WEDNESDAY, 3.30PM
IT will not be possible for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to comply with the National Party’s demand for an unconditional apology by Wednesday noon, TRC deputy chairman Dr Alex Boraine said on Tuesday night.
Boraine said a letter signed by commission legal adviser Hanif Vally would be sent to the Nats before the deadline expiered, in which the commission reiterated an earlier staement by TRC chairman Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Tutu, who is in the US receiving medical treatment for prostate cancer, said before he left SA that the matter is of such import that the chair and deputy chair cannot make a decision on the demands, and that the matter will have to be put to the full commission. The 17-member commission is next due to meet in Cape Town on June 19.
The NP’s demand for an apology and for Boraine’s resignation after Tutu and Boraine criticised the Nats for shortcomings in their second submission to the commission. The party has threatened legal action if the TRC fails to respond to the demands by the deadline.
Boraine said: “I am very distressed the NP has decided to go the route of litigation and make tough threats. We are a creature of Parliament and we want to be of service to all political parties.”
NP justice spokeswoman Sheila Camerer said the party is still committed to legal action if the TRC fails to respond positively to its demands. De Klerk was due to meet the NP’s legal advisers at midday, Camerer said.
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