South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission
F05
Mac Maharaj
South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was conceived as a critical instrument that would enable South Africa to come to grips with gross violations of human rights committed under apartheid and the struggle for freedom. In the 20th century, particularly after the Second World War, governments searched for the ways and means to address such legacies of atrocities. Democracy in South Africa came in the wake of many efforts in different parts of the world to address this question. There had been the Nuremburg Trials held at the end of the Second World War; then the various efforts through Truth Commissions, e.g. Argentina and Chile. How far has the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission process taken the matter?

We will also examine some of the judgments of South Africa’s Constitutional Court to better understand how the Court interprets its role, how it has been performing this role, and how it has become central to the functioning of democracy in South Africa.