A new book on the truth commission has exposed a bitter feud between some of the body’s top officials Jaspreet Kindra Two truth commissioners this week lashed out at Dr Alex Boraine, deputy chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, for pillorying their contribution to the truth process.
Hlengiwe Mkhize called Boraine a “psychopath”, while Dr Mapule Ramashala claimed that he was “anti-African”. Both women have been enraged by Boraine’s newly released book, A Country Unmasked, which purports to tell the inside story of the truth process. The book identifies the two commissioners as “sources of conflict” within the commission. While Mkhize is still with the commission, Ramashala is currently vice-chancellor of the University of Durban-Westville. Mkhize and Ramashala, who was initially reluctant to speak out, claimed Boraine was pursuing his own agenda at the commission with the help of a clique of loyal staff. Both claimed they have been targeted by Boraine because they questioned his handling of the truth process. While calling Boraine a “psychopath”, Mkhize, a trained psychologist, suggested Boraine might have emulated some of the traits of members of the apartheid regime who testified before the commission, and said that he could be suffering from “senile psychosis”.
In his book Boraine calls Mkhize, who was chair of the reparations and rehabilitation committee, “confused”, “insecure” and “very jealous of her position”. He further claims Mkhize “failed to give adequate and timeous leadership”.
Mkhize has attacked Boraine for passing judgement on her without substantiating any of his comments with examples. According to Mkhize, Boraine pursued his own “liberal agenda” at the commission by equating crimes committed by the agents of the apartheid regime with the acts of violence pulled off by anti-apartheid activists. “Those who did not accept his view were sidelined,” she said. Both commissioners said Boraine was not sensitive to the need of commissioners who had been part of the struggle to contextualise the acts of violence committed by the anti-apartheid activists. Mkhize said these problems surfaced time and again, but commission chair Desmond Tutu, “the pacifist”, would effectively silence the debate instead of resolving the disputes.
Describing Ramashala as a “brooding”, “frustrated” and “powerful figure”, Boraine claims in the book that she “perhaps resented having no executive position”. He also says that Ramashala “disliked the way Tutu conducted meetings”. He claims that she burst out on one occasion that she was “tired of being treated like a child”. Ramashala refuted these allegations. She said most of her displeasure about the functioning of the commission was directed towards Boraine and never against “the Arch”.
Boraine admits to having had an acrimonious relationship with Ramashala. “Mapule and I clashed very early on and never resolved our acute differences,” he says in the book. Ramashala this week branded Boraine as “anti-African”. She said that when the commission had advertised for a new CEO Boraine had remarked that they would never be able to find a qualified black person to fill it. Ramashala said that when Dr Biki Minyuku was interviewed for the position, Boraine had remarked: “Hy praat te veel [He talks too much]!”
Boraine has refuted this, claiming that he had proposed a black person be appointed to the position and that Tutu is on record to back him up on it. Ramashala says: “What does he know as he was in Parliament [as a member of the Progressive Federal Party], he never knew the pain some of us felt as he was part of the system. Now he has become the archangel for the victims. He is an opportunist and he has been an opportunist all his life!” Meanwhile, Mkhize claimed Boraine set up his own base and operated with the help of a “clique” comprising commission members Wendy Orr and Paul van Zyl, the executive secretary of the commission. “I refused to be a ceremonial member of the commission,” said Ramashala, adding that after raising questions about nepotism within the commission she was asked to resign in 1997. She said she received a letter from Tutu saying that he did not want to work with her any longer. She stayed until her appointment as vice- chancellor later that year. Mkhize, who also claimed that Boraine tried to manoeuvre her out of the commission, said she has been portrayed in the book as a token black appointment with no qualifications.
She has also been accused by Boraine of having stifled attempts by fellow commission member Glenda Wildschut – described as a “tower of strength” – to speed up the reparation process.
Mkhize refuted claims about Wildschut’s critical role on the reparations committee, saying each member of the committee played a crucial role. She referred this week to the role played on the committee by seasoned activists such as Reverend Kay Magojo, head of the South African Council of Churches who had years of experience in dealing with victims of violence. Responding to his two former sub-ordinates, Boraine, who is in New York, said: “Both have every right to respond to what I have written in my book. I will leave the reading public to decide for themselves.” He added: “It was inevitable that both produce the race card with considerable dexterity. I have been called many things but a ‘psychopath’ is a first. I think the vehemence of the statements only confirms some of the observations I referred to in my book. I stand by what I have written but accept some of my perceptions may be incomplete.”