Its purpose was to document a collective historical truth of the past and to unite the people of the country. The commission’s purpose was not to dispense justice. immunity from prosecution for political crimes committed during the apartheid. Both the supporters and opponents of apartheid went before the commission, openly declared past actions and asked for amnesty, i.e. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established. Could this have been possible? A deal was made-punishment of atrocities committed on either side was not to occur. The transfer of power was said to be peaceful and orderly. It was this year, the first fully multi-racial democratic election was held. In 1994, South Africa became a democracy, with Nelson Mandela its elected president. In 1990, released from prison, Mandela continued to see the MK as a necessity, a means by which one could combat the injustice and violence of apartheid. Retaliations and reprisals followed one after the other.

The white, supremist government labelled all such actions as terrorism. For the three years prior to him being sentenced to life-in-prison, Nelson Mandela was its commander-in-chief. The MK, the ANC’s guerilla force, were killing without restraint. Anti-apartheid guerrillas dynamited fuel depots. During the 1980s in South Africa, the military contingent of the African National Congress (the ANC) was active. What is true and what is false? What is fact and what is fiction? Is there one truth to history or can there be several? Does there exist one truth, a truth valid for all? These are questions the book poses, the background being the apartheid and its fall.Ī little history, a little background is helpful tp know. It’s title? Absolution, which is of course the title of this book too. It is this that she states, but it is in fact a mix of history, essays and autobiography. The second character has been hired by Clare’s publisher to write her biography. They live in a secure, heavily guarded and alarmed, gated community near Cape Town. She is a divorced wife, living now with her longtime friend, an employed black assistant named Marie. She is burdened by guilt-she regrets or at least questions her own past actions. One is an accomplished, popular, elderly South African author held in high esteem. You might as well know this before you begin.

The focus is more on Whites than on Blacks, on the haves over the have-nots. It is a book about the consequences of apartheid and its affect on South African people. It covers a period both during apartheid and post-apartheid. It is the best book I have read about apartheid in South Africa.

Absolution by murder