Archbishop Desmond Tutu will be remembered as an architect of South African democracy, despite being neither a party negotiator nor an author of the post-apartheid constitution. Tutu championed the power of restorative justice, but he knew it could only operate legitimately in a fine balance with retributive justice. And the apartheid-era Tutu fought as hard for that simpler, colder brand of justice as he did later for reconciliation. "And one of the most traumatic things for me was to be the ogre, the man most white South Africans loved to hate." The viability of the TRC rested on the deep cultural currency of Christian belief in South African society, across race and class divides.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 26, 2021 09:45 UTC