Special Report Transcript Episode 71, Section 3, Time 10:31

Over the past 18 months the Truth Commission’s Amnesty Committee has heard 250 applicants tell their stories in hearings. They include the men in uniform who served the previous government and the liberation forces as well as right wingers and civilian supporters of the ANC and PAC. Many of them are already in jail for their crimes; others fear prosecution. The Amnesty Committee makes its decisions according to the promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act. This law requires that four main criteria be met for amnesty to be granted. Applicants must have been a member of a publicly known political party or organisation, liberation movement or an employee of the state or its security forces. Applicants also have to tell the whole truth about their crime. Technically therefore they can lie or hide facts regarding other issues but have to make a full disclosure of all the relevant facts about the crime they want amnesty for. Applicants must have committed their crimes with a political objective. This means that their motive had to be political. The crime also has to be in proportion to the political objective. Is it for instance necessary to kill someone if you want to persuade them to change their mind? Amnesty may not be granted for crimes that were committed for personal gain or spite. But the process that leads to a signed amnesty decision is not a clear cut one. The Amnesty Committee has to interpret and apply the law. One of the central questions has been does racism constitute a political motive? Last year the Committee made a number of benchmark decisions in this regard. Jean du Plessis and Cornelius van Wyk belonged to a fanatic right wing organisation called ‘Die Nasionaal Sosialistiese Partisane.’ They killed three people during a robbery attempt to find weapons for their struggle to rid South Africa of inferior races.