Repairing the Irreparable: Dealing With Double-Binds of Making Reparations for Crimes of the Past

This paper explores the interplay between the factors of psychological support, government strategies and socio-economic development in the reparations process and the contradictory and inherent difficulties of trying to make amends for past wrongs in post-apartheid South Africa. The competing and often diverging psychological needs of the individual and the society with regards to making reparations for gross violations of human rights are discussed.