Nats buried hatchet but never provided truth for TRC closure

Experts say that the origin of the phrase “bury the hatchet” came from the tradition of indigenous peoples in North America who, after peace agreements were reached between warring tribes, would see their leaders burying weapons like axes and hatchets in the ground to symbolise that they would no longer be used.

In modern times, after wars and revolutions, “burying the hatchet” has evolved in many instances, into the policy of reconciliation.

But, to truly lay the weapons and griefs of the past to rest, one has to have closure by examining the details – no matter how painful – of evil deeds.

That much was acknowledged in South Africa in the negotiations which saw the end of apartheid and birth of true democracy in April 1994.

We had the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which, in its very name, acknowledged the importance of truth in the reconciliation process.

Yet, few of the apartheid-era politicians, military and police officers responsible for crimes have ever been held to account.

Some who did appear before the TRC were granted amnesty but just as many – and especially those right at the top – have never confessed.

They probably never will, given the evidence by former police Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock to the Khampepe Commission yesterday.

He said he had all the information needed to have senior politicians and generals prosecuted, but he was never asked to testify.

Atrocities like bombings and the poisoning of the food of prisoners of war all had approval, De Kock said, from the highest levels of the then National Party government – all the way up to the then state president PW Botha.

De Kock’s testimony is important because while it explains the lack of consequences for apartheid’s puppet masters, it will also reinforce the unpalatable truth that the system was a crime against humanity.