¹ John Battersby, “South Africa Takes Final Steps Toward Long-Sought Democracy,”Christian Science Monitor, May 4, 1994, p. 1.

² Robin Petersen, “The Politics of Grace and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” in To Remember and To Heal: Theological and Psychological Reflections on Truth and Reconciliation, edited by H. Russel Botman and Robin Petersen (Cape Town, Pretoria, and Johannesburg: Human & Rousseau, 1996), p. 59.

³ Donald Shriver, An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 229.

⁴ The 17 commissioners (including Bishop Tutu) were nominated by a representative panel appointed by President Mandela, which solicited applicants from all walks of life and held public hearings on the selections. Members—7 blacks, 2 coloreds, 2 Indians, and 6 whites—range from a Pan-Africanist Congress member on the left to a Freedom Front member on the right. Membership has since been augmented to give further gender and ethnic balance and to be broadly representative.

⁵ Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, no. 34 (1995).

⁶ lbid.

⁷ Ibid.

⁸ Roughly one-third come from the church, one-third from the health and mental health professions, and one-third from the legal system.

⁹ Statement by Marius Schoon, whose wife and daughter were murdered by the explosion of a parcel bomb that was sent to them in Angola. Cited in Charles Villa-Vicencio, “The Road to Reconciliation,”Sojourners 26 (May/June 1997), p. 36.

¹⁰ Harold Strachan, Letter to Editor, Mail & Guardian, July 25, 1997.

¹¹ Antjie Krog, “The Parable of the Bicycle,”Mail & Guardian, February 6–13, 1997.

^l2 See T. Dunbar Moodie, The Rise of Afrikanerdom: Power, Apartheid and the Afrikaner Civil Religion(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975); William A. de Klerk, The Puritans in Africa: The History of Afrikanerdom(London: Rex Collings, 1975); and J. Alton Templin, Ideology on a Frontier: The Theological Foundation of Afrikaner Nationalism, 1652–1910(Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1984).

¹³ See Lyn S. Graybill, Religion and Resistance Politics in South Africa(Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1995).

¹⁴ Dirkie Smit, “Confession-Guilt-Truth-and-Forgiveness in the Christian Tradition,” in To Remember and To Heal, p. 96.

¹⁵ Mark Gevisser, “The Ultimate Test of Faith,”Mail & Guardian, April 12, 1996.

¹⁶ TRC Press Release, “Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Address to the First Gathering of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” December 16, 1995.

¹⁷ Desmond Tutu, foreword, To Remember and To Heal, p. 8.

¹⁸ H. Russel Botman and Robin Petersen, introduction, To Remember and To Heal, p. 12.

¹⁹ Robert Shreiter, Reconciliation: Mission and Ministry in a Changing Social Order(Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1992), pp. 34–35.

²⁰ Cited in Terry Dowdall, “Psychological Aspects of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” in To Remember and To Heal, p. 35.

²¹ Gerald West, “Don't Stand on My Story: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Intellectuals, Genre, and Identity,”Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 98 (July 1997), p. 6.

²² James Cochrane and Gerald West, “War, Remembrance and Reconstruction,”Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 84 (September 1993), p. 25.

²³ H. Russel Botman, “Narrative Challenges in a Situation of Transition,” in To Remember and To Heal, p. 39.

²⁴ H. Richard Niebuhr, cited in Smit, “Confession-Guilt-Truth-and-Forgiveness,” p. 98.

²⁵ Cadre Asmal, Louise Asmal, and Ronald Suresh Roberts, Reconciliation Through Truth(Cape Town and Johannesburg: David Philip Publishers, 1996), p. 46.

²⁶ “Reaction Strengthens Against Secrecy Compromise on Truth Commission,”SouthScan 9 (December 9, 1994).

²⁷ Shriver, An Ethic for Enemies, p. 7.

²⁸ H. Richard Niebuhr, cited in Smit, “Confession-Guilt-Truth-and-Forgiveness, p. 100.

²⁹ Karl Earth, cited in “Confession-Guilt-Truth-and-Forgiveness,” p. 102.

³⁰ “South Africa: The Spirit of Reconciliation,”Sojourners 23 (July 1994), p. 9.

³¹ David Ottaway, Chained Together(New York: Times Books, 1993), p. 62.

³² South African Press Association (SAPA), “FW Apologises for Apartheid but Denies Sanctioning Assassinations,” August 21, 1996.

³³ Transcript of the National Party Recall in Cape Town, May 14, 1997.

³⁴ Lynne Duke, “South Africa's Botha Offers No Apologies,”Washington Post, January 24, 1998.

³⁵ Eddie Koch, “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission,”Mail & Guardian, May 19–25, 1995.

³⁶ Institute for Contextual Theology, Kairos Document: The Challenge to the Churches (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1986), p. 11.

³⁷ Krog, “The Parable of the Bicycle.”

³⁸ Peter Storey, “A Different Kind of Justice: Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa,”The Christian Century 114 (September 10–17, 1997), p. 793.

³⁹ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together(London: SCM, 1983).

⁴⁰ Alex Boraine, Dealing with the Past: Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa, edited by Janet Levy and Ronel Scheffer (Cape Town: Institute for Democracy in South Africa, 1994), p. 29.

⁴¹ SAPA, “TRC Members Not Morally Neutral: Tutu,” March 7, 1997.

⁴² Ibid.

⁴³ Transcript of the ANC Statement to the TRC, August 22, 1996.

⁴⁴ Transcript of the ANC Party Political Recall in Cape Town, May 12–13, 1997.

⁴⁵ The ANC insisted, however, that the attack did not contradict its policy to avoid civilian casualties, Faulting instead the government for placing strategic installations in high-density civilian areas.

⁴⁶ Eddie Koch, “Military Third Force Walks Free,”Mail & Guardian, May 16–22, 1997.

⁴⁷ “Tears, Fears, and Hope: Healing the Memories in South Africa,”Southern Africa 1(January/February 1997), p. 1.

⁴⁸ Eddie Koch and Gaye Davis, “Firing Up the Truth Machine,”Mall & Guardian, July 26-August 3, 1995.

⁴⁹ Krog, “The Parable of the Bicycle.”

⁵⁰ Tina Rosenberg, “Recovering from Apartheid,”New Yorker 72 (November 18, 1996), p. 95.

⁵¹ Antjie Krog, “Unto the Third or Fourth Generations,”Mail & Guardian, June 13–19, 1997.

⁵² Andre du Toit, “No Rest Without the Wicked,”Indicator 14 (summer 1997), p. 9.

⁵³ Shriver, An Ethic for Enemies, p. 224.

⁵⁴ Desmond Tutu, “We Forgive You,” in The Rainbow People of God: The Making of a Peaceful Revolution, edited by John Allen (New York: Doubleday, 1994), p. 222.

⁵⁵ TRC's First Interim Report (June 1996).

⁵⁶ SAPA, “Billions Needed for Victims of Apartheid Rights Abuses,” April 3, 1997.

⁵⁷ “Reparation and Rehabilitation,”Truth Talk 3 (November 1997), p. 1.

⁵⁸ TRC Press Release, “Introductory Notes to the Presentation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Proposed Reparation and Rehabilitation Policies,” October 23, 1997. (In U.S. dollars, the total payment over six years would be approximately $21,000 to $28,000 for those receiving the larger grant.) The average payment (R 21,700) is based on the average annual income of a South African household. The Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee considered but rejected using the poverty line of R 15,000 for the average payment because it would condemn victims to a life of near poverty. “TRC Proposes Grants,”Truth Talk 3 (November 1997), p. 2.

⁵⁹ Etienne de Villiers, “The Challenge to the Afrikaans Churches,” in To Remember and To Heal, p. 151.

⁶⁰ SAPA, “Salvation Army Tells TRC It Regrets Silence During Apartheid Years,” June 3, 1997.

⁶¹ SAPA, “AFM Failed Duty, TRC Told,” August 4, 1997.

⁶² SAPA, “SA Churches Must Confess to Shortcomings, Says Tutu,” November 17, 1997.

⁶³ SAPA, “SA Churches Were Not United Against Apartheid, SACC Tells TRC,” November 17, 1997.

⁶⁴ SAPA, “DRC Focuses on Reconciliation in TRC Submission,” November 19, 1997.

⁶⁵ “South Africa: Threats to a New Democracy,”Human Rights Watch/Africa, May 7, 1995.

⁶⁶ The Nuremberg Principles of the 1945–46 military tribunal against the Nazi war criminals asserted that crimes against humanity could be tried in an international court because they offended humanity itself. The Genocide Convention of 1948 (Article 4) makes genocide a punishable crime. The Apartheid Convention of 1973 classifies apartheid as a crime against humanity and provides for prosecution in a court of law in one of the states involved or in an international criminal tribunal. The Convention against Torture of 1985 requires that states submit cases to the competent authorities for prosecution but does not require that actual prosecution take place. The Fourth Geneva Convention (Article 146) states that parties shall bring persons alleged to have committed serious breaches before its own courts or hand them over to another high contracting party.

⁶⁷ Daan Bronkhorst, Truth and Reconciliation: Obstacles and Opportunities for Human Rights(Amsterdam: Amnesty International Dutch Section, 1995), p. 91.

⁶⁸ Koch, “The Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”

⁶⁹ SAPA, “7700 Amnesty Applications Received by Midnight Deadline Saturday,” May 10, 1997.

⁷⁰ SAPA, “Amnesty Committee Faces Monumental Task,” May 11, 1997.

⁷¹ Since the constitutional amendment extending the amnesty cutoff date from December 6, 1993, to May 10, 1994, had only become law in late August 1997, it was believed that some perpetrators might have decided not to submit their applications until they were sure that Parliament would approve this extension.

⁷² Willa Boesak, “Truth, Justice and Reconciliation,” in To Remember and To Heal, pp. 65–69.

⁷³ Wolfram Kistner, “The Biblical Understanding of Reconciliation,” in To Remember and To Heal, p. 89.

⁷⁴ Although the commissioners are working under time constraints and attempt to hear 10 to 12 witnesses a day, their efforts to get witnesses to stick to their presubmitted testimony, not to get off track, and to tell only what is relevant often fail. Even when told to start at a certain point, the witnesses invariably say they will start somewhere else in the story—much earlier—and then do!

⁷⁵ Alex Russell, “We Didn't Intend to Kill Biko,”Daily Telegraph, September 11, 1997.

⁷⁶ Dullah Omar, “Opening Address,” reporting to the Truth Commission conference, Johannesburg: March 1–2, 1996.

⁷⁷ Mark Gevisser, “Can South Africa Face Its Past?”Nation, June 26, 1995, pp. 920–21.

⁷⁸ In November 1997, the Amnesty Committee granted what appeared to be “blanket” amnesty to 37 ANC leaders (including Deputy President Thabo Mbeki) who in their applications accepted “collective responsibility” for acts committed by their members on behalf of the ANC. The decision was roundly criticized because it contravened the requirement of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act for full disclosure on an individual basis. The TRC has asked the High Court to rule on its validity.

⁷⁹ Storey, “A Different Kind of Justice,” p. 788.

⁸⁰ Gevisser, “The Ultimate Test of Faith.”

⁸¹ Gevisser, “Can South Africa Face Its Past?” p. 919.

⁸² SAPA, “Blinded Man Forgives Soldier Who Shot Him, TRC Hears,” August 5, 1996.

⁸³ Claudia Braude, “Media Should Get the Truth Out,”Mail & Guardian, February 7–13, 1997.

⁸⁴ Reinhold Niebuhr, The Nature and Destiny of Man, vol. 2, Human Destiny (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1964), p. 254.