Annual Report:
2001/2002

Transition and Reconciliation Programme

"The main challenge for the Programme is post-TRC work in the areas of truth, justice and reconciliation. With both government and public interest in these issues waning, the Programme faces the challenge of broadening its scope beyond the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This would imply beginning to research and create intervention models that deal with issues of a society in transition"

Tlhoki Mofokeng, Programme Manager

The Transition and Reconciliation Programme seeks to research the shifting patters of conflict and violence in societies making the transition to democracy. The assumption of an end to conflict as part of the South African miracle has given way to the reality of violence in transition. In this context the CSVR occupies a unique terrain in seeking to build sustainable reconciliation.

Goals

The overarching goal of the Transition and Reconciliation Programme (TRP) is to understand the relationship between historical conflicts, reconciliation, the prevention of violence, and the realisation of justice. It aims to contribute to reconciliation in South Africa and the prevention of recurring intolerance, conflict and violence. The Programme further seeks to promote alternative and integrated approaches (restorative and punitive) to justice in transition and to engage issues of redress in relation to transitional justice.

Strategies

The Programme accomplishes these goals through research, policy and intervention projects.

• The focus of research in 2001 was the ongoing evaluation of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission's (TRC) amnesty and public hearings. This extensive research project represents the most comprehensive and scientifically rigorous research conducted on the TRC. It included an in-depth analysis of victims' opinions regarding issues of truth, justice, pardon and reconciliation. The research findings will be published internationally. In addition, the Programme undertook an international comparative research project to gain from the knowledge and experience of other societies in transition.
• Intervention work in 2001 continued to focus on the core issues of advocacy, victim empowerment and reconciliation.
• The Programme continued its campaign of advocacy for reparation for victims of human rights violations and gave a voice to issues of xenophobia, vigilantism and racial violence in the media.
• Psychosocial support and outcomes-based investigative research was provided for families of the disappeared.

Highlights

Violence and Transition Project

The objective of the Violence and Transition Project (VTP) in 2001 was to describe and analyse various forms of violence and their changing nature in South Africa over the past two decades. Focal areas included revenge violence and vigilantism, state security forces, xenophobia, ex-combatants, and hostel-related violence. The following two projects formed part of this objective.

• Piers Pigou pioneered the production of the project's five comprehensive research reports. The reports were released through the VTP's public seminar series, which generated significant media attention, opening the door for public debate and stimulating further interest in the issues under study.
• Bronwyn Harris' timely report on xenophobia in South Africa led to similar media interest and fostered work with refugees and foreigners in other CSVR programmes.

Victim and Community Responses to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

• Hugo van der Merwe and Carnita Ernest supervised an extensive research project on victim and community responses to the TRC, which involved the completion of over fifteen papers. These papers are due for publication in a variety of media in 2002.
• The analysis of victim testimonies at the TRC hearings produced a number of reports. These will be available on the CSVR website or as chapters in an edited volume in 2002.
• In order to assess the benefits and shortcomings of giving public testimony, the CSVR (in collaboration with Khulumani-Cape Town and the KwaZulu Natal Programme for Survivors of Violence) conducted seven focus groups with victims who testified at the TRC hearings. This resulted in a series of moving community reconciliation case studies being produced and distributed.
• The work-intensive enumeration of amnesty transcripts provided the basis for a comprehensive evaluation of the TRC's amnesty process.

The Project on Reparation

In 2001, the Project on Reparation continued with research and advocacy work to pressurise the government to provide reparation to victims of apartheid-era human rights violations. Although the government allocated more than seven hundred million rand for the payment of reparation, no clear policy or action plan was introduced. As public interest in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission flagged, the Project struggled to keep the reparation issue in the public's eye.

Researcher Simon Kimani, in collaboration with Khulumani Support Group, revived the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Working Group on Reparation. The issue regained momentum and a national strategy workshop was convened in October 2001. The workshop formed a basis from which to explore mechanisms of mobilisation to engage the government and the business sector in a more substantive manner. Two main themes emerged from the workshop. The importance of civil society organisations and NGO's working collaboratively to design collective strategies for lobbying government regarding the issue of reparation was highlighted. Secondly, NGO's and support groups for victims should make a formal proposal regarding the prosecution of perpetrators who did not apply for amnesty or whose applications were unsuccessful. A comprehensive workshop report and an international paper on approaches to reparation was produced and distributed.

South African Disappearance Project

The South African Disappearance Project completed its preliminary phase in 2001. The CSVR researcher on disappearances, Polly Dewhirst, documented an additional one hundred cases of disappearances onto the central database held at the CSVR. The Project continued to work with Ekupholeni Mental Health Centre, the CSVR Trauma Clinic and Khulumani Support Group, to co-ordinate support groups for families of the disappeared. Oupa Tsoabisi joined the project as an investigator in June and made remarkable progress in uncovering leads in four unsolved cases. In order to solve these cases, attempts were made to build relationships with the police and international forensic specialists. The Project is completing a preliminary research report on its current findings.

Reconciliation Interventions

• In 2001, the Transition and Reconciliation Programme conducted over forty-five community workshops about reconciliation. Traggy Maepa and Hector Ramoleta piloted a seven-module Reconciliation Package in Ermelo, in Mpumalanga. Stakeholders involved in the workshops included members of political parties, police and victim groups. From these workshops an innovative Reconciliation Manual was compiled and widely distributed.
• In October 2001, Hugo van der Merwe inaugurated the CSVR's Cape Town office. To mark the launch, a workshop was held in Cape Town for a broad range of human rights organisations working in the field of community reconciliation. Forty participants from twenty nation-wide organisations attended the workshop. Following the workshop, the CSVR produced the first-ever directory of organisations involved in reconciliatory work in South Africa.

Educational Video on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and Civil Society

Tlhoki Mofokeng assisted in the production of an educational video highlighting the role of civil society in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process. It will be used as an educational tool by local and international organisations in countries in transition, particularly countries considering the route of a truth commission.

Southern Africa Reconciliation Project (SARP)

The South African Reconciliation Project is a research project managed by the CSVR, which seeks to understand national transitions and their impact on civil society's reconciliation initiatives in the Southern Africa region. It is a partnership project between the CSVR and other organisations in the region namely:

• JustaPaz - Centre for Conflict Transformation (Mozambique),
• Amani Trust Matabeleland (Zimbabwe),
• Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (Malawi), and
• the National Society for Human Rights (Namibia).

In 2001, research was conducted in the Southern African region on reparation, reintegration of ex-combatants, mourning and memorialisation, victim support services and counselling services. The outcome of the partnership project was the initiation of the process of research conceptualisation and instrument development. As this research has proved highly relevant it will be furthered and extended in 2002.

Challenges

The main challenge for the Programme is post-TRC work in the areas of truth, justice and reconciliation. With both government and public interest in these issues waning, it has become a greater challenge for the Programme to capture media opportunities to advocate and generate public debate regarding these core issues. The Programme, therefore, faces the challenge of broadening its scope beyond the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This would imply beginning to research and create intervention models that deal with issues of a society in transition.

The Programme has been inundated with and honoured by international requests to share its invaluable TRC experience. The Programme must, therefore, face the challenge of translating its expertise into dynamic and accessible educational and training materials that can be shared with other countries in transition, particularly other African countries.

Future Directions

The Transition and Reconciliation Programme will begin to consolidate its work into six areas that reflect major themes and challenges for the post-TRC South Africa, namely, institutional transformation, restorative justice, truth recovery, violence in transition, reparation and international comparative work. It will continue to explore new forms of conflict and the persistence of old patterns of violence.

Youth Programme