Mbeki urges respect for agreements made during SA’s transition

Former President Thabo Mbeki has described the agreements reached between the African National Congress (ANC) and the apartheid government during South Africa’s transition to democracy as a jigsaw puzzle, with every piece needing to be respected.

Mbeki made the remarks during his introductory statement at the TRC Cases Inquiry in Newtown, Johannesburg , on the 95th day of public hearings.

Using the analogy of a jigsaw puzzle, he said the various agreements formed part of a single framework that guided the country’s transition to democracy.

The pieces, he said, represented various issues including the agreed-upon sunset clauses, national reconciliation legislation and justice mechanisms through the TRC process.

“Some General Van der Merwe from the old order comes and says I have got a file on Thabo Mbeki, I am going to get him charged so the suggestion that Thabo Mbeki gets frightened and decides to change the policy on justice to save his own skin.

I am saying it can’t happen because if you change the policy of justice, you collapse the whole construct.

I am raising this issue of the way the ANC approached what it should do with the pieces in the jigsaw.” TRC CASES INQUIRY | Former President Thabo Mbeki is appearing before the commission, where he is expected to address allegations that an informal agreement existed between the ANC and apartheid-era generals to avoid prosecutions linked to apartheid-era crimes. https://t.co/waXVgaHDRj — SABC News (@SABCNews) October 19, 2026 -Reporting by Busi Bopela LIVESTREAM: TRC Cases | Khampepe Commission of Inquiry | 19 October 2026 – Former President Thabo Mbeki appears: