Ann Eveleth
THE Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s chief investigator in the Eastern Cape has quit amid allegations that his team failed to deliver any significant research on apartheid-era atrocities in the province.
Loyiso Mpumlawana was suspended on full pay in April pending a disciplinary inquiry into claims that he had failed to manage the unit effectively. His team was charged with digging into what was widely expected to be the most fertile ground for evidence of human rights violations committed by the military during the apartheid era.
But commission insiders say that in the months Mpumlawana ran the unit, virtually no significant findings were handed in.
The head of the truth commission investigations, Glen Goosen, confirmed this week that Mpumlawana had resigned in June “at an advanced stage of a disciplinary proceeding against him”. Mpumlawana had headed the unit since July 1996.
He has been replaced by Mutu Moshuli.
The resignation and failure to deliver the goods on the Eastern Cape is a severe blow to the commission as it begins wrapping up its work.
Investigations in the Eastern Cape were expected to help fill the gaps relating to the role of the South African Defence Force and two homeland military machines in dirty tricks and covert operations against the liberation movements which grew there during the earliest days of struggle. The military has so far failed to disclose any of their covert activities to the truth commission.
The Eastern Cape – including the former Transkei and Ciskei homelands – was regarded at the crucible of resistance to apartheid during the 1980s.
The apartheid state detained more people under emergency regulations there than in any other region and it is the only province where covert military activities were widely penetrated, and reported by the media.
Such exposure fuelled hopes that the truth commission could make more headway there in uncovering misdeeds than in any other province.
Critics fear that the hopes have been dashed, and that an entire chapter of South Africa’s repressive military history may now pass the commission by.
Goosen sought to assuage such fears, arguing that while there were “clearly implications when the head of a unit resigns”, the commission had taken steps and “tried to ensure these effects are minimal”.
Goosen said it was too early to judge the commission’s work and expressed his confidence in Moshuli’s ability to move the investigations forward.
* The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s public hearing on business during the apartheid years would take place in Gauteng from November 11 to 13, acting commission chair Dr Alex Boraine said this week.
The hearings aimed to examine the role of business and labour, focusing on the context in which human rights violations took place. The commission would seek submissions from key players in both constituencies, Boraine added.
The commission believed the hearings would contribute to a better understanding of the conflicts of the past.