Ceremony in Bloemfontein honours Nelson Mandela’s definition of reconciliation
Bloemfontein University gives a good example of reconciliation
4 March 2011
March 4, 2011– A reconciliation ceremony held in Bloemfontein at the University of the Free State on February 25, 2011 brought together those parties affected by the racial conflict commonly known as the acts of the Reitz 4.
The objective of the ceremony, and the reconciliation workshop that preceded it, was three-fold:
• To collaboratively create a common understanding of what reconciliation means for everyone involved
• To afford the parties involved the platform of public apology, as per one of four provisions of the Equity Court ruling, and
• To create a space for real reconciliation and forgiveness to take place.
Since reconciliation means different things to us all, the workshop explored the themes of hope, the future and the African understanding of reconciliation via speeches and a play by students of the University of the Free State.
The workshop served as a gateway to the evening ceremony event, where the Reitz 4 victims of racial abuse were presented to the audience by the Human Rights Commission (HRC). The Commission explained the process the workers had undertaken in reaching a settlement; their journey from victims to victors at the Equality Court.
Forgiveness was then asked for, and given, and then celebrated.
As an invited guest and speaker at the event, the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s Sello Hatang gave the following address at the ceremony to congratulate the parties on the settlement and the example they gave to the country.
The University must be commended for it’s exemplary South African leadership on such a process, and needs to be supported going forward, especially regarding reconciliation and race relations.
Says Hatang: “If we move forward without honouring the seminal moment of recognition and reconciliation at this ceremony in the Free State, we are ignoring the practice of non-racialism in our lives. We cannot rest complacent. Let us all reconcile within and among ourselves to build better race relations in our country.”
