The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, commenced in order for South Africans to be able to talk about their experiences during apartheid as well as testimonies to the public ("For all voices, for all victims" by Antjie Krog, 2013). The main aim of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission were the hearings, which acted as an indication to democracy and transition. In her poem, “For all voices, for all victims,” Antjie Krog, made use of this poem as a response the occurrences of the apartheid era and the struggles that those who had been oppressed in those years. Furthermore this poem reminds the readers, not only of the struggles that were experienced during apartheid, it continues to talk of the human rights that had been violated to the oppressed groups of South Africa and covers the multiple changes which had to take place for the rise of democracy to take place effectively.
Evidence of Antjie Krog using “For all voices, for all victims” as a response to apartheid:
In her poem, “For all voices, for all victims,” Antjie Krog utilizes the first stanza as support to the argument that, “For all voices, for all victims,” was in fact written in response to the struggles experienced during apartheid before the commencement of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This evidence is brought to life in the very first line, “because of you,” (Krog, in Carolin, 2014: l.1) in her poem, “For all voices, for all victims,” where Antjie Krog is addressing someone: because of you this country no longer lies between us but within
The persons that are being addressed are those that were oppressed and victimized in the height of the apartheid era. In this stanza the structure of address provides room for the reader to reason that both, reconc...
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...ll of her people, can also be considered as a nation where all races come together as one, which is ultimately what the new South Africa stands for, ("For all voices, for all victims" by Antjie Krog, 2013).
This paper henceforth draws closed the argument that The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was in fact an opportunity for those who were done in during the apartheid era to take from the past and build on it in order to locate their place in the post-apartheid South Africa which became a country for citizens to feel they belong.
Works Cited
Krog, Antjie. “For All Voices, For All Victims." Eng 2A – South African Poetry. Selected Poems. Ed. Andrew Carolin, 2014, p. 6.
"For all voices, for all victims" by Antjie Krog. (2013, October 19). Retrieved April 28, 2014, from Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/denae7/antjie-krog-for-all-victims-for-all-voices
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Lyon, A., & Olson, L. C. (2011). Special Issue on Human Rights Rhetoric: Traditions of Testifying and Witnessing. Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 41(3), 203-212.
“We are of the view that these narratives surrounding an alleged ‘white genocide’ are blatantly incorrect and simply untrue. These reports are nothing more than an attempt to divide South Africans on the basis of race and to derail our country’s reconciliation process.” The DA itself reiterated its view that land expropriation without compensation was the wrong model to pursue in South Africa and said it would continue to fight for the alternatives. READ
Mandela used this forgiveness to assist him in his attempts to “win over skeptic whites” and negotiate “the country’s first all-race elections” (Myre).
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Arthur, Napoleon, and Msimangu, all characters from Alan Paton’s book, Cry, The Beloved Country, are used to share Paton’s points of view on the future of South Africa and the apartheid. Paton uses these characters to represent specific views; Arthur expresses clearly that the apartheid isn’t the right way to progress as a country, Napoleon exemplifies how Paton thinks people should take the anti-apartheid effort, and Msimangu explicitly expresses Paton’s ideas of an ideal leader.
Around the 1970s, due to South Africa’s internal contradictions with its economy and people, the Apartheid began its slow demise. Soon the united nation began to take notice of South Africa and began to get involved. With South Africa now in the spot light, Prime Minister P.W Botha left office due to his belief that he had failed to keep order in the country. After the reassignment of P.W Botha, F.W Klerk had taken office. The final stage of the demise of the Apartheid began when Klerk lifted the ban off the ANC and other African political parties. The last blow was the release of Nelson Mandela after 27 years in prison. Now that South Africa’s hope was out of prison he continued to ...
Wright, Richard, and Edwin Rosskam. 12 Million Black Voices. New York: Thunder's Mouth, 1988. Print.