Addressing the National Council of Provinces, he said: "We knew this was the case, but what has been revealed in the TRC shows not only what human beings can do to other human beings, but has actually confirmed the condemnation by the international community that apartheid was a crime against humanity."
"To kill people without bringing them before a court of law; to bury them secretly, which has happened throughout the country; this is an illustration of how apartheid is an evil against humanity."
In an attempt to counter accusations that the TRC had divided rather than reconciled South Africans, Mandela again accused politicians of trying to curry favour with the Afrikaner by claiming the commission had conducted a witchhunt against them.
"Individuals have come forward to say `This is what we did' - not the Afrikaner."
Although the majority of those who had confessed may have been Afrikaners, "this is not an indictment against the Afrikaner as such", Mandela said.
"We never thought that it would be easy for us as a nation to confront the terrible things we did to each other.
"But few could have foreseen how far we would come with the help of the TRC towards knowing this past, so that - in the interest of all South Africans - it could not be repeated."