Special Hearings — Women's Hearings — 1997-07-28

CHAIRPERSON: On behalf of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission we would like to welcome you to this special hearing on women.
 The women who will be appearing today, come from different walks of life and come from the different parts of our country, which is served by the office in the Gauteng region.  
 They will be telling stories of their pain and suffering.  However the way we want to remember them, is not as victims, but as people who have survived the 300 years of turbulence, pain and suffering in our country.
 We have a number of women who will be speaking today.  Before we begin, we're going to ask Rev Vanessa Mckenzie to open this hearing with prayer.

REV MACKENZIE: Let us pray.
 God our Father, God our Mother, we give You thanks for this day that You have given to us.  We give You thanks for the gift of life, for freedom, for healing, for reconciliation which You have already initiated long time ago.  
Today Lord, we have come to give You thanks for the process of Truth and Reconciliation in this country.  We give You thanks for those who are part of that Commission;  commissioners and councillors.  We give You thanks for that process, Lord, that is already beginning to bring about healing and reconciliation for our people and our nation.   Today we want to particularly bring this day before You, to ask Lord that You will lead us with Your Spirit.  That as women come to tell their stories, that You will continue to enable them to show the strength and perseverance that they had all throughout their struggle in this land of ours.  
 We give You thanks today for women without whom we would not be at this place where we are today.  And so we ask, Lord, that You enable all of us today to weep with them, to share with them their pain, so that we can move together, so that we can move together to wholeness and to freedom and to liberty in the truest sense of the word.   Thank you for Your presence with us.  Thank you for Your love for us.  And just enable us to move forward today in Your strength.  Be with those who will speak.  Be with those who will listen.  And we give You thanks Lord that You have called people to listen, because so often there's been people to speak, but no-one to listen.  
 And we just give You thanks and pray that You would be with us this day.  In Jesus's precious name, we pray this.   Amen.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, you may be seated.  I would just like to explain the proceedings for the day.
 We have witnesses who will be accompanied by briefers who will assist them through the hearing's process.  We have these translation machines.  This equipment is available for those of you who will not understand the language in which the witness is speaking.  They are available and translations will come through in English.  It is a practice of the Commission that the witnesses will speak in their language of choice.  I think on channel one we have - if we could just indicate the languages please.  All right.  Okay.  Thank you.
 We would like to remind people that this is a hearing where victims tell their stories.  It is not the process whereby the Commission makes its findings.  Investigation will take place later and the findings will take place at the end of the process.  
 This is an opportunity for victims to tell their stories.  I'm going to ask Sister Joyce to introduce the first person who will be appearing today;  a poet of our people.  We are very glad that she has come to share this occasion with us.

MS SEROKE: I'm very happy to be given this opportunity to welcome Gcina Mhlope to this, our hearings for women.  Gcina is a famous poet and story teller and she's well-known all over the world and we're privileged that today she's going to start us off with one of her poems.
 Thank you very much, Gcina Mhlope.  I'll ask you to come forward and speak in the mike.  Thank you.
CHOIR SINGS