The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was created after apartheid to ensure that the facts concerning certain events were complete, true, and detailed. The TRC heard testimonies from victims of abuse, along with declarations from perpetrators. Victims’ stories were welcomed, because they were the Commission’s main source of information, while perpetrators shared their stories as a request for amnesty. Amnesty could be granted to any perpetrator, as long as they were completely truthful, and the crime committed was to meet a “political objective”. People who committed crimes for personal gain or malice were denied amnesty, and along with criminals who never applied for amnesty, were still liable for prosecution.

Although those involved with the TRC heard many horrendous stories about mistreatments and abuse committed during the apartheid-era, specifically the time between March 1, 1960 and May 10, 1994, the job of the TRC was not to punish criminals. The Commission’s main goal was to simply uncover the truth, console victims, grant amnesty to criminals when appropriate, and in the end aid South Africa’s new government in improving South Africa.