THENEWSOUTHAFRICA
oppressors. We have seen it happen all over the world, and we shouldn't
be surprised it if happens here. "46 However, the court threw out the ANC'S
application, and three hours later Tutu presented the report to Mandela,
who accepted it graciously, "with all its imperfections."
But Mbeki de-
scribed the report as "wrong and misguided," the National party called it
"flawed and divisive," and Buthelezi insisted that his hands were clean."?
The TRC discovered and revealed a great deal of information about the
heinous behavior of agents of the apartheid regime, even though the Na-
tional party tried to thwart it by destroying masses of incriminating docu-
ments. The commission also showed that some ANC operatives, too, had
committed serious crimes. But the TRC did not advance the cause of racial
reconciliation. Indeed, in the short run it had the opposite effect, accentu-
ating the racial divisions in South African society. Nor did the TRC bring
justice to the victims of political violence. Many killers and torturers
walked free for talking about their crimes, and victims received little com-
pensation from the reparation committee. Notwithstanding
the noble ef-
forts of many South Africans, including Nelson Mandela and Desmond