The Struggle for Truth and Reconciliation: Insights from South Africas TRC

Abstract

Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) investigated the apartheid crimes and brought together the victims and perpetrators to reveal the truth instead of sweeping them under the carpet. The TRC main focus was to pave the way to forgiveness and reconciliation. This essay aims to give insights on two cases in “Long Night's Journey into Day” and see whether the role of TRC was achieved by bringing the darkness of apartheid into daylight. First and foremost, the TRC did not consider the criminality of the apartheid system but rather focussed on the gross violations of human rights. As per the chair of the TRC, Desmond Tutu, he said that that amnesty could prove to be hard if people take justice only as retributive and punitive. On the other hand, he urged people to think of justice as restorative, correcting imbalances that aim at restoring broken relationships. But forgiveness is not just offered like in the case of Eric Taylor, a white policeman involved in the Cradock 4. It sometimes makes it hard to accept the truth, but confessing such acts made some of these perpetrators have lighter burdens. One may ask what justice could have been given to the mothers of the massacred daughters. How many years should Eric Taylor be jailed for the families to feel that justice had been served? As long as Taylor felt remorseful and guilty, and asks for forgiveness, no other justice could be sought. The case of Robert McBride was a hard one. According to McBride, he acted based on an eye for an eye. For this reason, he wondered why he was being told to open up, accept that what he did was wrong, and apologize for blowing up a white’s only restaurant. McBride's question was, why hasn't any white...