- Record: found
- Abstract: found
- Article: found
The Staging of the Hidden: Interrogating an Ambivalent Response to a Crime Against Humanity
Abstract
In December 2018, a former member of a white supremacist group and perpetrator of a violent crime, Stefaans Coetzee participated in a panel discussion at a reconciliation conference in South Africa. In 1996, Coetzee was a key executioner of a bombing which killed four people and injured 67. After pleading guilty, Coetzee was sentenced to 40 years in jail and 20 years later, he was released on parole. Thirty years earlier, 25 black South Africans were convicted of the “necklace” murder of a black policeman. Fourteen of the 25 were sentenced to death. On appeal, a majority of the murder convictions were overturned and all the death sentences commuted.
Drawing on these two cases, this essay explores contrasting responses to engaging with perpetrators of political violence through the lens of implication. It examines the shifting boundaries of legitimacy in the realm of political crime and analyses the underlying influences and imperatives of accountability for crimes against humanity committed under apartheid and in a nascent post-conflict state.
Content
Author and article information
Notes
The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission conducted hearings around the country in 1996–8. The various reports of the SATRC are available at: www.justice.gov.za/trc/report/index.htm
Chair in Historical Trauma and Transformation, Stellenbosch University and member of the SATRC Human Rights Violations Committee.
See conference description: “Recognition, Reparation, Reconciliation: The Light and Shadow of Historical Trauma”, Stellenbosch University, 5–9 December 2018, https://recognitionreparation-andreconciliation2018.co.za/conference-description/
I practised as a lawyer in South Africa from the early to late 1980s.
The “rainbow nation” is a term used by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Chairperson of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to describe the diverse groups and cultures that would transcend the racially segregated apartheid South Africa following the 1994 elections. The country's first democratic elections saw Nelson Mandela become the first black president of the nation after almost 50 years of minority white rule.
For a detailed account of the trial of the “Upington 25”, see Durbach (1999).
A Casspir is a large four-wheel drive, mine-resistant, armoured vehicle that was adapted for use by the apartheid police and defence forces.
The death sentence was authorized under the South African Criminal Procedure Act No. 51 of 1977. In S v Makwanyane 1995 (3) SA 391 (CC), the first case heard by the new South African Constitutional Court, the Court declared the death penalty inconsistent with key provisions of the new South African Constitution, particularly the prohibition on cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and the right to life.
In South African criminal cases involving serious crimes such as murder, the judge was often assisted by the appointment of two assessors who would generally advise on questions of fact but not questions of law. See Van Zyl Smit and Isakow (1985).
The jury system in South Africa was abolished by the Abolition of Juries Act 34 of 1969.
Filmed interview with Justice Albie Sachs, South African Constitutional Court, Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, 14 February 2007 (on file with author).
Founded in 1995, the Khulumani Support Group was originally established to provide support and assistance to people testifying before the SATRC. A membership-based, civil-society organization, Khulumani has evolved to advocate for the implementation of the SATRC's recommendations for truth-telling, accountability and redress for victims of apartheid.
Established in 2002, the Restitution Foundation is a non-profit organization with a particular focus on the role of South African churches in facilitating socio-economic justice, healing and reconciliation through restitution.
“Necklacing” is a brutal practice executed by forcing a rubber tyre (often filled with or doused in petrol) around a person's neck or chest and setting it on fire; often used on political informers.