The End of Apartheid - South Africa’s Human Spirit

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The End of Apartheid - South Africa’s Human Spirit

An oral memoir of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

13/10/2020

Trailer - South Africa’s Human Spirit

This documentary transports the listener through raw sound to the unprecedented public hearings at which survivors - victims, perpetrators and others – testified about gross human rights abuses since 1960. It contains award-winning stories with lots of gripping and contextual sound. Well-known musicians, storytellers, poets, former political prisoners, exiles and most of the Truth Commissioners thread the story of South Africa's past with music, song, poetry and commentary. This oral record aims to preserve for posterity the rich gamut of viewpoints, memories and emotions of South Africa's history - apartheid and democracy. Web page: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/index.htm Butterflies in the pit - Desmond Tutu Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#butterflies © SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC. Additional music by Whitesand - Eternity - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5c83Uixoj8

7 min
13/10/2020

S1E1: bones of memory - unlock the horror

The first week of Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in East London was an exceptional one in South Africa. Nothing like the miracle election of April 1994. Nothing like the Government of National Unity. And nothing like South Africa’s unifying sport victories. Mid-April 1996 was a week in which the country and its people came face to face with their past for the first time. Darren Taylor and Zola Ntutu reflect on the dominant themes that surfaced in the first four days of the Truth Commission’s probe into gross human rights abuses during the apartheid era. Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#unlock Gifts of justice, mercy and compassion Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#gifts Wounded people Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#wounded In session Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#session Witness to great courage Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#witness Dance unshackled - letters read by Desmond Tutu Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#dance bones of memory - experiences and memories lay bare the pain and bravery of apartheid's victims © SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC. Additional music by Whitesand - Melody Of My Dreams - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si89RLFreaw

19 min
13/10/2020

S1E2: bones of memory - crystal clear memories

The next Truth Commission hearing into gross human rights abuses at Athlone in Cape Town was also filled with protracted pain. But it was a week flavoured and characterised by the undertones of the Western Cape, where tensions were still entrenched within communities. The victims of the 1993 St James Church massacre echoed the forgiveness of the Cradock Four widows in East London. But the Lubowskis, whose son and brother Anton was assassinated in Windhoek in September 1989, mirrored the lust for justice of Steve Biko’s family. Angie Kapelianis and Darren Taylor look back at that mind-blowing week. Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#crystal The bones of memory - Gcina Mhlophe Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#bones bones of memory - experiences and memories lay bare the pain and bravery of apartheid's victims © SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC. Additional music - Heartbreaking by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100208 Artist: http://incompetech.com/

17 min
13/10/2020

S1E3: bones of memory - hell on earth

The Truth Commission’s symbolic hearings into gross human rights abuses moved from Cape Town to Johannesburg between April and May 1996. Again a number of themes were raised under the ceiling and the cross of the Central Methodist Church, where the hearing was held. For the first time an ordinary apartheid policeman came across as being sympathetic towards the comrades and opposed to the free rein of the notorious Security Branch. South Africans of Indian origin were finally recognised for their role in the liberation struggle. But some of these shifts in the Truth Commission script were lost on all but those paying the most undivided attention as the pain first experienced in East London resurfaced. Darren Taylor and Antjie Samuel return to the Johannesburg testimonies. Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#hell Hearing in Alex - Hugh Lewin Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#hearing bones of memory - experiences and memories lay bare the pain and bravery of apartheid's victims © SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

13 min
13/10/2020

S1E4: bones of memory - a glaring gap

The Truth Commission wrapped up its symbolic round of public hearings into gross human rights abuses in Durban on the 10th of May 1996. Evidence heard at the Jewish Club provided some insight into the violence that was still ravaging KwaZulu-Natal long after South Africa’s first democratic elections had brought peace to most of the country. Many ANC members and supporters blamed the Inkatha Freedom Party in absentia for abuses they had suffered. A glaring gap was that the experiences of IFP members went untold in the same week that South Africa’s democratic Constitution was adopted. And in the same week that the National Party walked out of the Government of National Unity. Kenneth Makatees and Darren Taylor bring to mind what happened in Durban. Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#glaring The beast of our dark past - Desmond Tutu Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#beast "Nkosi sikelel’ iafrika" and "Die stem" bones of memory - experiences and memories lay bare the pain and bravery of apartheid's victims © SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC. Additional music by Whitesand - Melody Of My Dreams - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si89RLFr

19 min
13/10/2020 · BONUS

S2: slices of life - last will and testament

"Last will and testament" - Ariel Dorfman Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/slicesright.htm#last the imprisonment under apartheid of all south africans - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually © SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

1 min
13/10/2020

S2E1: slices of life - you kill one, you kill all!

The Truth Commission’s first-ever partial event hearing took place at the Regina Mundi Catholic Church in Soweto in mid-July 1996. The focus was the twentieth anniversary of the June 16 Soweto uprising – the day thousands of black children revolted against the apartheid system of Bantu Education and Afrikaans as the medium of instruction. All hell broke out when the police unleashed their dogs, tear gas and bullets on students armed with stones, knives and fire. The official cost a week later: more than a thousand injuries, 900 arrests and 140 corpses – the first being that of teenager Hector Peterson. He became the innocent symbol in the turning point of the liberation struggle for democracy. Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/slicesright.htm#you slices of life - the imprisonment under apartheid of all south africans - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually © SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

10 min
13/10/2020 · BONUS

S2: slices of life - a butcher's fridge

The Truth Commission went behind bars in July 1997 to investigate gross human rights abuses committed in the apartheid prisons and ANC camps in exile. One of the aims of the two-day hearing was to record the memories of so many political prisoners whose lives were wasted. Another was to recommend to government ways of creating a human rights culture in places of detention. The hearing was held at the old fort in Johannesburg, or "Number Four", as the prison was commonly known. One person who had eerie memories returning to the old fort was Truth Commission member Hugh Lewin. He spent seven years in jail for sabotage in the sixties. This is how Lewin captured the essence of imprisonment in his book, called Bandiet. Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/slicesright.htm#butcher slices of life - the imprisonment under apartheid of all south africans - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually © SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

3 min

TRAILER

Trailer - South Africa’s Human Spirit

This documentary transports the listener through raw sound to the unprecedented public hearings at which survivors - victims, perpetrators and others – testified about gross human rights abuses since 1960. It contains award-winning stories with lots of gripping and contextual sound. Well-known musicians, storytellers, poets, former political prisoners, exiles and most of the Truth Commissioners thread the story of South Africa's past with music, song, poetry and commentary. This oral record aims to preserve for posterity the rich gamut of viewpoints, memories and emotions of South Africa's history - apartheid and democracy. Web page: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/index.htm Butterflies in the pit - Desmond Tutu Transcript: http://www.sabctruth.co.za/sabctruth/bonesright.htm#butterflies © SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC. Additional music by Whitesand - Eternity - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5c83Uixoj8

13/10/2020

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7 min

An oral memoir of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

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SABC Radio News
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2K
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43
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The End of Apartheid - South Africa’s Human Spirit