable peace for society.

From my work as a facilitator with the restorative justice program at CU, I was curious about the possibilities of victimization. With gruesome and upsetting stories of violence being told, could some Africans become even bitterer at hearing truth telling? Could Africans as a group become revictimized? These thoughts could be a little dramatic, but Professor Jolabe mentioned a critic of the TRC as the vivid quality of the stories told as part of the TRC hearings.