Haunted trials: Law and memory in post-Apartheid South Africa

Abstract

When the brutal apartheid system ended in 1994, much of the world celebrated a remarkable and hope-filled transition. While many South Africans felt this hope as well, many still retained scars from the period’s brutal history. Some eschewed formal venues, others utilized the 1996-1998 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to seek humanity in their loved ones’ killers or to critique a perceived lack of humanity. A small, yet steadily increasing, number turned to contemporary courts to seek civil damages against their loved ones’ killers. Most prominently, the families of Neil Aggett and Ahmed Timol sought to bring charges against the police officers found culpable in their loved ones’ deaths. This article attempts to present an early analysis of the experiences of families who sought various means of legal restitution for apartheid’s horrors. While this particular search for humanity after atrocity remains ongoing, the article attempts to tap into the “ubuntu fatigue” that South Africans increasingly feel to ask what they might accomplish, and what might need to happen beyond them in order for families to continue their search for humanity after atrocity.