TRC Final Report

Volume 5

Chapter 1

Subsection 1

The public hearings

6 Thus, the preparation and organisation of the first public hearing became the primary goal of the Committee in the first months. Together with the whole Commission, it had decided that particular emphasis would be placed on hearing the experiences of victims of gross violations from the people themselves. It would seek out all such people, old and young, living in urban or rural areas, and provide a forum for many voices that had previously been silenced.

7 The first public hearing was held in East London in April 1996. The choice of a centre in the Eastern Cape was no accident, but a deliberate decision to focus attention on an area which had borne the brunt of some of the heaviest repression by the security forces of the previous government, in direct response to some of the most militant resistance.

8 The four days of hearing set a model for future hearings (later reduced to three days), and it is worth describing in some detail the planning and arrangements that took place.

9 The selected venue was the East London City Hall, an imposing Victorian-style building in the centre of the city. Stringent security measures had to be put in place, and were provided and maintained by the South African Police Services (as at all subsequent public hearings). Provision had to be made for the media. Food and accommodation had to be provided for the deponents and for at least some of their families who attended to support them. Transport had to be arranged, entailing heavy costs and considerable logistical difficulties, and interpretation services had to be arranged for simultaneous translation into all the languages to be used. The placing of tables for the witnesses and for Commission members received careful attention — witnesses were to take pride of place and there was to be no suggestion of their being ‘in the dock’ as in a court. They were also always to be accompanied by a Commission ‘briefer’² and, if they chose, by a family member or other supporter. The deponents were brought together during the weekend before the hearings in order to prepare them, and the Committee worked closely with members of the Reparation and Rehabilitation Committee in this process.

10 All the hearings were to have a ceremonial aspect: the chairperson’s opening remarks were often preceded by prayer, by the lighting of a memorial candle, by hymns or songs. When Archbishop Tutu presided, he wore his purple robes, lending his own special presence to the occasion. This religious aspect of the hearings was sometimes criticised, especially for its mainly Christian focus. It became clear, however, that this was not inappropriate in a country where a considerable majority of the population is Christian. In later hearings, when Archbishop Tutu himself was not present, other religious leaders were often asked to pray. Often, too, local community groups would introduce songs and ceremony (in the little country town of Hanover a choir sang a song composed specially for the Commission).

11 In East London, a special inter-faith ceremony was held the day before the hearing, and the hearing itself opened to a packed hall humming with anticipation.

12 The four days were extremely emotional and dramatic. The witnesses included the families of the well-known ‘Cradock Four’, community leaders assassinated in 1985; individuals and the families of those who were killed or injured in bombings carried out by revolutionary activists; and people who were detained, tortured, or victimised in other ways. Deponents were sometimes stoical, almost matter of fact, but others succumbed to tears or expressed their anger as they relived their experiences. The panel of commissioners and committee members was visibly overcome. The public sat silent and spellbound during the testimony, but was occasionally moved to angry murmuring. Tea and lunch breaks were marked by singing and chanting of political slogans.

13 The large media contingent included national and international representatives, and filled to overflowing the room provided for them. By the end of the week, awareness of the work of the Commission had burst upon the newspapers, television screens and radio broadcasts in a way that began to change the perceptions of millions of people.

14 Thus was the pattern set for the many hearings of the Commission.³ They were held in large cities or small rural towns, in city halls or educational institutions or church halls. They were made possible by the meticulous work and planning of the various logistical teams in the regions and by the assistance of many people in the local areas.