The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) was re-established on the 27 October 1990 at Orlando stadium in Soweto. The launching of the Youth League was the coming together of the South African Youth Congress (SAYCO) and the ANC Youth Section which operated in exile.

The Provisional National Youth Committee (PNYC) was established to spearhead the rebuilding of the Youth League nationwide. The Provisional National Youth Secretariat (PNYS) was also established. Its main functions included: receiving reports from all departments at the Head Office of the ANCYL, addressing developments related to the rebuilding of the Youth League and strategising the way forward.

The main task of the Youth League was to mobilise all sectors of the youth: working, unemployed, students, young sports people, intellectuals and religious youth, into active participation in the struggle to secure democracy. For this reason, the ANCYL immediately established contacts with different youth and student organisations locally and abroad. Recruitment campaigns were put in place in high schools and in tertiary institutions.

Different departments and committees, e.g. women, labour and pioneers were established to appeal to different sectors of the youth. All campaigns were set up with an understanding that rebuilding the Youth League was in fact rebuilding the ANC itself.

ANCYL - African National Congress Youth League

SAYCO - South African Youth Congress

PNYC - Provisional National Youth Committee

PNYS - Provisional National Youth Secretariat

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".

In 1990, after the unbanning of various political organisations, the South African History Archive (SAHA) set up the Oral History Project with Tom Mathole as the co-ordinator.

The first project undertaken was to interview some of those who had been in exile and had returned to South Africa. It was to have focused on the circumstances leading to the exile, their life in exile and their perceptions of South Africa after having returned.

The second part of the project was to have done follow-up interviews one or two years later, to see what they were doing and how they were coping with being back in South Africa.

When the project was conceptualised, it was hoped to cover the wide spectrum of exile experience, of people based in the camps, in Lusaka, in London, in the Soviet bloc countries, in developing countries; of those who left in the 1960s; after 1976 and in the 1980s; and of those who grew up in exile; those who occupied leadership positions and those who were rank and file members.

Unfortunately, the project was never completed as it was undertaken in a climate of change and uncertainty. Due to the fact that the project was never completed some of the interviews stop before the period in exile could be covered. The interview with Soli Modise was included in this project because of his knowledge of Alexandra township, although he never went into exile. All the interviews were conducted by Tom Mathole.

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.

This collection documents the ANC's enquiry into three areas:

Report of Commission of Inquiry into Recent Developments in Angola;

Report of Commission of Inquiry Investigating the Death of Mzwakhe Ngwenya (Thami Zulu);

Motsuenyane Commission on Treatment of ANC Prisoners.

The great majority of the items in this collection date from the 1980s. The categories making up the collection are t-shirts, stickers, badges, banners, calendars, videos and miscellaneous items.

The "Jo'burg City, Whose City?" exhibition of photographs took place in 1990, and was part of an oral history project looking at the inhabitants of Johannesburg and the impact of the Group Areas Act.

At the Transvaal Anti-SAIC Committee (TASC) Conference in January 1983, two decisions were taken. The one was to lead to the formation of the United Democratic Front (UDF). The other less well known decision taken by the delegates was to revive the defunct Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC).

The TIC was formed at the turn of the 20th Century by Mahatma Gandhi. The TIC was not banned following in the wake of Sharpeville, but it was severely affected by the harsh repression of the period. Many of its leaders were either banned, imprisoned or went into exile. By the mid-1960s the activities of the TIC had declined and by the early 1970s it was virtually non-existent.

This was also the period of the rise and popularity of Black Consciousness, and the young activists in the Indian Community were involved in new organisations. By the late 1970s, a group of people began emerging who were sympathetic to and associated themselves with the non-racial policy of the Congress Alliance of the 1950s. They were referred to as the "Charterist", a term derived from adhering to the principles of the Freedom Charter adopted at the Congress of the People in 1955 by the Congress Alliance. This group of people began operating in the Indian areas of the Transvaal by taking up bread and butter issues in an effort to mobilise the community against apartheid.

The strategy to take up concrete socio-economic issues that affected the lives of people led to campaigns around issues such as rents, poor housing, inadequate transport and inferior education.

In 1981 a meeting was held in Lenasia to discuss the response of the Indian Community to the forthcoming elections for the South African Indian Council (SAIC). The Charterist Group and the Black Consciousness Group contested the elections to serve on the committee that was formed at the meeting to oppose the SAIC elections. The former grouping won total control over the committee. The Transvaal Anti-SAIC Committee was made up of many TIC activists of the 1950s and 1960s.

The committee actively campaigned for a boycott of the SAIC elections in a style reminiscent of the Congress Alliance. At the mass meetings and in the publications of the TASC committee leaders of the Congress Alliance such Luthuli, Sisulu, Mandela, Dadoo, Naicker, etc were invoked. The Freedom Charter and non-racialism was advocated. A similar situation was underway in Natal under the banner of the Natal Indian Congress, which was revived in 1971.

The culmination of this process was a resounding boycott of the SAIC elections and the holding of the TASC Conference in January 1983. This conference was a national gathering of activists opposed to apartheid across the racial divide of South Africa. It was here that the decisions were taken to form the UDF and to revive the TIC.

On May 1, 1983 the TIC was revived and virtually the entire TASC committee formed the executive committee of the TIC. Indeed the President and Secretary, Dr. Essop Jassat and Ismail Momoniat respectively, of the TASC assumed the same role for the TIC.

The TIC affiliated to the UDF on its formation and was one of its leading affiliates, especially in the Transvaal. The TIC consciously promoted the idea of non-racialism, and sought to mobilise the Transvaal Indian community under the dual banner of the TIC and the UDF. The UDF logos and slogans were included in the TIC media, and UDF leaders were invited to address all TIC rallies. UDF media was also distributed in the Indian areas.

The TIC conducted an extensive campaign to boycott the Tricameral parliament system by not participating in the elections scheduled for August 1984. House visits, mass meetings and pamphleteering were conducted throughout the Indian townships of the Transvaal. TIC branches were established in the major urban areas such as Lenasia, Laudium, Actonville, Johannesburg (Town), Azaadville and Roshnee. The activists from these areas were sent to the country towns to do mass work usually with a few local supporters.

The apartheid state responded by harassing and detaining TIC activists and leaders, while publications, media and meetings were banned. The TIC offices were raided. The TIC leaders, Dr. Essop Jassat, Cassim Saloojee and Prof. Ismail Mohammed were arrested and together with 12 other people were charged for treason in what became known as the Pietermaritzburg treason trial.

During the period 1984-1990 the TIC conducted various campaigns around the Tricameral Parliament, municipal elections, education, and repression. The TIC also participated in national UDF campaigns such as against repression, calls for June 16 and May Day to be recognised as public holidays, Defiance campaign, Unban the ANC, Adopt the Freedom Charter and Release Mandela and others. TIC activists in the major urban areas were also active in setting up sectoral organisations in their areas. This led to the creation of local youth, student, civic and women organisations or groupings. By the late 1980s the TIC also began organising the business sector through the formation of the TIC Business and Economy Group.

After the unbanning of the ANC in 1990, the TIC and NIC had several discussions together with the ANC about the their future. TIC leaders and activists became active in the newly formed ANC branches, and provincial and national structures. As a result the TIC became dormant, although it had not taken an official decision to disband.

ANC - African National Congress

SAIC - South African Indian Council

TASC - Transvaal Anti-SAIC Committee

TIC - Transvaal Indian Congress

UDF - United Democratic Front

The Austrian Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) began in 1977 after the 1976 Soweto uprisings. It started as a small group of people who lobbied the Austrian public and government into taking an active stand against apartheid. Over the years the grouping was able to grow and to mobilise the Austrian public in supporting some of the campaigns against the apartheid regime, such as the boycott of South African products. The AAM was not aligned to any political party in Austria and thus had the support of all the political parties. This made it into an effective lobby group, especially in the mid-eighties. The AAM was also in touch with the other anti-apartheid movements in Europe. In 1993, the AAM was dissolved and a successor organisation was founded - the Southern Africa Documentation and Cooperation Centre (SADOCC).

This collection includes interviews by Tony Karon with Issy and Ann Heymann (1988), Bill and Miriam Hepner (1988) and Harry Gwala (1989).

Interviews by Gavin Evans with Zach de Beer (1989) and General Charles Lloyd of the State Security Council (1989).