Description:Jerry Richardson (centre) during the hearings of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Photograph by George Hallett.
The Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act was passed in South Africa in 1995, calling for a commission to be set up to uncover the truth about the atrocities committed during apartheid. Controversially, perpetrators of atrocities and abuses could apply for amnesty from the commission if their acts were politically motivated and if they gave a full disclosure of those acts. Reconciliation rather than retribution was the aim.
George Hallett photographed the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was the subject of an exhibition, 'Bearing Witness', at the Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry, in 2004.