Perceptions of psychosocial healing and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa.

Abstract

Like many other societies that have dealt with the question of how to achieve closure of a past of oppression while simultaneously working toward national reconstruction and reconciliation, South Africa turned to the concept of a truth commission.Public testimony constitutes the central mechanism in the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process.Through the use of social constructionism as a broad framework in which the testimony method may be located, this descriptive study examines various narratives to uncover understandings of healing and the modes of healing invoked by both victims and those facilitating the healing process.Two data sources were used: testimony transcripts from public hearings of the TRC and transcripts from interviews with key players in the process.Thematic analysis revealed that there are multiple understandings of healing but overall, the narratives affirmed the therapeutic value of the testimony method.The central issue under discussion in the article is the connectedness between individual healing and national reconciliation.The South African Government of National Unity (GNU), elected into office in April 1994 after a 4-year period of negotiations, faced the tricky question of how to confront the wrongs of the past while simultaneously building a shared nationhood.Wilson (1995) argued that truth commissions have become one of the main mechanisms by which transitional governments seek to create legitimacy for state institutions still tainted by the legacy of the past.Indeed, it was to the concept of a truth commission that South Africa turned in pursuit of national reconciliation, unity, and peace.This article briefly describes the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), and then examines perceptions of psychosocial healing within the reconciliation process. THE SOUTH AFRICAN TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSIONThe agreement to replace the apartheid state with a GNU had significant consequences for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of South African society.As pointed out by Wilson (1995), despite the high visibility of the elections and apparently radical legal reforms, there was a continuity of state organisation and function.Through a GNU the civil service institutions and personnel of the apartheid state were ensured continuity of tenure.Agencies of state security such as the defence force and the police remained within the hands of personnel who were allegedly involved in apartheid-related human rights violations.The South African negotiated settlement required substantial compromise and did not mark a "clean break" with the past (Du Plessis, 1994, in Boraine, Levy & Schefer, 1994).Because of lack of agreement on issues such as indemnification and amnesty for exiles and members of the apartheid state, the question of a truth commission was only discussed during the final stages of the negotiations.In the end, the negotiating parties agreed to the postponement of any legislation on the issue until after the elections.This meant that South Africa entered the period of transitional governance without a general amnesty law, the first country in Africa to do so, according to the Minister of Justice (Boraine et al., 1994).The Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Bill was signed by President Mandela on May 19, 1995 and it became an Act of Parliament in July, just over 1 year after the democratic elections.This is the legislation that allowed for the existence of the TRC.Key words that were often repeated in the motivations for a TRC were truth, healing, and reconciliation.It was argued that through the process of meeting these objectives, the TRC would restore the moral order of South African society, create a culture of human rights and respect for the rule of law, and prevent the past happening again.The President, in consultation with the Cabinet, appointed 17 commissioners with Archbishop Tutu as the Chairperson.The commissioners preside over three committees: the Committee on Human Rights Violations, the Committee on Amnesty, and the Committee on Reparation and Rehabilitation of Victims.Each of these three committees has different tasks that are executed with the assistance of specific support structures such as an investigations arm, a research unit, and a media department.The Committee on Human Rights Violations is responsible for conducting public hearings throughout the country.The objective of these public hearings was seen as providing victims of human rights abuses the opportunity to tell their stories