The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was meant to uncover the truth about Apartheid atrocities and give families who lost loved ones much-needed closure. The legal framework was in place, but several perpetrators — including former president FW de Klerk and his cronies — did not fully disclose the truth, reducing the whole exercise to a mere charade.
Families such as those of the Cradock Four remain without closure due to the commission’s incomplete work. I suppose this is why we continue to see restaged inquests about the deaths of activists — the work that the TRC should have completed.
It was always anticipated that those who were not granted amnesty owing to their failure to fully disclose their role in atrocities, were to face justice. Alas this was not meant to be, as we now discover that there seems to have been a backdoor political deal that has seen some of the worst perpetrators going scot-free. Hundreds of cases were referred to the National Prosecuting Authority for prosecution to generally no avail. The ANC administration must be made to account for this and not hide behind another expensive fishing expedition.
The question now is: “What will the new commission achieve?” There is clearly a public appetite for thorough and credible inquiries in South Africa. However, it seems as though recommendations from commissions are also routinely ignored by our country’s leadership.
For instance, the arms deal inquiry was dismissed by the Thabo Mbeki administration. Judge Willie Seriti’s recommendations were reviewed and ultimately set aside, with no-one stepping in to uphold them. Besides Tony Yengeni, who spent a few months in jail and Schabir Shaik, who claimed terminal illness as a get out of jail card, there is no-one significant who is in jail for the billions wasted in the name of arming the country. What’s more annoying is that the army remains crippled, even being described as a Mickey Mouse operation by a prominent general.
Even the TRC’s progressive recommendation of a wealth tax was rejected by the ANC government — ironically, the same government now wants to initiate yet another commission, as if to be seen 'doing something'.
Then came the Farlam Commission, which whitewashed the Marikana Massacre. To this day, the affected families remain marginalised, and the president has yet to visit Marikana and issue a genuine apology, despite the commission’s contested recommendations. Justice has not been served. The entire exercise feels like a painful waste of time.
The worst example of a total waste of the country’s time is the state capture commission. A billion rand later and not one person has been successfully prosecuted. This glaring failure underscores a broader systemic issue — lack of consequence management.
These commissions are born out of good intentions to resolve complex societal dilemmas, but the follow-through is paltry at best. Even the TRC’s progressive recommendation of a wealth tax was rejected by the ANC government — ironically, the same government now wants to initiate yet another commission, as if to be seen “doing something”. The reality is a three-decade long failure to prosecute Apartheid crimes. This is now being revived to improve the ANC’s fortunes at the polls. How else do we explain this and other symbolic gimmicks meant to invoke yesteryear’s anger against things such as the death penalty.
Meanwhile, the NPA sits on a mountain of evidence from all these commissions but has failed to translate it into any meaningful prosecutions. Quite frankly, that is the real crisis. What we need is not another commission — we need political will, institutional reform and real accountability. And a competent and brave NPA that doesn’t not pander to politicians.
Instead of a commission of inquiry the president should fire the current NPA head and install someone whose mandate is to prosecute all those fingered by all these commissions. Shamila Batohi has had enough time to tackle the big fish. There are at least 100 people listed in the state capture report with reams of evidence led before the Zondo commission.
Other than incompetence and or political interference, how do you explain that no-one has been successfully prosecuted from a costly exercise that spanned four long years? What explains that out of 400 cases referred by the TRC to the NPA not one significant scoundrel from the Apartheid era has been prosecuted? How on earth will this reality be changed by a commission. This is going to be another waste of resources in the face of the fiscal crisis facing the country. This smells like an expensive electioneering campaign.
Prof JJ Tabane is an adjunct professor of media studies at the University of Botswana
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