The Daily UbuntuThread 05 · War and Reconciliation · September 25, 2026
Rwanda and South Africa: judging, telling the truth, living together again
From Rwanda to South Africa, societies chose to rebuild an "us" after the unthinkable.
1 · The scene
Two men pass each other at the market. One lost, the other caused loss. They are not friends.
But they greet each other. Sometimes, peace begins with a greeting no one notices.
Original vignette
2 · The documented case
Rwanda and South Africa: judging, telling the truth, living together again
In 1994, the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda claimed more than 800,000 victims, according to the UN. To judge the immense number of crimes, the country set up the gacaca community courts: a pilot project in 2002, extended nationwide in 2005, closed on June 18, 2012. According to UNDP, more than 1.9 million cases were handled there, on the hillsides, before the community.
In South Africa, Nelson Mandela walked out of prison on February 11, 1990, after 27 years of confinement. Rather than revenge, the country chose truth: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, created by a 1995 act and chaired by Desmond Tutu, held its first hearings in April 1996 and delivered its report in October 1998.
Neither path is perfect. But both affirm an Ubuntu idea: justice does not serve only to punish, it serves to make a shared future possible.
3 · The voice
“My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.”
4 · The question
What, in your life or your community, is still waiting to be named before it can be repaired?
Sources
- United Nations, resolution on the "genocide against the Tutsi," 2018. press.un.org
- UNDP Rwanda, closure of the gacaca courts, 2012. www.undp.org
- Nelson Mandela Foundation, biography. www.nelsonmandela.org
- Britannica, "Truth and Reconciliation Commission, South Africa." www.britannica.com
Every figure on this page links to a verifiable public source.
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