Post-Apartheid South Africa: Transformation and Reconciliation

Source: (2003) World Affairs. 166(1): 37-55.

In this paper Kristin Henrard broadens examination of the issue of reconciliation in post-apartheid South Africa beyond discussion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She does so from the perspective that reconciliation must involve not only discovery of truth and forgiveness but also reparation and restoration in terms of material losses and social values. Moreover, reconciliation requires the creation of a society that minimizes the possibility of a recurrence of gross violations of human rights. With all of this in mind, Henrard looks at particular features of the apartheid regime, the constitutional negotiation process, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She then analyzes the constitutional negotiations and provisions with respect to issues of equality, language and education, self-determination and minority rights, and land.