The Collection comprises submissions and statements which the African National Congress (ANC) presented to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) at two sets of hearings: the Armed Forces Hearing and the Political Parties Hearing.

This phenomenon is to be understood against the background that the ANC, while still a political party that was to contest the first democratic elections of 1994, had actively campaigned for provisions for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to be included in the Interim Constitution of 1993.

It did so in the conviction that such a commission would contribute to the healing of a society traumatized by Apartheid in order for it to deal with the promotion of societal justice for the emerging post-Apartheid democracy.

The ANC's submissions and appearance before the TRC were unique in that the former liberation movement took collective responsibility for violations of human rights and dealt openly with all questions set by the TRC.