Fighting for Justice in South Africa: Then and Now
| Author | Gwyneth Boswell |
| Pages | 5-17 |
Fighting for Justice in South Africa: Then and Now
5
FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE IN SOUTH
AFRICA: THEN AND NOW
Gwyneth Boswell, Director, Boswell Research Fellows and Visiting
Professor, School of Allied Health Professions, University of East Anglia
Abstract
During autumn 2005, the author led a feasibility study investigating the experiences of 17
Xhosa men and women from the Eastern Cape who had, in some way, fought in the
struggle for liberation from apartheid in its early days. The study showed, firstly, that it
was possible to identify people who fell into this category with the help of archive
collections and local veterans’ associations. Secondly it showed that, with the assistance
of final year Theology students at the University of Fort Hare, access could be gained to
these ‘veterans’ and in-depth qualitative interviews conducted, with the students
providing translation where necessary. Finally, the interviews themselves highlighted a
group of people who had sacrificed much for the freedom of their country, some still
optimistic, some disillusioned, but nearly all with outstanding health and social care
needs. Transitional community justice aspires to a healing and restoration which still
eludes many in the post-democracy years.
Key Words: South Africa; justice; apartheid; struggle; veterans; narrative
Introduction
Marcus Motaung to an Afrikaner judge who has just found him guilty of treason:
‘I took myself to be a soldier, a freedom fighter,’ he says. The judge took
him to be a criminal. (Lelyveld, 1986: 334)
Much has been written about the long struggle of black South Africans against the
apartheid regime – and much has since been written about the attempts of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to promote transitional restorative justice by
eschewing vengeance and seeking reconciliation and unity (Boraine & Levy, 1995). The
work of the TRC had its passionate advocates and its equally strong detractors (Tutu,
1999) but, once it ended, the continuation of the healing and restoration process became
the function of longer-term community justice at a more informal level. Bypassing the
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