HENDRIK JOHANNES PETRUS BOTHA
Chairperson, in hindsight if we can turn the clock back to where we have started, everybody, not only the victims and the victims' families of these tragic events, we the offenders are also victims of the system and as such the whole country is a victim, directly or indirectly and one wants forgiveness for what one has done and that is why we apply for amnesty.  The reconciliation which has to come must come from both sides and that is why we request amnesty, we want to be forgiven for what we have done and the reasons for what we have done are supported by going through that whole process and ask and in repetition, two or three years we had applied to bring out those memories and just as it is a sensitive matter for the victims and their families, it is the same for us.  Every time we are taken back to the scene and back to the decision which was taken.  One cannot close down here now and say let's continue with the new future but one thing I can say of this process is that everybody has to be honest and this process has brought us closer to God and only He can forgive at the end of the day.