The Gughulethu Seven was one of the first cases of the commission, starting in April 1996.
On the third of March 1986, seven young activists were killed by the police in an ambush.
Mandla Simon Mxinwa, Zanisile Zenith Mjobo, Zola Alfred Swelani, Godfrey Jabulani Miya, Christopher Piet, Themba Mlifi and Zabonke John Konile, who were all actively involved in anti-apartheid activism, were targeted and killed by the government’s security police’s
“Death Squad”.
34 The assassins appeared as amnesty applicants before the TRC. The police involved in the event were Warrant Officers Barnard and McMaster, Majors Johan Kleyn, Dolf Odendal, and Stephanus Brits, Captain Charles Brazzelle, Sergeants John Sterrenberg, Andre Grobbellar and Rian Bellingan, and Constable Thapelo Mbelo. Claiming that the killings were politically motivated, the murderers of the Gugulethu Seven pleaded for amnesty from the commission. The hearings took place over several days, and included testimonies from nine police officers as well as the mothers of the deceased young men. Being one of the cases which evoked most media attention, I have chosen this case mainly for the reason that there is a lot of footage from the hearings on this case. Also, it was one of the very first cases the TRC dealt with, which means that the formation of the TRC space, as well as the practices that would henceforth shape its outlook were featured for the first time in some of these hearings.
Amy Biehl
Hearings on the Amy Biehl case took place in July 1997. Amy Biehl was a white American anti-apartheid activist who was murdered in Gugulethu, a black township near Cape Town, on 25. August 1993. She was stoned and stabbed to death by a mob. Four men were convicted: Mongesi Christopher Manqina, , Ntombeki Ambrose Peni, Vusumzi Samuel Ntamo, and Mzikhona Eazi Nofemela. All four appeared before the TRC applying for amnesty, as they identified their actions as politically motivated. The four applicants, all of whom formed part of Pan African Students Organisation (PASO) and the Azanian People's Army (APLA) and the Pan African Congress (PAC), stated that they were neither aware of Ms. Biehl’s anti-apartheid political views nor her American background. Assuming she was a white South African “settler”, she was perceived as a legitimate target of “Project Great Storm”, which aimed at
…mak[ing] the townships ungovernable, more particularly by preventing government and company supplies and services from coming into the townships and also by killing, maiming and injuring what was popularly known as settlers and this was a term that was used to refer to White persons (Gozo 1997, in TRC 1998)
Having stepped out of a meeting with PASO a few hours before the attack on Biehl, applicants including Mr. Ntamo said they were motivated to act in that moment: “I was
35 highly politically motivated that day and I did what other PASO people around me were doing” (Ntamo 1997, in TRC 1998). Parents of deceased Amy Biehl were present at the hearing.
This case is spatially interesting when looking at how interaction between perpetrator and loved ones of a deceased victim played out within the hearings. The case is payed special attention to in the documentary “Long Night’s Journey into day”, which not only screens moments from the hearings but also Biehl’s parent’s journey of forgiveness as they chose to interact with the amnesty applicants and their families outside the space of the TRC (Reid and Hoffman 2000).
Winne Madikizela-Mandela
The Winnie Madikizela-Mandela proceedings unfolded in November 1997. The hearings took place over nine days, and included more than forty witnesses. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was faced with accusations of four serious assaults and six murders. One of the central assaults was the murder of 14 year-old Stompie Seipei by “The Football club”
allegedly instructed by Mrs. Madikizela-Mandela. In December 1989, four teenagers were abducted who were accused of being spies by the unofficial branch of ANC called the Football Club, which Mrs. Madikizela-Mandela was in charge of. Her lengthy hearing took place in several venues and was one of the cases that received the most media attention. I have chosen this case for reasons including the fact that it is a great example of how the TRC dealt with people who had dual victim/perpetrator status. It is also an interesting case as Mrs. Madikizela-Mandela’s interaction within the space was of a “VIP” applying for amnesty.
The case is also unique as her participation affected the concentrated space within the TRC, but also the environment outside of the hearings, as her supporters from the ANC women’s league were demonstrating outside.
36 Chapter 5.0. The Sacred Space of the TRC
In Chapter 4, I introduced the concept of political instrumentalization: The strategic use of an identity marker as a means to reach political ends. Arguably, by orchestrating a sacred space within the TRC, the government attempted to reach political goals. In other words, religion was used as an instrument through the TRC. In this part of the thesis, I will provide an analysis demonstrating that the TRC created a sacred space which was designed to establish and to justify reconciliatory justice. The first part of my analysis grapples with observations of the TRC’s set up as well as the nature of its proceeding. This will essentially serve to show how religion was instrumentalized. Secondly, I will explore the political incentives which created the need to carry out post-conflict justice through sacrality of the space in the TRC hearings.