- Title: TRUTH COMMISSION: re: Submission by General GL Meiring [Chief of the SANDF]
- Date: 21st October 1996
- Summary: TRUTH COMMISSION: re: Submission by General GL Meiring [Chief of the SANDF]
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- City: CAPE TOWN
- Country: South Africa
- Reuters ID: 96OCT21R06
- Story Text:TRUTH COMMISSION HEARING IN CAPE TOWN re: General GL Meiring [Chief of the SANDF] reading statement
00.00.12 EMPTY CHAIRS OF COMMISSIONERS
00.00.34 GENERAL GL MEIRING TAKING SEAT
00.03.20 WIDE OF COMMISSIONERS SEATED - DR ALEX BORAINE OPENING ADDRESS
00.09.52 GEN MEIRING TO SEAT
00.10.37 GENERAL MEIRING READING STATEMENT: Today I stand before you...
00.11.20 ...what I am about to submit has its roots in & is based upon the legacy of the period with which you are concerned...
00.12.34 ...soldiers are often perceived as men who only pursue conflict...
00.13.59 ...it is important to note that the submissions by the various political parties to the TRC, although they differ in approach, all stress the fact that a war situation existed. It is called by different names,eg, a people's war and a total war but in essence it was a war.
00.14.24 We regret the loss of life, personal grief & suffering of those afflicted on all sides. I have sincere appreciation for the deep scars left on our society by the conflict of the past and the ensuing animosity, fear, mistrust, suspicion, insensitivity and even hatred.
00.14.53 I also fully realize that to forgive to forget and to become friends again will take time...
00.16.28 RE INTEGRATION PROCESS ...it emerged from a vision and a sense of mission which motivated former adversaries to commit themselves in a joint planning process which would shape a unified force for the new dispensation. This process required fighters who were previously adversaries to deny all other feelings but unflinching lyalty towards the future of SA...
00.20.56 ...my humble submission today is that the SANDF in the way that it was established & is now developing perhaps sets an example for reconciliation. The SANDF was not paralyzed by the prospect of change. Its members, many of them long-time adversaries rose above the past to shape the future in the interest of our country....they made peace and became friends...
00.21.30 ...I want to conclude with an appeal to you that in judging the past we should be wary not to be so harsh as to make reconcilaition difficult...
00.22.09 ...South Africans need never and should never forget the past as the past serves as a compass for the future. However in the greater interest of national security which is the basis of our future prosperity we must learn to forgive...
00.23.08 QUOTING RECONCILIATION ACT...there is a need of understanding but not for vengeance a need for reparation but not for retaliation a need for ubuntu but not for victimization...
00.23.53 END OF STATEMENT
00.24.41 DR ALEX BORAINE COMMENTING MEIRING'S STATEMENT
00.26.22 COMMISSIONER ADV DENZIL POTGIETER ASKING MEIRING QUESTIONS RE NODUL POINT
00.28.51 REGARDING AN ISSUE THE FORMER CIVIL CORPORATION BUREAU [CCB] - ANY DIFFICULTY IN THE TRC GAINING ACCESS TO RECODS RELATING TO THEIR ACTIVITIES?
00.29.12 MEIRING: If recods existed there will be no problem.
00.29.54 ALEX BORAINE - DOCUMENTS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED
00.32.46 MEIRING: The destroying of documents is a difficult question to answer...yes there are a number of reasons why documents can and have been destroyed... - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
