Former president Thabo Mbeki took the witness stand on Monday and flatly denied one of the most sensitive allegations in South Africa’s long reckoning with its past. Testifying at the Khampepe Commission, Mbeki dismissed claims that he held secret meetings with apartheid-era generals to arrange amnesties as “a complete fabrication.”
Mbeki acknowledged that one meeting did take place, but said the generals argued that their political superiors should first account to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Amnesty Committee. His government, he testified, respected the TRC’s independence and left prosecution decisions to the National Prosecuting Authority.
The inquiry is examining why roughly 300 cases referred by the TRC were never prosecuted — a failure that victims’ families have protested for decades. AfriForum has asked that advocate Gerrie Nel be allowed to cross-examine Mbeki, a request expected to be considered at a later date.
Mbeki is due back before the commission on Tuesday. His testimony goes to the heart of a question South Africa has never fully answered: whether the post-apartheid state quietly chose stability over justice for the victims of the old regime.
