The Truth and Reconciliation Commission

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was successful in achieving its aims of healing the wounds of South Africa's apartheid past to a certain extent. This essay will prove this by looking at sources A to G.

Archbishop Tutu (source A) explains the purpose of the TRC. He states that now that we have "asked and received forgiveness" and after "having made amends", we, as South Africans, can "shut the door of the past" - not in order to forget it, but in order for us to move forward into a new, democratic society. Jeannie Noel, detainee and torture victim of apartheid, witness to the TRC, says that even though she cannot forgive the people that harmed her, she believes that the TRC will have affected the lives of future generations; allowing them to "be untainted by this racism" and allowing them to live a life without the hate and fighting she was objected to. Antjie Krog (source D), believes that the TRC was beneficial to all South Africans. She says it allowed them to tell their stories and helped them "to find identity for themselves". These voices that were "long silent, unheard, often unheeded before they spoke" have now "shaped the passage of history". Zapiro illustrates the TRC as a successful accomplishment. It is seen that even though the TRC and Archbishop Tutu were "attacked" and criticised by many political parties, such as the IFP, the ANC, the PAC, the NP and the FF, Archbishop Tutu still managed to make the TRC work for South Africans.