The painting of the portraits of the President-Generals of the ANC was commissioned by the Film Resource Unit for the public launch of 'Ulibambe Lingashoni - Hold Up the Sun', a five part video documentary series on the ANC and popular power in the making.

The artists are from of J V Graphix, silk screen and sign-writers.

The painting is done on navy blue fabric.

From 1912 to 1993 the ANC has had ten presidents. Only 9 portraits were painted, and only eight are found in this collection.

The President-Generals of the African National Congress (ANC) 1912-1993

1. John Dube 1912 - 1917

2. S M Makgatho 1917 - 1924

3. Z R Mahabane 1924 - 1927

4. Josiah Gumede 1927 - 1930

5. Pixley Ka Seme 1930 - 1937

6. Z R Mahabane 1937 - 1940

7. Dr A B Xuma 1940 - 1949

8. Dr James Moroka 1949 - 1952

9. Chief Albert Lutuli 1952 - 1967

10. Oliver R Tambo 1967 - 1969 (acting)

1969 - 1991

11. Nelson R Mandela 1991 - 1997

In the formative years before 1992, both SAHA and the People's History Trust were managed by activists without any formal archival training. These custodians applied techniques more often used in libraries for the collection, arrangement and description of archival materials collected or donated to the organisations. Textual materials were catalogued by subject with little attention paid to preserving documentation in accordance with the original context of the materials, what is often referred to as 'provenance' in archival discourse. After 1992, the principles of provenance began to inform the processing of SAHA material. The collections made accessible before this date could not always be rearranged into separate collections arranged by source or donor. As a result many remained, arranged by subject, in this collection. Due to the subject ordering of this collection, culled from a myriad of sources, for many years this collection was referred to as the "Database Collection".

N.S. Thandray was a teacher who later became principal of the Denver Primary School. He was the first to register in the Transvaal as a volunteer for the Passive Resistance Campaign in 1946. As a result, he was forced to resign from his principal's post. He was also imprisoned and later banned for his political activities until his death in 1980.

The Human Awareness Programme (HAP) offered three main services: consultation, organisational development and training, and publications. The consultation service established structures, developed staff procedures, raised funds, planned events, set objectives and implemented campaigns. The organisational development and training service created efficient working environments, relationships and administration. The publications service aimed at developing skills and providing information on issues current to South Africa.

The South African Students' Congress (SASCO) was formed in 1991 through the merging of the South African National Students Congress (a revolutionary black student organisation) and the National Union of South African Students (a predominantly white liberal student organisation). The new Congress was founded on the following five principles: African leadership, working class leadership, democracy, non-racism and non-sexism. The main aim of SASCO is transformation of the country's tertiary institutions.

This collection contains the booklet "What we stand for" and copies of The Socialist (Nov/Dec 1991, Feb/March 1992, April/May 1992, June/July 1992, June/July 1993, Aug/Sept 1993, undated no. 14, undated no. 16, Aug/Sept 1994. Later The Socialist became The Socialist Worker (Oct 1994, Sept 1994, March 1995, Aug 1995, Oct 1995, May/June 1996).

The South African History Archive (SAHA) and Historical Papers at University of Witwatersrand were approached by thirty seven people, who were imprisoned on 22 September 1981 and detained for anything from fourteen days to just under one year, to document and preserve their stories. A number of the detainees: Rob Adam, Barbara Hogan, Alan Fine, Hanchen Koornhof, Prema Naidoo and Shireesh Nanabhai went on trial and, in the case of Hogan and Adam, were jailed until the release of political prisoners in 1990. Neil Aggett died while in detention. Whilst other people were detained during this period, the detainees listed here were picked for their links to one another.

These oral testimonies provide an entry point into the incubation period of the mass democratic struggle that grew with the formation of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in 1983. They show how activists worked across racial divisions and how their efforts cut across sectors and categories of struggle.

In 1974 the South African Council of Churches (SACC) set up Devcraft with the aim of assisting locals in obtaining gainful employment. Morice Smithers joined this organisation in 1974 as manager of the Johannesburg branch. During this time he travelled throughout Southern Africa visiting and evaluating projects similar to Devcraft's. In most instances he found that operations were being poorly managed and that workers were being exploited. The bulk of this collection documents interviews conducted with craft workers explaining their working conditions and the difficulties they experienced.

Stan Winer, donor of the collection, is a South African born in 1940. He is a freelance journalist, a writer and a researcher. Winer is mainly interested in politics, international relations and issues related to Human Rights.

His published works have featured in both international and local media. His interest in human right issues led him into collecting material and information related to Human Rights abuses in South Africa during the Apartheid era.

Winer and the records

The collection is made up of correspondence, books, manuscripts, photos and news-clippings, newsletters, miscellaneous. It includes among other things, a manuscript authored by Winer himself, about South African covert operations.

The work was originally dedicated to the proposition that the human rights records of the former South African regime should not be judged in isolation of the Cold War, and the Western Society of nations, of which South Africa was a part.

Also, there are newspaper cuttings relating to South African state-sponsored death squads, train violence, and other covert actions that were perpetrated by the South African Government such as massacres. Furthermore, among the collection is primary documentation relating to civil litigation by Stan Winer and others in the British High Court, concerning the defamatory book Inside BOSS (Penguin:London, 1981) by one Gordon Winter, a self-styled defector from the bureau of State Security

Also, there are miscellaneous primary and photocopied documents dealing with Inside BOSS, together with some photos in the Dutch edition of Inside BOSS and a comprehensive collection of news-clippings also concerning Inside BOSS.

Another item in the collection is a book titled Rough Justice: the extra-ordinary truth about Charles Richardson and his gang by Robert Parker 1981. Fontana Paperbacks: Great Britain. In donating the book, Winer intends to direct those interested in the underground operations of the Apartheid government, as some of the issues are referred to in the book.

Lastly, the Cape Town trauma centre for survivors of torture and political violence used to publish a monthly newsletter which Winer sporadically received, and now is apparently discontinued.

The newsletter contained, among other things, 'stories' by ex-political prisoners and apartheid human rights violations survivors. Some of the topics discussed in the newsletter included 'Healing of emotional pain', 'Approaching the TRC with complaints in particular about reparations, pensions', 'Discussions with government about special pensions', 'looking at projects that will create opportunities for people in the group' etc.

Cross reference on photographs and news-clippings - See the SAHA ephemera database

Former educationalist turned politician Ismail Vadi donated this collection as a document to his political activities before 1994. Vadi began his political career as a member of the Lenasia Youth League and the Transvaal Indian Congress. His political activities escalated when he was nominated chairperson of the South African Teachers Union (SADTU) in Lenasia, and subsequently the National Vice President of the Union. Vadi also became an executive member of the ANC Lenasia branch, and a member of parliament.