The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) welcomes the decision of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to acquiesce to the wishes of Ms Winnie Madikizela-Mandela to hold a public hearing during which she will be able to respond to various allegations against her. The FXI is also appreciative of the TRC’s decision to hear a representation from the FXI in favour of an open hearing, despite procedural problems that were noted by the TRC’s investigation unit head, Dumisa Ntsibeza.
The FXI has always been principally opposed to closed hearings, and this was noted in earlier submissions to the TRC. We maintained then, as we do now, that the Constitution places great emphasis on the public’s right of access to information and on government’s obligation to openness and transparency, and that the TRC should reflect this. Our argument further is that the right of access to information is fundamentally linked to democracy and South Africa's effort to create a new order within a democratic state. In order to have fully informed political debate, not only must persons have freedom of speech but they must also be able to inform themselves through the large quantity of information that government collects and controls. The FXI, along with other organisations, called on the commission to establish public hearings as a general rule. However, despite these calls, the TRC Act’s provisions for in-camera hearings remained intact in the final legislation. (The FXI’s submission regarding this can be viewed on our Internet website under campaigns at: http://fxi.org.za/ )
While the TRC so far has had numerous in-camera hearings, the FXI felt it was important to make a representation to the TRC in this instance, and reiterate its opposition to closed hearings, since the issue of Ms Madikizela-Mandela was a special case for a number of reasons:
1. It was the first time that an individual that would be subject to
an in-camera hearing had called for an open hearing;
2. The recent extension of the life of the TRC negated the argument
put forward by the commission that it was forced to resort to an in-camera
hearing due to a lack of time in being able to contact third parties that
may be mentioned in any testimony;
3. A number of serious allegations against Ms Madikizela-Mandela had
been made publicly and widely reported in the media over the past few weeks
making it even more important that she be afforded a public platform to
counter these allegations; and
4. A great deal of public and media interest had been generated as
a result of the widely reported allegations against Ms Madikizela-Mandela.
The FXI felt that in view of this, a closed hearing would be an unacceptable
procedure in this instance since both the media and the public would have
to depend on the discretion of the commission for the disclosure of any
information relating to the hearing.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT MANDLA SELEOANE AT (012) 8053045
OR RAYMOND LOUW AT (011) 646-8790