Justice, Media, and Memory: The South African Transition

Abstract

The South African political settlement had largely to do with an exchange of justice for truth. These concepts have been tirelessly dissected in numerous academic books, journals, and in the media, both in South Africa and elsewhere in the world. The endeavour of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to promote justice, truth, memory, reparations, reconciliation, and democracy has, in turn, been reviewed with equal intensity by scholars and — more importantly — by those directly involved in the South African settlement. Such undertakings are not repeated in what follows.