No further developments observed.

The Goldstone Commission, chaired by Supreme Court Justice Richard Goldstone, was appointed with a mandate to investigate major episodes of political violence and conflict occurring between July 1991 and the April 1994 general elections. Appointed by then president FW de Klerk on 24 October 1991, the commission submitted 47 separate reports. The Commission played a crucial role in stopping political violence surrounding the peace talks. The Goldstone Commission’s “Report on Violence at Mooi River”, demonstrates their use of various methods including public testimony, public hearings, local policing, and the establishment of local dispute resolution committees at conflict sites, made up of members of conflicting societal groups or political parties at the troubled location.

The National Peace Secretariat was an apex organization that stood above the regional and local peace committees and dispute resolution committees. The essential task was “identifying township flashpoints” for the establishment of investigations and dispute resolution groups.¹

The Natal province was among the first townships for the establishment of a multi-party peace committee in September 1991. The ANC, NP, IFP and the police launched the dispute resolution committee at a meeting. The committee is to be chaired by Durban Catholic Archbishop Dennis Hurley and leading businessman Christian Pretorius.²

The regional and local committees were required to include local church, business, political and community leaders. The local peace committees and dispute committees were tasked with reporting violence to be investigated by the Goldstone Commission. In all, there were 11 regional committees and over hundred local peace committees established between 1991 and 1994 “with an annual budget of almost $12 million which enabled the hiring of full time staff for regional offices”. Such committees were functional until the establishment of the national unity government in April 1994.³

In South Africa, the 1993 accord — which reaffirmed earlier agreements — outlines the duties of two overlapping bodies with a mandate of “dispute resolution: a “Goldstone Commission”, and a “National Peace Secretariat”.

South Africa’s TRC shut down in December 2001; no further developments.

South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) officially closed its doors on December 20, 2001.⁴

TRC was established and submitted its final report in 1998. It continued to hold hearings on reparations and amnesty until 2001.

TRC was established and submitted its final report in 1998. It continued to hold hearings on reparations and amnesty until 2001.

South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded its hearings on massive human rights abuses during the years of white minority rule. The commission brought forth many witnesses giving testimony about the secret and immoral acts committed by the Apartheid Government, the liberation forces including the ANC, and other forces for violence that many say would not have come out into the open otherwise. On October 28, 1998 the Commission presented its report, which condemned both sides for committing atrocities.⁵

The TRC also held hearings on amnesty and reparations, which continued until 2001.

The hearings continued in 1997.

On April 16, 1996, the TRC started its hearings. In the very first day, three women and one man — all of them victims of the apartheid told their stories in a televised function. The TRC was said to roam the country for the next two years to expose the wounds of the past, hopes to provide a catharsis to what Tutu called a nation of “traumatized and wounded people.”⁶