A Call for Forgiveness and Re-Enlightenment: Shifting South Africa’s Focus from Retribution to Re-education

Letter to the editor

Dear sir,

I am submitting a proposal to the GNU, led by President Ramaphosa. After viewing the movie Kinyarwanda on YouTube, which focuses on forgiveness in the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda, I was deeply inspired.

The film sheds light on a history that mirrors the events in the Belgian Congo and South West Africa – also inflicted by the Belgians. Rwanda has moved on, so too should South Africa.

One quote from the movie resonated with me, and I would like to share it: “Forgiveness is not the suppression of anger. Forgiveness is asking for a miracle, the ability to see through someone's mistake to the truth that lies in all our hearts. Forgiveness is not always easy. And yet at times it is more painful than the pain we have suffered, and yet, it is more painful than the pain that was inflicted. The first step in forgiveness is the willingness to forgive.”

It is time for us to move on, to stop being stuck in a dreadful past.

In light of this, I propose that instead of undergoing lengthy and costly criminal trials—a significant drain on taxpayers—alleged perpetrators who acknowledge their wrongdoing be given the option to undergo a similar re-education process.

Mr. President, I believe it is time to shift our focus from retribution to re-enlightenment through voluntary re-education.

This approach would not exonerate them, but it would prohibit them from holding public office.

Yours faithfully,

Saber Ahmed Jazbhay Castlehill, Ethekwini (Durban)

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