Browsing by Author "Ntlapo, Headman S."

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    “Ubuntu” justice and the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission : a theological-missiological study
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-02-27) Ntlapo, Headman S.; White, Peter; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Practical Theology and Missiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examines some of the missiological problems of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), taking into consideration the theological and missiological concepts of forgiveness, reconciliation, and justice. The researcher introduced the Ubuntu Justice concept and further proposed the viability of the concept as a missiological framework with which to respond to the activities of the TRC. To respond to the main and subsequent research questions, the researcher used the qualitative research methodology, focusing on the literary review and the case study research approaches. The researcher explored the methodology and the goal of public hearings and used the “Gugulethu Seven” and the “PEBCO Three” cases to highlight the sacrosanctity of the truth, remorse, and forgiveness in the process of reconciliation. This inquiry found that as an African understanding and a strategy of upholding justice and maintaining peaceful relations, Ubuntu recognises the importance of the process of rehabilitating both the victim and the perpetrator. For the process of reconciliation to be genuine, the perpetrator must genuinely commit to treating the victim as an equal, affirming both the humanity and the dignity of the victim. The researcher established that the TRC cannot be said to be a victim-centred project. Rather, it was constituted to complement the elite political compromise of pre-1994 South Africa and to appease international on-lookers. We concluded that the victims’ perception of amnesty would be very much informed by the presence of other forms of justice. Equally, our manner of doing Ubuntu should be one that drives reparation, redress, and the transformation of social, political, and economic institutions that were complicit in perpetuating structural injustice. We found that the TRC’s manner of Ubuntu was Christianised, as victims were sometimes pressured into forgiving perpetrators without any form or commitment to redress. The researcher argues that in the context of socio-economic calamities that constrain and deface human dignity, the church’s missiological reflection of the poor must be liberative.