Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa

Part 5 addresses the end of the TRC’s hearings. Krog describes several specific locations where the final hearings take place, noting that the group associated with the TRC tends to stay together as it is not always welcome in every town.

Krog highlights two areas of testimony. One is the abuses that occurred specifically within the prison system, with a focus on hangings from the perspectives of both victims and perpetrators. As part of this exploration, Krog details the story of Bram Fischer, who died from lack of proper medical care while in prison. The second testimony in this chapter is that of “the shepherd.” Krog presents this testimony in poetic form, claiming that it is “given above in the exact words in which he spoke it” (286), then follows with an extended analysis of every line of the story, explaining how the shepherd reacts to questions and what his motivations are.

Woven in between areas of testimony, Krog highlights the TRC’s “new and chilling direction” (271) that involves uncovering burial areas that were previously unknown, literally and figuratively unearthing bones of the past. She also discusses Afrikaner identity and her personal feelings about South Africa as being “the marrow of my bones” (277).