KZN amnesty call unconvincing

2003-04-27 19:45

Johannesburg - The call by the African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal for a special phase of TRC-style amnesty in that province was unconvincing, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday.

DA spokesperson Dene Smuts asked in a statement released in Cape Town why a special deal should apply to KwaZulu-Natal, but not in parts where the Boeremag were allegedly active.

"Now ...we ask why a special deal should apply in KZN but not in the north, for example, where the Boeremag has allegedly been active," she said.

Smuts said the issues the ANC was looking at were straightforward security issues of disclosure of information on alleged arms caches, disclosure of command structures and search and seizure operations to confiscate illegal arms.

"We agree with justice spokesperson Paul Setsetse that any genuinely unresolved cases should be dealt with through the prosecuting authorities..."

Smuts said her party suspected that the reason behind the request for the second round of amnesty was concern about the political balance in the province.

"However, that must be resolved at the ballot box, with the SA Police Service maintaining peaceful conditions in which voters can express their preferences."

Smuts was commenting on a request from the ANC's provincial leader in KwaZulu-Natal, S'bu Ndebele, for a "phase two" of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in his province.

According to a report in the Sunday Times Ndebele said the large number of unresolved political murders in his province, as well as the proliferation of fire-arms, had resulted in "an absence of war", not an achievement of peace.

In response Setsetse said President Thabo Mbeki had made it clear during a special debate in parliament on the final TRC report that no further amnesty would be extended.

Mbeki said any further matters would have to be dealt with through the National Director of Public Prosecutions.

- SAPA