The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was intended to heal the wounds of a post-apartheid South Africa under the premise that the truth would set us free.
It was a noble vision but one that was always going to founder on the rocky road of reparation.
Today we report on how the President's Fund - specifically created to compensate victims of apartheid - is being used by the government to fund township rehabilitation projects to the tune of R540-million.
The projects are suitably vague and make provision for things such as infrastructure development, school construction, health and social services, skills development, and activities designed to heal communities torn by human-rights violations.
Predictably, the move has been slammed. The President's Fund, argues the Khulumani Support Group, was meant for the victims of apartheid identified by the TRC, not for broad rehabilitation projects.
And Khulumani claims that the implementation date of March 1 was chosen to buy votes ahead of next year's elections.
The government counters these allegations, claiming that the communities to benefit from the spending were identified by the TRC, and that whole communities, not just individuals, suffered under apartheid.
There can be no doubt that it is true that apartheid was all-pervasive, so why is it that we don't believe that the government dipping into the President's Fund is a noble, selfless attempt to redress injustice?
Why is it that talk of past injustice seems to smell only of present injustice under way, and why is it that talk of "activities to heal communities" rings not of truth but of a march to the ballot box?
What has gone so wrong that all trust has fled?
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