As part of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), various sectoral hearings were held to highlight the role of these sectors in South Africa's past. The health sector hearing was one such example and has been hailed as an important step in the process of promoting reconciliation, transforming health services in South Africa and promoting a human rights culture among health professionals. While recognising some significant achievements by the TRC in this regard, this paper raises concerns about the way that the hearing (and the health sector in South Africa more generally) has conceptualised reconciliation and how it has approached the question of promoting human rights.
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Dr. Hugo van der Merwe is the Director of Research, Knowledge and Learning at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation. Since joining CSVR in 1997, he has developed and managed numerous research projects evaluating the work and impact of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and managed various research, advocacy and intervention projects relating to transitional justice in South Africa and on the African continent.
