Marianne Merten
Tens of thousands of documents accumulated by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) since 1995 are making their way from Cape Town to the national archives in Pretoria.
If all document files were lined up, the paper trail would stretch 3km.
Among the files are accounts of apartheid-era atrocities, records of investigations conducted by the TRC, submissions from groups like the military, the medical and legal profession and the African National Congress as well as amnesty decisions.
Adderley Street was closed off on Thursday night to remove the documents from the TRC head offices under heavy security. Justice officials are responsible for the safe relocation and storage of the historic commission’s work.
After much debate the final TRC report in 1998 recommended the documents should be stored at the national archives.
“There it will be kept in a place where it can be accessed by the public,” TRC national legal officer Paddy Prior told the Mail & Guardian. “There will be a proper space for it [at the archives]. It’s not going to die in a dungeon.”
Prior said the work of the TRC and its documentation remain unprecedented in the world. There has been substantial interest from countries ranging from Malawi to Malaysia.
The TRC officially closes on December 31, by a proclamation in the Government Gazette.
The remaining issue is reparations to approximately 21 000 recipients. In October 1998 the TRC recommended survivors receive a yearly payment of between R17000 and R23000 for six years, but also recommended symbolic reparations and institutional reparations, such as educational and medical support.