Performing the Rainbow Nation: The Limitations of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Abstract

After the dismantling of the apartheid regime in 1994, South Africa was charged with acknowledging the sufferings of its populace while democratizing and de-racializing state infrastructure. Instead of pursuing the politically expedient path of collective amnesia, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was formed in 1995. It has since been heralded as the most ambitious and organized socio-political endeavour to confront a troubled and divisive history. The Commission attempted to initiate South African into a new future predicated upon the principles of social justice, the rule of law and reconciliation; however, this paper will argue that in practice, these ideals were not sufficient to combat extant political pressure and were not politically supported by any concrete mechanism capable of catalyzing social transformation. Through an analysis of the Commission’s provision of amnesty, dismissal of institutional responsibility for apartheid and crime and the reluctance to pursue reparative and developmental policies, this paper will suggest South Africa’s attempts to bridge its racial divides were chiefly symbolic and restricted. Finally, it will consider whether the TRC’s performance of “truth” occurred at the price of reconciliation and the ramifications for restorative justice as a tool of social healing.