For our nation to heal and become a more humane place, we had to embrace our enemies as well as our friends. ... True enduring peace—between countries, within a country, within a community, within a family—requires real reconciliation between former enemies and even between loved ones who have struggled with one another. …
Witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations were invited to give statements about their experiences, and some were selected for public hearings. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution. .... It is not dealing with the past to say glibly, “Let bygones be bygones,” for then they will never be bygones. How can you forgive if you do not know what or whom to forgive? In our commission hearings, we required full disclosure for us to grant amnesty. Only then, we thought, would the process of requesting and receiving forgiveness be healing and transformative for all involved. The commission’s record shows that its standards for disclosure and amnesty were high indeed: of the more than 7,000 applications submitted to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, it granted amnesty to only 849 of them. …
Forgiveness gives us the capacity to make a new start. That is the power, the rationale, of confession and forgiveness. It is to say, “I have fallen but I am not going to remain there. Please forgive me.” And forgiveness is the grace by which you enable the other person to get up, and get up with dignity, to begin anew. Not to forgive leads to bitterness and hatred, which, just like self-hatred and self-contempt, gnaw away at the vitals of one’s being. Whether hatred is projected out or projected in, it is always corrosive of the human spirit.…
For Africa is concerned, or has traditionally been concerned, about the wholeness of relationships. That is something we need in this world—a world that is polarized, a world that is fragmented, a world that destroys people. It is also something we need in our families and friendships. For retribution wounds and divides us from one another. Only restoration can heal us and make us whole. And only forgiveness enables us to restore trust and compassion to our relationships. If peace is our goal, there can be no future without forgiveness.
Archbishop Tutu’s noble thoughts are all the more impressive in the context of the fears of violence and impending civil war before the election that transformed the country. I taught a course in accelerated learning for senior managers in South Africa at the time and was struck by what I learned in some cultural mapping exercises.
The Pan African Congress’ motto was “one settler, one bullet.” The white national descendents of settlers were vastly better armed and owned much of the land. Many expected a massive bloodbat and ongoing civil war. It seems almost miraculous that Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu navigated this torn nation through a peaceful transition. They received two of the most well deserved Noble Prizes ever awarded.
Is any of this useful to us in our current situation? We are in very different. Do you see any ideas here that we might explore and discuss as possible contributions to guidelines for evaluating the ongoing stream of discouraging revelations that we are experiencing?