View/Open - University of Zululand Institutional Repository

and was acquitted. There was also no conclusive proofthat the TRC could successfully
prosecute perpetrators.
In South Africa the greatest argument for the TRC was the lack of faith in
the courts, which had been unfair during apartheid, as evidenced by the failure of the
Harmse and Goldstone Commissions, which resulted in the prosecution ofonly Eugene
de Kock. Attorney Generals were also said to have failed to prosecute police officers.
There was also the case ofTim McNally, the Attorney-General ofKwaZulu-Natal who
was called to book by the Parliamentary Select Committee in September 1995.
Compensation / Restitution
Part ofthe reconciliation process involves paying compensation or restitution to
the victims of conflict. This is done to compensate them for past losses of property or
life, or to remedy the present situation.
This compensation may be in the form of
money or otherwise. South Africa engaged in a programme ofaffirmative action, which
gave preferential treatment to previously disadvantaged persons in all areas; as well as
land restitution, which returned to African people land that had been forcibly taken
away from them by the apartheid regime. Restitution is a formal way ofapologizing for
the wrongs of the past. It also attempts to make the lives of the survivors better, and
facilitates reconciliation.
Conciliatory Victory
When victory has been achieved there may be a tendency to bask in the glory,
thus making the defeated parties uncomfortable. Conciliatory victory means the
winners ofconflict should assure the losers that they are still valued as members of the
community and that their interests will still be protected in the country. This goes a
301