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SPECIAL PROGRAMM

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THE HISTORY The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a national commission assembled after the end of Apartheid in South Africa to "promote national unity and reconciliation" and to identify the "causes, nature and extent"of apartheid-era violence. Apartheid (an Afrikaans word meaning "apartness") was a form of government which had legalized discrimination on the grounds of race, using a systematic process of classification and segregation, it created a powerful state-sanctioned oppression of all "non-whites" through a series of apartheid laws, denying voting rights and other basic human rights, while restricting access to education, jobs, amenities and land. Those who fought against apartheid were designated "enemies of the state" and were cruelly dealt with, through censorship, banning, exile, detention, torture, murder and other means. The TRC provided a space in which those who had been victims of gross human rights violations under apartheid could come forward and make their stories heard for the first time. They could apply to the commission for investigations to be done and for reparations to be given. Perpetrators of violence could request amnesty from prosecution and by giving testimony and by being found to have provided true and full accounts, could have amnesty granted. Witnesses and investigators were brought in to help determine if the truth was being told. This telling of stories, by both victims and perpetrators, required the services of interpreters working in ail the 11 official languages of South Africa. As victims and perpetrators came face to face all over the country, the interpreters translated their stories first person and simultaneously, for those participating in the commission and for those who had come to the commission to hear the stories being told. For the first time in history, a truth commission was made public and sessions were aired on TV and Radio nationwide, so that everyone could hear the truth. TheTRC was a crucial turning point in the history of South Africa, it was a product of the negotiation process which brought an end to over 300 years of colonialism and apartheid, and which led to the establishment of a new constitution, which provided for democracy, human rights and the rule of law. TheTRC helped avoid a blood bath and contributed to the healing of the nation. It continues to serve as a model for helping communities to face their past, heal relationships and rebuild society without resorting to retribution and vengeance. HUGH MASEKELA, is arguably South Africa's most distinguished musician.He received his first trumpet at the age of 14 from veteran anti-apartheid campaigner, Father Trevor Huddleston. His interest in the instrument had in part been prompted by Young Man with a Horn, a film he saw a year earlier. The budding trumpeter played in the Huddleston Jazz Band, then together with Jonas Gwangwa he founded The Merry Makers of Springs. From there he joined Alfred Herbert's Jazz Revue and played as a session musician. With Gwangwa he played for Jazz Dazzlers, later reincarnated as the Jazz Epistles, a band that also featured Abdullah Ibrahim, Kippie Moeketsi, and Makaya Nt-