Special Report Transcript Episode 53, Section 1, Time 00:16

True leadership is one of a nation’s most precious commodities. It is very rare for a nation to bring forth more than a handful of real leaders in one generation. Tonight we deal with two such leaders and both were murdered before they could play the role they were destined to, Steve Biko and Chris Hani. Biko’s death at the hands of policemen came up during the special Truth Commission hearings about doctors and nurses this week, because policemen may have delivered the fatal blows but doctors allowed Steve Biko to die. Hani’s assassination will be recalled this coming week when his two murderers ask for amnesty. We will tell you more about Hani the soldier, the man and the leader tonight. But we start with a special focus on children as participants and victims of our conflict. The Truth Commission has had special hearings on youth and war the last few weeks. The last of these will be held in Botshabelo near Bloemfontein tomorrow. The Human Rights Committee of South Africa estimates that at least 4500 youngsters under 21 years old had died in political unrest between 1960 and 1989 and some 12 000 were injured. At last week’s children’s hearings in Gauteng Graca Machel, an international expert on children and violence, asked how much priority were we giving our children as a way of repairing the past and preventing it from happening again.

Notes: Max du Preez

References: there are no references for this transcript