THE TUTU COMMISSION

South African President Nelson Mandela named fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu to head a commission that will investigate political crimes committed under apartheid. "Tutu is a very good choice for the post," reports TIME's Peter Hawthorne from Cape Town. "He has shown himself to be on the side of truth, and shouldn't hold any longstanding bitterness during the hearings the commission will hold. He's also not afraid of controversy, even if that includes going against Mandela himself. For example, Tutu was critical of Mandela's handling of the situation in Nigeria, when the playwright and other dissidents were hanged. He thought Mandela should have been much more forceful. Whites, too, are generally respectful of Tutu, which makes his selection very defensible." The 17-member Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which includes whites and South Africans across the political spectrum, will gather evidence of abuses by the government but also by anti-apartheid groups, including Mandela's African National Congress.