Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report
- ISBN-10
- 0620230800
- ISBN-13
- 9780620230803
- Pages
- 460
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1998
- Publisher
- The Commission
- Authors
- Desmond Tutu, South Africa. Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Description
The TRC Report has many references to Namibia and some of the findings of the TRC bear great relevance for research on Namibia's recent history. With regard to the latter, volume 1 of the report deals with the destruction of records: 'the former government deliberately and systematically destroyed a huge body of state records and documentation in an attempt to remove incriminating evidence and thereby sanitise the history of oppressive rule. ... the urge to destroy gained momentum in the 1980s and widened into a co-ordinated endeavour, sanctioned by the Cabinet. ...' (p.201) Co-ordinated actions took place as late as July 1993 and involved the records of the Security Branch, the SADF, BOSS, amongst many other departments. With reference to Namibia, the Commission found that 'no record accumulation relating to the CCB could be found' (p.223). Also, 'the records of the South West Africa Territory Force were subjected to systematic appraisal in an exercise initiated in December 1988. ... There was no consultation with the civilian archives reepository in Windhoek, the SADF Archives, or the State Archives Service. Records that survived this exercise were place in the custody of the SADF Archives.' (p.224) The destruction of records seems to have bee more systematic than for example in east germany during 1989/90. On the other hand, some files like those of the ANC leaders were sound in excellent preservation. (No mention is made of files on SWAPO/SWANU leaders).
