ABSTRACT
Here it is discussed how the purpose of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the process of change after the apartheid rule in South Africa was determined by religious concepts such as salvation or reconciliation. It is illustrated how religion and theological categories had a substantial impact on the transition process and the nation building towards the “New South Africa”. It is shown how the African concept of Ubuntu was used and abused for political goals. Drawing on the work of Walter Benjamin and Anne McClintock, the background of how gender and nationalist constructions inform each other is analysed. Moreover, mechanisms of privileging hegemonic concepts of masculinity are shown. In the story’s “rewriting”, different acts of violence have been rewritten and reworded into a history of sexual violence against women and the violation of the female body. As a result, the sheer variety of memories was limited and channelled, and women were victimised. A similar dynamic can be found in the gender-specific order of victim status or the handling of individual reports with which the Commission has worked. Going back to the Christian imagery, it is explained how the ideas of “reconciliation” or “confession” are politicised and used to safeguard and regenerate male hegemony.
