The End of Apartheid - South Africa’s Human Spirit

The first week of Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in East London was an exceptional one in South Africa. Nothing like the miracle election of April 1994. Nothing like the Government of National Unity. And nothing like South Africa’s unifying sport victories. Mid-April 1996 was a week in which the country and its people came face to face with their past for the first time. Darren Taylor and Zola Ntutu reflect on the dominant themes that surfaced in the first four days of the Truth Commission’s probe into gross human rights abuses during the apartheid era. Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#unlock Gifts of justice, mercy and compassion Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#gifts Wounded people Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#wounded In session Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#session Witness to great courage Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#witness Dance unshackled - letters read by Desmond Tutu Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#dance bones of memory - experiences and memories lay bare the pain and bravery of apartheid's victims © SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC. Additional music by Whitesand - Melody Of My Dreams - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si89RLFreaw

The next Truth Commission hearing into gross human rights abuses at Athlone in Cape Town was also filled with protracted pain. But it was a week flavoured and characterised by the undertones of the Western Cape, where tensions were still entrenched within communities. The victims of the 1993 St James Church massacre echoed the forgiveness of the Cradock Four widows in East London. But the Lubowskis, whose son and brother Anton was assassinated in Windhoek in September 1989, mirrored the lust for justice of Steve Biko’s family. Angie Kapelianis and Darren Taylor look back at that mind-blowing week. Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#crystal The bones of memory - Gcina Mhlophe Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#bones bones of memory - experiences and memories lay bare the pain and bravery of apartheid's victims © SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC. Additional music - Heartbreaking by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100208 Artist: http://incompetech.com/

The Truth Commission’s symbolic hearings into gross human rights abuses moved from Cape Town to Johannesburg between April and May 1996. Again a number of themes were raised under the ceiling and the cross of the Central Methodist Church, where the hearing was held. For the first time an ordinary apartheid policeman came across as being sympathetic towards the comrades and opposed to the free rein of the notorious Security Branch. South Africans of Indian origin were finally recognised for their role in the liberation struggle. But some of these shifts in the Truth Commission script were lost on all but those paying the most undivided attention as the pain first experienced in East London resurfaced. Darren Taylor and Antjie Samuel return to the Johannesburg testimonies. Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#hell Hearing in Alex - Hugh Lewin Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#hearing bones of memory - experiences and memories lay bare the pain and bravery of apartheid's victims © SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

The Truth Commission wrapped up its symbolic round of public hearings into gross human rights abuses in Durban on the 10th of May 1996. Evidence heard at the Jewish Club provided some insight into the violence that was still ravaging KwaZulu-Natal long after South Africa’s first democratic elections had brought peace to most of the country. Many ANC members and supporters blamed the Inkatha Freedom Party in absentia for abuses they had suffered. A glaring gap was that the experiences of IFP members went untold in the same week that South Africa’s democratic Constitution was adopted. And in the same week that the National Party walked out of the Government of National Unity. Kenneth Makatees and Darren Taylor bring to mind what happened in Durban. Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#glaring The beast of our dark past - Desmond Tutu Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#beast "Nkosi sikelel’ iafrika" and "Die stem" bones of memory - experiences and memories lay bare the pain and bravery of apartheid's victims © SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC. Additional music by Whitesand - Melody Of My Dreams - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si89RLFr