The Truth and Reconciliation Commission will have to hold back publication of its final report until after January 29 next year, when the matter between the Inkatha Freedom Party and the TRC will be heard in the Cape High Court.
IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s adviser Dr Mario Ambrosini said on Tuesday the interdict granted to the IFP halting the scheduled publication of the report in September would continue to be in place.
The IFP instituted legal action after the TRC’s report presented to former president Nelson Mandela on October 29, 1998, described the IFP, under Buthelezi, as the ”primary non-state perpetrator… responsible for approximately 33% of all the violations reported to the commission”.
Justice Department representative Paul Setsetse said on Tuesday: ”We do not see any logic in their application as it is merely an annexure of a codicil of the previous report.
”We are rather dismayed at their decision not to allow this very final copy to be published as the original is already out for public consumption.”
The Justice Department has inherited responsibility for all pending litigation as the TRC no longer exists.
Setsetse said the department was still hoping to settle the matter out of court as the drawn out legal process was not in the interest of victims and would delay reparation — as well as issues of amnesty which still had to be negotiated for people who had not applied, or whose applications had failed.
”We will continue to negotiate with both the TRC and the IFP in the hope of finding an amicable solution,” Setsetse said. – Sapa