Special Report Transcript Episode 31, Section 4, Time 33:09

Bishop Tutu, let’s talk about the two legs of the Truth Commission, the truth leg and the reconciliation leg and truth first as always. Are we really, have we really been getting to the truth in this process? // First of all congratulations on your award. We have certainly done that. We’ve heard the stories of victims and survivors. We were worried that we were not in fact getting the accounts of the perpetrators but now with the amnesty process taking off we are getting that side of the story as well. // Are the attorneys general hindering you or helping you, with their threats of prosecution? Is that the stick that you’ve been looking for? // We would want them to continue their work, they want truth for the purpose of persecution; we want truth for the purpose of reconciliation. But it is quite important that they continue with their work because that is the stick that makes people take the carrot of amnesty. // Have the right kind of people been asking for amnesty? I mean we saw a lot of people who are sitting in jail already, but we need other people, don’t we? // Well we have had the police officers, which is something that represented a breakthrough. The point of course is that the Act says we’ve got to facilitate amnesty and it must be amnesty for anyone who stands a risk of being prosecuted or being liable for civil damages. But we certainly don’t want only the foot soldiers as you might call them, we’d like some of those people who gave the orders which the foot soldiers carried out. // Are you getting those? Because the political leadership has been very cool towards you. // I don’t know whether you want to say that that is entirely the case. I mean, we have said we’d like to meet with them because we do believe actually that they are missing out on a golden opportunity for reconciliation. And I hope that the recent news about people like the minister of defence applying is true, because if it is then that is the kind of high profile people we would want to see coming forward. // What has been your impression of the political leadership’s attitude, across the board, attitude towards the Truth and Reconciliation Commission? // I would say, I mean, there has been a fair degree of ambivalence. No one normally likes coming up and owning up to ghastly things. We all try and postpone for as long as possible the moment when we have to admit that we did wrong. And so I’m not entirely surprised. I’m not surprised too that people are seeking to justify themselves and I want to say but you are missing the point. The amnesty proposition doesn’t want you to come along and apologise for whatever you did.

Notes: Max du Preez interviews Archbishop Tutu

References: there are no references for this transcript