South African Apartheid Laws example essay topic

The Struggle for Peace after Apartheid " They started to realize that I was enduring that kind of abuse so they started to take a plastic bag... then one person held both my hands down and the other put it on my head. Then they sealed it so that I wouldn't be able to breathe and kept it on for at least two minutes, by which time the plastic was clinging to my eyelids, my nostrils, my mouth and my whole body was going into spasms because I really couldn't breathe... ' This utterly grotesque story comes from one of the many candid confessionals given under the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In her testimony, Zahra h Narkedien, is describing her brutal tortures that she experienced daily while forced into imprisonment, classified as 'Colored' under apartheid. She states, 'So I had to pay the price for being a colored person. It was the first time that I had to face the fact that I was part on a minority.

' Unfortunately, Ms. Narkedien was just one of the several million innocent victims who suffered from the dreadful act of the South African apartheid. The word apartheid is defined as 'separateness' in the Afrikaans language and is used to describe the severe racial divisions that existed between the governing white minority population and the nonwhite majority population in South Africa. This appalling system, which racially tore apart an entire nation, existed from 1948 until its recent extermination in 1992. South African apartheid laws classified people according to three major racial groups-white; Bantu, or black Africans; and Coloured, or people of mixed descent. These laws determined where members of each group could live, what jobs they could hold, and what type of education they could receive. Furthermore, such laws prohibited most social contact between races, authorized segregated public facilities, and denied any representation of nonwhites in the national government.

Individuals and groups such as the African National Congress, who openly opposed apartheid were considered communists and subjected to imprisonment, extreme tortures, and even death. In 1992 after South Africa's stunning shift from apartheid to democracy, the work of creating a peaceful nation began. South Africa's new leaders saw their nation not only as one composed of legislative, infrastructure, and commercial concerns, but one with a deeply wounded soul that needed to be healed. In order to address these concerns and resurrect South Africa, newly elected President Nelson Mandela implemented the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to help alleviate some of the pains and injustices suffered under apartheid. Mandela created this commission in November of 1995 and selected Archbishop Desmond Tutu to lead the commission. Tutu seemed to be a well-qualified candidate for the job for he held an impressive list of credentials.

Among the most notable, in 1984 Bishop Tutu was awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of 'the courage and heroism shown by black South Africans in their use of peaceful methods in the struggle against apartheid. ' In addition, in 1986 he was made archbishop of Cape Town and titular head of the Anglican church in South Africa. Desmond Tutu, with his prior experience, was a natural fit for the position and carried out his job very effectively, while promoting that forgiveness and reconciliation are key components in South Africa's quest for a unified and peaceful future. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was unique in the fact, that it was not going to hold criminal trials against the endless crimes committed during apartheid, but rather simply act as a forum, in which the victims and the accused would have the opportunity to tell their own stories. The objective behind the TRC was that by letting victims and perpetrators face each other, as humans would foster courageous acts of penitence and forgiveness.

The hope was that such acts of forgiveness would enable South Africa to become a peaceful and prominent nation. However, is it realistic to believe that the victims of apartheid are going to be able to simply dispose of, and forget about all the putrid crimes and injustices of the past? Wouldn't this commission let all criminals get away scot-free? How is justice going to be achieved? These are just a few of the many questions that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was going to have to provide a viable answer for. The TRC was clearly not confronted with an easy task, and this system headed by Tutu exhibited numerous advantages and disadvantages for the people of South Africa.

First, the use of the TRC was very useful for South Africa because it represented a non-trial forum. Very unlike the infamous Nuremberg trials, the TRC was going to give amnesty to the people who committed politically motivated crimes during the apartheid era as long as they made full and truthful public disclosures. These public confessionals appeared to be the best alternative to a criminal trial, for South Africa had no excess money to sponsor nation wide trials. In addition, Mandela felt that the money that South Africa did have would be put to better use by in investing in the future, in such areas as education, military, and health care services. Furthermore, because of the lack of money, criminal trials would not be able to provide the victims with any form of monetary compensation, and even if they could it would be impossible to determine a precise monetary value of the pain and suffering accrued during the apartheid era. In addition, it would not have been South Africa's best interest to hold criminal trials because the nation had very limited trial experience.

Also, all the judges in South Africa were predominately white, and thus would most likely be slow to rule in favor of the nonwhites, because intense racism was still evident. Furthermore, from the apartheid era few witnesses or explicit testimonies existed, and even if they did the criminals were instructed to lie 'at the drop of a hat. ' For these reasons, the TRC seemed like a better option then a formal trial. Moreover, the TRC, given the rigid circumstances, did a tremendous job in unifying the two opposing sides, and helped to put an end to the suffering of apartheid.

The confessionals gave the two opposing groups a chance to meet and share stories, and try to reconcile and bury their differences from the past. The confessions, at many times got very personal and emotional, garnering the nickname the 'Kleenex Commission' for the TRC. The sharing of pain and suffering by both the victims and the perpetrators helped to alleviate some of the devastating effects of apartheid. As the TRC advocated, 'The Truth Hurts, But Silence Kills. ' Often in the confessions the perpetrators sought for forgiveness, and looked at their honest statements as a way to rid themselves of a guilty past.

The commission was asking a great deal from the apartheid victims to put the past behind them, and find it in their heart to forgive the crimes of the past. Nelson Mandela, the newly elected president, exemplified perfectly how to forgive the past wrong doings of apartheid. 'This man, who had been vilified and hunted down as a dangerous fugitive and incarcerated for nearly three decades, would soon be transformed into the embodiment of forgiveness and reconciliation. ' Mandela had such great willingness to forgive and bring forth peace that on his Election Day he invited his white jailer to attend his inauguration as an honored guest. With Mandela proving to be such a positive leader, he made it considerably easier for other apartheid victims to forgive and move on too. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, however, also had its fair share of disadvantages.

The main disadvantage was that many of the victims simply did not feel that justice had been conducted. The horrible reign of apartheid had lasted for a period of 45 years, and now the TRC was asking them to simply forget the wretched past. In the meantime, all the perpetrators of crimes from the era where walking away scot-free. To me, it just does not seem fair that these villains of such hate crimes can just walk away, and leave all their crimes unaccounted for.

In addition, the blacks were not even able to receive any monetary form of compensation for all their years of segregation and ill treatment. Moreover, the TRC was asked to only look at the crimes that occurred between the years of 1960-1994, while in reality the Africans have suffered from white suppression ever since the earliest explorers. What happens to all the injustices that occurred in the hundreds of years before 1960? Also, the TRC experienced numerous difficulties and problems in their beginning phases of operation.

As Tutu states, 'Our meetings for the first year or so was hell. It was not easy to arrive at a common mind as each of us tried to stake our claims on the turf and establish our particular space. ' The early commission members 'were as diverse a group of South Africans of that size that you could ever hope to assemble. We were Colored, Indian, African, and white, the entire racial spectrum in our race-obsessed society.

' All this diversity led to numerous voices and opinions on how the TRC should be run, which lead to many governing conflicts in the early stages. Given the racial turmoil that South Africa faced in the early 1990's as it finally rid itself of apartheid, I truly believe that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was the best way possible to address the crimes of the past and prepare for a peaceful future. I believe the TRC made the best of a horrible situation. There was no other way possible to address both sides, while at the same time alleviate the victims and condone the perpetrators for their sinful acts.

I would have loved to see the apartheid felons pay for the crimes they committed, however given South Africa's poor economic status, lack of an adequate judicial system, and poor overall education. Individual trials against all crimes committed would have been impossible. The best South Africa could hope for was to let 'bygones be bygones, ' and this is precisely what the TRC aimed to accomplish. After all the years of racial injustice, the recent removal of apartheid has signified the need to start from a 'clean slate,' and concentrate on unifying all the people of South Africa to contribute to the nations future success and well being. For as Tutu so elegantly states, 'God wants to show that there is life after conflict and repression - that because of forgiveness there is a future. '

Bibliography

Apartheid,' Microsoft (R) Encarta (R) Online Encyclopedia 2000 web (c) 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation.
Tutu, Desmond. No Future Without Forgiveness. Doubleday: New York C. 1999'Tutu, Desmond Milo,' Microsoft (R) Encarta (R) Online Encyclopedia 2000 web (c) 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation.