statement by Bantu Holomisa and Roelf Meyer
When President Nelson Mandela today received the TRC report, he received on behalf of every single South African the epilogue on the saddest chapter in our history. The United Democratic Movement will study the report in dept, but our first impressions are that it is a balanced report that can, and which we believe is intended to, if handled in a responsible manner, contribute to reconciliation.
The wounds of the past can not be healed through the report of the TRC. We should never forget the basic principles and lessons learned from our past, we must use it as firm foundation for our future. This report provides us today with the first pages on which we, united as a nation, can start writing our future – that, that will become tomorrow’s history. We are given a second chance, another opportunity to contribute towards creating a South Africa in which our rich diversity can become our pride, where we can develop, through a spirit of South Africanism, a country and a nation that can become all it can be.
The United Democratic Movement today puts a challenge to every single South African, every individual in all sectors of our community: the churches, academic institutions, business community, political leaders, the youth – to take on this tremendous challenge, to accept responsibility for contributing towards our future and building a nation. Let us be co-planers and become architects of our own destiny.
The TRC commissioners, the support staff and all other who have been involved in the tremendous task of the TRC must be thanked for their tireless effort. We have witnessed the commitment with which they attended to this task. We can only start to imagine the personal and emotional strain that they went through. South Africa thank you for your personal contribution and sacrifices in taking us onto the road leading to the future.
