I thought at the time that the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a very good way of healing the post apartheid Country. I think the approach certainly assisted the peaceful transfer of power. Which I had the privilege to witness on the ground. Indeed, something similar should probably have been tried, difficult as it may have been, in Northern Ireland. Instead, the whole tragic blame game carries on today.
However, it still rankles that some, like Buthelezi, got away scot-free. But taking the “bigger picture” then, shouldn’t extend to rewriting history now.
I remember in the late Nineties how SABC morning radio news would have reports on the previous day’s revelations from the TRC and reports on continuous mysterious overnight mass killings around Richmond and villages in rural KZN. ANC government spokespersons would allude to the possibility of a so-called ‘Third Force’ (think white Afrikaner AWB guerillas) but never offered any explanations, whereas everyone knew it was essentially a secret tribal warfare between the mainly Xhosa ANC and Buthelezi’s IFP.
Interesting to compare and contrast Zulu traditional male warriors, whose principal roles were war making and beer brewing, with the highly developed and very professionally promoted Zulu crafts which were traditionally a wholly female preserve.