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this kind of narrative about the Souith African situation. There is also a restitution
narrative where people say what form of restitution would help to heal the scars and
wounds of the conflict that they went through. Then there is a quest narrative where a
person tells ofhis quest for peace and freedom and the efforts that he made to achieve
this goaL The "Long Walk to Freedom''by Mr. Nelson Mandela is one such example.
Lastly, there is the bureaucratic narrative, which is an official document by,for
example, a government that states certain procedures or agreements with the citizens.
Building trust must be followed by the appropriate behaviour. However, Fisher
(1999:124) is quoted as saying:" ...the less an agreement depends on trust, the more
likely it is to be implemented." (http://www.colorado.edulconflict/peace/treatmentl
stories.htm.I) This means there should be some external source of enforcement or each
side should write down what it wills before it gets what it wants.
Flexibility
Harris and Reilly (http://www.idea.int/pub1icationsl
democracy and deep rooted conflict/home.htm) regard negotiation as a creative
process whose final outcome cannot be foreseen at the beginning of the process. A
negotiator may have his view about how he sees the process of negotiation, but it is
only those who have the power who can insist on having what they want. This may
cause problems for the negotiator because if preconditions are set they do not leave
room for flexibility. Flexibility is necessary because preconditions can usually inhibit
the negotiation process, especially if the negotiation takes an unexpected turn or when
the goals and targets change. This will necessitate that the negotiator goes back to his
constituency to ask for a fresh mandate.
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