Human Rights Violation Hearings — Tzaneen — 1997-04-10

RUSSELL ALLY: Thank you very much.  On behalf of my colleagues here at the table, Dr Randera, Mr Manthata and Miss Joyce Seroke, we'd like to say thank you very much to the people of the Northern Province, the volunteers, those who assisted in the process of statement taking, those who assisted us to get to the witnesses and bringing witnesses to the hearings, those who assisted as briefers, as counsellors, those who assisted with transport, the police who provided security, the media, both the national media and the local media which have covered these events.
 These have been three very difficult days.  We've heard very many accounts of very severe violations.  We began in Messina and then we moved to Louis Trichardt.  To-day we're here in Tzaneen.  There, it is quite clear to us that there are still many, many scars of  this conflict.  We've seen that a lot of the conflict in this area in particular had to do with the imposition of the homeland system; that how that system divided communities, tore communities apart; that those that actually resisted found themselves imprisoned, found their property being destroyed, found themselves being forced into exile; that the youth were forced to come forward to try and defend communities; that many youth actually also left the country; that this part of the country was also a place where people left to go and join the liberation movement in exile to go and join MK.  It was also an area, a point at which they entered, came back into the country and there were many casualties.  Many deaths during this process of leaving and coming back  into the country.  All of this has helped us to gain a much better understanding of the nature of the conflict.  That by having these hearings and by coming to these areas, we actually get a more human understanding and a more concrete understanding of what happened in our past.  That we see the people face to face.  We see the survivors, we see the victims, because very often these accounts of the conflicts are in books and books don't always convey the emotions and the suffering and books also sometimes tend to shut out the voices of the people who were affected.  
 So these hearings, they provide that opportunity for the victims to come forward and for their voices to be heard and for the experiences to be shared, not only with their communities but with the country as a whole.  I want to appeal to those who made statement but  who did not appear at the public hearings not to feel that they have in any way been slighted.  That their statements  as we say repeatedly are as important as the statements of those who appear publicly.  That we would really love to have everybody appear at a public hearing but that unfortunately is impossible.  We don't have the time.  We don't have the resources.  So we have to select cases which give us an indication of the kinds of violations which were taking place.  Which give us some insight into the conflict of that period and that's the basis on which we choose statements.  Not because we think that some people's cases are more important than others.  I want to appeal to people then to continue making statements.  There are statement takers in this region.  There are designated statement takers.  We also have statement takers.  If people want to know how to make statements they can contact any member of staff of the Commission at the end of the hearing ... (end of tape)
............................  and it makes it's recommendations with regard to a policy for victims of gross human rights violations, so people please, understand how important it is for you to make statements.  We can only work with the statement which we receive so, if that process can continue that will assist us greatly in our work.  
 Once again, thank you very much.  Hope you have a safe journey back home and I hope that many of you can come to our follow-up meeting in Pietersberg.  I'm now going to ask Father Mc Carthy if he will close the proceedings with a prayer.  Thank you.

FATHER MC CARTHY: Before the prayer, I would like to say that our Bishop (inaudible) regrets not being here to-day because I know when the Truth Commission started  he was head over heals about it and I'm sorry he's not here but still, he's still working on it and he wishes you every success and he prays for you that God will enlighten you people in the Commission in the task that still has to be done.
Farther Mc Carthy closes with a prayer.

RUSSELL ALLY: Thank you very much and  I would have to end.  It was remiss of me not thank your own staff for all the work that they have done and thank you very much, Father.  And will people please leave the headsets behind.  Please leave the headsets behind.