The Democratic Alliance represents the interest of the Apartheid neo colonialism. It wants Apartheid to rule our country from the grave.

On the 28th of June 1995 the first democratically elected President of our Republic Cde Nelson Mandela made the historic announcement of the establishment of the truth and reconciliation commission. The historic announcement was in accordance with the provision of the last clause of the constitution which stipulated for the establishment of the truth and reconciliation commission that would serve as a basis for the promotion of national unity and reconciliation.

This week we are marking the 17th anniversary celebrations of the first hearings of the truth and reconciliation commissions that were held on the 15th of April 1996 at the Port Elisabeth city hall. We take this rare opportunity to thank our former President and his collective leadership for their outstanding contribution to the noble cause of the struggles of our people to build a better society. His exemplary leadership role will forever inspire the future generations of mankind to come.

The final clause of the interim constitution reads as thus on truth and reconciliation:

"This constitution provides a historic bridge between the past of a deeply divided society characterized by strife, conflict, untold suffering and injustice, and a future founded on the recognition of human rights, democracy and peaceful co-existence and development of opportunities for all South Africans, irrespective of colour, race, class, belief or sex. The pursuit of national unity, the well being of all South African citizens and peace require reconciliation between the people of South Africa and the reconstruction of society.

The adoption of this constitution lays to secure a foundation for the people of South Africa to transcend the divisions and strife of the past, which generated gross violations of human rights, the transgression of the humanitarian principles in violent conflicts and the legacy of hatred, fear, guilt and revenge.

These can now be addressed on the basis that there is a need for understanding but not for vengeance, a need for reparation but not retaliation and a need for Ubuntu but not for victimization. In order to advance such reconciliation and reconstruction, amnesty shall be granted in respect of acts omissions and offences associated with political objectives committed in the course of the conflicts of the past.

To this end, Parliament under this Constitution shall adopt a law determining a firm cut-off date and providing for mechanisms, criteria and procedures, including tribunals, if any, through which such amnesty shall be dealt with at any time after the law has been passed".

The truth and reconciliation commission was an important platform for the people of our country to reconcile themselves from the painful chapter of our past history. It was an effective instrument of dialogue used to heal our society from the atrocities and the wounds of our painful historical past perpetuated by the racist Apartheid regime.  The truth and reconciliation commission was indeed a milestone achievement to our newly born rainbow nation that the world thought its democracy will never hold.

It was a historic intervention by a newly born nation that took such a long journey seeking to resolve the pandemic socio economic contradictions inflicted on itself by the forces of imperialism and colonialism. It was indeed a qualitative attempt by our democratic government to resolve the national, class and gender contradictions confronting our new rainbow nation. The truth and reconciliation commission was an effort by our democratic government to eradicate the devastating legacy of Apartheid that has over the years became the principle characteristic of our society.

Our people should understand the political significance of the truth and reconciliation commission from the context of nation building and formation. Nation building and formation is about first and foremost promoting national unity and reconciliation. It is therefore important that we understand the role of the commission from the premise of our strategic objectives, of building a non racial, non sexist, democratic and prosperous society. The work of the commission was indeed consistent with the historic mission of our national liberation movement of the liberating the black people in general and the African people in particular from the bondage of oppression and exploitation.

The most important question we need to pose to ourselves is whether we are all still committed to the noble task of taking forward the struggles for the transformation of our society. Whether we are all still committed to the collective effort of our people to build a new rainbow nation. Whether we are all still committed to heal our nation from the painful experiences and subjugation of colonial oppression and exploitation.

The growing reality is that the antagonistic forces have still not accepted the beautiful revolutionary story of our ideal rainbow nation. The Democratic Alliance is mounting a coalition of antagonistic forces such as the AfriForum, De Klerk Foundation, the Boeremag, the hostile media houses and many others from our own ranks to undermine the collective efforts of our people to build a new nation.

These coalition of antagonistic forces are collaborating with the international monopoly capital to undermine the tremendous achievements of our democratic dispensation. The unity and cohesion of our people and the nation is the main thread to the agenda of the enemy of our revolution. The enemy thrives on the divisions of our people to perpetuate its oppression and exploitation.

In our instance the enemy of our revolution, in its attempt to undermine our effort of promoting national unity and reconciliation, is mobilizing our people, the motive forces of our revolution, to accuse the ANC led government for the daunting socio economic challenges facing our people. The hypothesis is that the socio economic contradictions imposed on our people over centuries by imperialism and colonialism of a special type ended with the advent of our democratic dispensation.

The DA is manipulating the fragile socio economic conditions created by the racist apartheid regime to undermine the mandate entrusted to our movement by the overwhelming majority of our people to take forward the task of the transformation of our society. The enemy of our people has not yet accepted the realities that our national democratic revolution has afforded our people with the opportunity to become active participants in shaping their own destiny.

It is becoming evident that the DA is becoming an impediment to the struggles of our people to improve their own living conditions. It is resorting to low intensity counter revolutionary activities to erode the unity and cohesion of our new born rainbow nation. It is manipulating all pockets of power it has accumulated during decades of Apartheid rule such as the media,  judiciary,levers of our economy and our very same democratic constitution to undermine our efforts to accelerate the transformation of our society.

It is therefore important that we protect these milestone achievements and ensure that we promote and consolidate all our efforts for national unity and reconciliation. The well being of all the South African citizens and peace require reconciliation between the people of South Africa and the reconstruction of a new society. We have to work together as a nation to protect the foundation build by the truth and reconciliation commission to transcend the divisions and strife of the past, and continue to build our rainbow nation based on the profound values and principles of our democratic constitution.

It is therefore the task of all the people of our country to isolate any other counter revolutionary activities intended to undermine our collective effort of taking forward the work of the truth and reconciliation commission. It will not be in the best interest of the future of our people and our country to allow sinister forces undermine the tremendous achievements of our democracy. The ANC is the only political formation capable of taking forward the aspirations and wishes of our rainbow nation.

Phatse Justice Piitso is the former Ambassador to the Republic of Cuba and the former provincial secretary of the SACP writing this article on his personal capacity.

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