DID THE TRC WORK?

DID THE TRC DID NOT WORK?


Silence does not always suggests all is well. There are issues in South Africa that the citizens must cofront in order to do away with them. If a simple race tweet by Zelda La Grange, former personal assistant to Nelson Mandela, would ignite such a spark, then there are covered wounds if not discussed and resolved, would set the country on racial fire. La Grange has since apologised.

It is irrefutable that any issue pointing to racial imbalance, inequality, previledges and many more, always opens up wounds. It sparks racial divisions, some pro some against. This is South Africa some see blue as blue while some insist it is grey...everyone says they are right. There is a deep fear, fear of insulting the other race. The dawn of democracy which got its first root in 1994 brought with it wise initiatives like the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission (TRC). The TRC was envisaged to spear head 'national reconcilliation' which would ultemately bring national peace. But the TRC dealt with people called the 'victims of apartheid', that is only those who had physical scars of apartheid tortures. Thus the TRC, albeit seen as a national endevour, dealt with or benefited the few (numbered) and as a matter of fact the majority of apartheid victims where never impacted. What the TRC missed was the fact that all black South Africans (I am using the word 'black' for purposes of clearity, otherwise I hate using it or being referred to as such...it is demonic). The tears Desmond Tutu shed were not representative of everyone rather it depicted the pain everyone was going through... a crying nation, a deeply wounded people. 

If you have watched Leon Schuster's comedy Panic Mechanic you will remember a scene where a white man, busy shouting at his black worker heard over the radio news of Mandela's release. The man immediately huged the worker and called him 'my brother'. He then in a twist of normal routine moved him from the back of the bakkie to the front. Apparently the worker, although he was listerning to the same radio, he did not hear what was announced...only got excited seing a changed boss. Mandela was released and this, to the white boss, only meant changing the way he treated his worker rather than apologizing for all the abuses he inflicted him. "You no longer sit at the back of the bakkie, so what more do you want"?, My emphasis. The TRC was just like that, covering the wounds for that moment and period and now it is clear that reconcilliation with no contrite hearts is factitiousness. Anyway who initiated the TRC? 

That being said, if this country must progress in harmony then there must be an emotional platform from both the left and the right. You would be unrealistic to think that La Grange's opinions are not shared by many white South Africans. This means they also have that deep fear...positive or not, acceptable or not. Some speak their fears while others speak their tears. Both races, we grew up under different circumstances, the evil apartheid which stole the cofidence of an African and the lucre which fortified white dominance. Africans are striving to reclaim their identity while whites are fighting to presrve the status quo. Both have  recondite concerns. I am not ignorant of the truth that not all white Sout Africans embraced apartheid and I am equally not ignorant that some changed tunes a few seconds before the democratic government.

Significant, demonstrable and yet ignored issues like difference salary scale between races, why Afrikaans topples other indeginous languages especially in government services forms and in schools for example, seem to be far fetched but these trouble the millions of South Africans. Today, after twenty years of democracy there is still no trust between the major races in South Africa. If you despute this you may as well deny your name or even fight the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi when saying all the schools in South Africa belong to all South Africans.

In my language Sepedi we say, ''ngwana o a sa lleng o hwela tharing'' meaning if you cant speak out what troubles you, you will suffer consequences.

So, when someone speaks out lets not meet them with rage (I know South Africans are relatively angry, tempers always high and somehow its justifiable). But we are not doing us any favour by sanctioning people who want to use the platform to shed their tears or say their fears. They are simply protesting "Let us talk". 

The question is, if the TRC achieved its mendate then why these social malady? The TRC worked to cover the wounds and to accomplish the smooth transition but those wounds are showing up now and we cant run away. South Africa needs another platform.DID THE TRC WORK?