TRC Suggestions

PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS: TRC RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE FAITH COMMUNITY HEALING

In order to help bring healing to the many in our country who are hurting, the Commission recommended that: • Religious communities organise ceremonies designed to enable people to acknowledge their different levels of involvement in the human rights violations of the past. These services should be held at denominational, ecumenical and inter-faith levels and should be organised locally, regionally and nationally. • Religious communities explore the possibility of joining with other organisations of civil society in setting up trauma centres and counselling initiatives. Redistribution of skills and resources In order to assist with the redistribution of skills and resources, the Commission recommended that: • Religious groups utilise the skills enjoyed by many of their privileged members, to provide training and leadership skills to disadvantaged communities. • Religious communities from different racial and class groups seek ways of sharing material resources. • Religious communities undertake a ‘land audit’, identifying land in their possession (including glebes) which can be made available to the landless poor. • Where religious communities have acquired land as a result of apartheid legislation, this land must be returned to its rightful owners. • Religious communities consider creating a general fund, to be financed in proportion to their resources, which can be used for the victims of past abuses. • Religious communities explore ways, in consultation with government, of resuming their involvement in education, health care and community development, as part of a commitment to nation building. Reconciliation In order to bring about reconciliation, the Commission recommended that: • Different religious groups seek ways to communicate with one another as a basis for eliminating religious conflict and promoting inter-religious understanding. • Religious groups seek ways of incorporating marginalised groups into their communities as a way of addressing the problems contributing to various forms of asocial behaviour. • Forms of worship be explored which transcend language and cultural differences. • Religious communities take the initiative to expose members from predominantly white and black communities to one another. • Religious groups, in consultation with other NGOs, establish institutional forums to promote reconciliation. Specific attention should be given to the establishment of a Peace Corps, not only as a means of helping communities in need, but also for developing the skills of less privileged youth. Such a body could also be used to expose more privileged members of the community to the needs and the living conditions of the majority of South Africans. Given the racial and ideological conflict prevalent in the country, the Peace Corps should include conflict resolution and peace-making as an integral part of its curriculum. • Religious communities develop theologies designed to promote reconciliation and a true sense of community in the nation. Particular consideration could to be given to: • the role of white people as the beneficiaries of apartheid, with regard to reconstruction and reconciliation; • the empowerment of black people and those who have suffered gross violations of human rights to move beyond ‘victimhood’ in regaining their humanity; • the characteristics of good citizenship, the rule of law and the ‘common good’ in society; • the articulation of a global ethical foundation which is in keeping with the major beliefs of the various religions.

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