This year marks the 24th anniversary of the Day of Reconciliation, which was celebrated under the theme: “The year of Nelson Mandela and Albertina Sisulu: Liberators for reconciliation”.
Lindiwe Hani, the daughter of slain struggle icon and Communist Party Leader Chris Hani, who also wrote the book, ‘Being Chris Hani’s daughter’, says that accountability for crimes and atrocities of the past is still in short supply.
She says that holidays in South Africa, which are meant to have historical context, fall flat.
“I mean, for people, it’s just a holiday for them to relax… and I have an issue with the term ‘reconciliation’ because it means we reconciled at some point – and I don’t think that was a case.”
“It feels like a forced gathering… like we must consider reconciliation at this time. We can never go to reconciliation until there has been some form of recognition about the atrocities of the past, which I think is something that is lacked in the South African context.”
Hani says the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) efforts to establish reconciliation in South Africa failed miserably.
In her memoir ‘Being Chris Hani’s Daughter’, she described how difficult it was to listen to Janusz Walus’ description of how he killed her father.
“I think the intention behind the TRC was good – but people were doing it for their own personal reasons like to avoid going to prison.”
“So I if you go to the TRC without any true intentions it will not have an impact, and I feel that it didn’t have an impact. It was a good idea but the reconciliation part was never felt.”
“When I went to the journey to see Janusz Walus, I didn’t have reconciliation at the back of my mind,” adds Hani.
Watch interview below:
