Special Hearings — Children's Hearings — 1997-05-14

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you, Dominic and Moses, for both those accounts. All   these stories are some of the worst we've ever heard in this Commission, and   we've heard some pretty terrible stories. I think the fact that people can show   so little care towards children indicates the degree to which political violence   polarised people to the point

CHAIRPERSON: /where

CHAIRPERSON: where they became so brutalised they didn't even see the children,   let alone the other human beings and the grown-ups. And thank you for sharing   those experiences with us.

CHAIRPERSON: /

CHAIRPERSON: CHAIRMAN

CHAIRPERSON: The penultimate part of today's hearing -   sorry don't let me stop your applause. The penultimate part of today's hearing   is a presentation of children's expectations and requests, and Noreen and her   group of children have done some rehearsing for us, and I ask that they all   come up please.
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ON RESUMPTION

CHAIRPERSON: (Incomplete) ... those colourful drawings,   and for the lovely singing, and I hope that we will have those little placards   with their expectations and what they'd like to see on them, so that some of   our staff can record them.
I now have to try and summarise very briefly for you the two   days of what we've done here. As I have said throughout the day, for us in the   Commission it's been very important that the voice of the children be heard,   and if one is going to be absolutely honest some of us were not quite sure how   valuable this hearing would actually be. And I feel quite comfortable telling   you that the sceptics among us have been silenced. As we've progressed through   this experience the more we've come to understand how important it has been. 
We have heard children and youth from the South Coast areas,   from areas around Durban and Pinetown, from some North Coast areas, and from   Ephatheni, and the one thing that is incredibly striking is how exactly the   same so many of the stories are. The sorts of things that have happened all   over this province have happened to the same sorts of people, even though they   are from different political backgrounds, and clearly indicate the incredible
 /lack of
lack of respect that people had for one another. 
If we are to try and rebuild this province and this country,   as Ann Mackay very aptly said, we will need to put a great deal of energy, a   great deal of resources, into healing our future, who are our children and our   youth. It is our hope that as we look forward, and as our Commission comes to   the end of its work, that we will be able to take the experiences that we have   heard over the last few days and, more importantly, the hopes of those children,   and try and distil them into some concrete action, or at least recommendations   for action.
I think it remains for me to thank everyone who has played   a role in this hearing, all the people from the various children's organisations,   all the care-givers, and if I leave anyone out please forgive me, there's a   long list of organisations. The KwaZulu-Natal Survivors of Violence Organisation,   the Pinetown Children's Organisations, Durban Children's Organisations - just   one moment - the Mahawu High School, who brought their children here today,   Mr Mbanjwa and his colleague, who have brought people from Newcastle, the Children's   Rights Committee, the KwaMashu Group, of course the media, who have given us   a great deal of coverage, and we hope will continue to do that, the TRC staff   who have been here, and who have worked very hard, the caterers, the South African   Police Services for protecting us in this place and making us feel a bit more   secure, the translators and people involved with the sound equipment - they   haven't had as easy a task as it may have been - the Durban Christian Centre   for the use of this venue. And then, lastly, all the care-givers and parents   who took the trouble to come
 /and to
and to be here and to support the children, members of the   public, and, as Dr Magwaza said, it's quite sad that so few of the public, the   general public, were here today. And then, lastly, all the children that have   come to share with us and to tell us about how they feel, and also to tell us   about what they expect from us if we are to regain their confidence and help   them to grow. So I thank all of you once again on behalf of the Commission for   helping us to make this hearing work.
We will close this hearing with a short prayer by Mr Mbanjwa   from Newcastle, if he will please come up and just lead us in a short prayer   please.
CLOSING PRAYER BY MR MBANJWA

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you once again everybody, and I finally   close this hearing. Thank you everybody.
/TRANSCRIBER'S