Pretoria, 19 Aug-(ANA)-An apartheid-era South African policeman has lost a court battle to get his old job back.
Wybrand du Toit was found guilty in 1996 of killing four people in 1989, but was later given amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation hearings.
Before the amnesty, he was told he would be reinstated if he was pardoned.
But the Constitutional Court dismissed his case, saying the purpose of the reconciliation proceedings was to bring closure to victims, not undo the past.
After the democratic government came into power in 1994, former President Nelson Mandela and Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu headed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where perpetrators of apartheid crimes confessed to their crimes in exchange for amnesty.
Chief Justice Pius Langa said the decision by South Africa's highest court to dismiss Mr du Toit's case had been unanimous.
He said the judges had decided the purpose of the Reconciliation Act was to lift the burden of crime from the shoulders of the perpetrators while also bringing some closure to victims, the South African Press Association reports.
But the benefits to the perpetrator were never meant to outweigh the benefits to the victim, he said.
"It is vital to the success of the process," said Justice Langa.
Mr du Toit was not present during the court proceedings. (ANA)
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