How did the Truth and Reconciliation Commission impact South Africa? And how has it influenced transitional justice generally? Twenty years after the truth commission was set up, we will be exploring these questions with the help of a number of experts.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela’s ANC party won South Africa’s first free elections. After the abolishment of the apartheid regime, the country was left to deal with major questions. How could the strongly divided society move on and live together? How should they deal with the many perpetrators of the apartheid regime and with society’s deeply entrenched racism? In order to bring closure to the past, South Africa chose to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where human rights offenders could get amnesty in exchange for sharing the truth. This allowed victims to hear the truth about what had happened to missing family members. Internationally, the commission is hailed as a great success. Yet it is criticised too, especially in South Africa itself.

Through image and conversation, we will explore the significance of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for South African society, then and now. We will also discuss the South African experience for what it teaches us about the (im)possible ways for a society to make its peace with a violent past.

About the speakers

With Bram Vermeulen (NOS correspondent in South Africa), Thijs Bouwknegt (researcher at NIOD – Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies) and Catherine Jenkins (South-Africa expert from the SOAS institute at the University of London).

About the event

This event is organised by NIOD in cooperation with Humanity House.