Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela — Forgiving the Unforgivable

Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela is a clinical psychologist and Senior Research Professor at the University of the Free State. She served on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as coordinator of victims’ public hearings in the Western Cape.

In that role, she participated in, and facilitated encounters between family members of victims of gross human rights violations and perpetrators responsible for these human rights abuses. Since serving on the TRC, and witnessing some of the unexpected outcomes of the TRC’s public hearings process and public dialogue about the past, she has been interested in this question: what features of the TRC process were effective in opening up the possibility of transformation?