The Gender Education Training Network (GETNET) was a feminist political education organisation formed in South Africa in the 1990s that is best known for creating spaces of thinking and learning to strengthen action and intervention at numerous levels from 1992 to 2014. Recognising the need for gender transformation, GETNET was the first gender training organisation in South Africa that aimed to provide interventions to transform gender relations within South African society. The GETNET programmes were based on four key activities, namely gender training, research, materials development and regular networking events.

ABM - Abahlali base Mjondolo (Shack-dwellers Movement)

ACAOSA - Association for Community Based Advice Officers in South Africa

AEC - Anti-Eviction Campaign

AMCU – Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union -

ANC - African National Congress

APF - Anti-Privatisation Forum

BCEA - Basic Conditions of Employment Act

BBBEE - Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment

BEE - Black Economic Empowerment

CAPS - Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements

CALS - Centre for Applied Legal Studies

CASAC - Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution

CBO - Community-Based Organisation

CC - Constitutional Court

CCMA - Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration

CCS - Centre for Civil Society

CEC - Central Executive Committee

CER - Centre for Environmental Rights

CoRMSA - Consortium for Refugees and Migrants South Africa

COSATU - Congress of South African Trade Unions

DA - Democratic Alliance

DMR - Department of Minerals and Energy

DOJ - Department of Justice

EE - Equal Education

EFF - Economic Freedom Fighters

EJNF - Environmental Justice Networking Forum

FXI - Freedom of Expression Institute

HRC - Human Rights Commission

HSRC - Human Sciences Research Council

ICASA - Independent Communications Authority of South Africa

IDASA - Institute for Democracy in South Africa

IDP – Integrated Development Plan -

IPID - Independent Police Investigation Directorate

ISS - Institute for Security Studies

JSC - Judicial Services Commission

LASA - Legal Aid South Africa

LHR - Lawyers for Human Rights

LPM - Landless People’s Movement

LRA - Labour Relations Act

LRC - Legal Resources Centre

MDGs - Millennium Development Goals

MSA - Municipal Systems Act

MFMA - Municipal Finance Management Act

MPRDA - Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act

NADEL - National Association of Democratic Lawyers

NEMA - National Environmental Management Act

NGO - Non-Governmental Organisations

NIA - National Intelligence Agency

NPA - National Prosecuting Authority

NUMSA - National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa

ODAC - Open Democracy Advice Centre

OUTA - Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance

PAIA - Promotion of Access to Information Act

PAJA - Promotion of Access to Administrative Justice Act

PEPUDA - The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act

PIE - Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act

POSIB - Protection of State Information Bill (the ‘Secrecy Bill’)

R2K - Right to Know Campaign

RCL - Representative Council of Learners (Schools)

RDP - Reconstruction and Development Programme

RGA - Regulation of Gatherings Act

SABC - South African Broadcasting Corporation

SACP - South African Communist Party

SACE – South African Council of Educators -

SADC Tribunal – Southern African Development Community Tribunal -

SALC - Southern Africa Litigation Centre

SAMWU - South African Municipal Workers Union

SAPS - South African Police Services

SARS - South African Revenue Service

SASSA - South African Social Security Agency

SASA - South African Schools Act

SATU – South African Teachers Union -

SCA - Supreme Court of Appeal

SERI - Socio-Economic Rights Institute

SDCEA - South Durban Community Environmental Alliance

SJC - Social Justice Coalition

Sonke - Sonke Gender Justice

SSA - State Security Agency (also SASSA – South African State Security Agency)

SWEAT - Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Task Force

TAC - Treatment Action Campaign

UISP - Upgrading Informal Settlements Programme

The Constitution and Civil Society Project collection documents a multi-faceted research and archival project conducted by the South African History Archive (SAHA) since 2014 with the primary aim to explore the changing relationship between civil society and the South African Constitution as we approach the 20th anniversary of the formal adoption of the Constitution in 1996.

The collection to date consists of thirty-three interviews (audio-recordings and transcripts) conducted by Dale McKinley with leaders of a range of civil society organisations as well as individual activists, academics and lawyers. The interviews cover the three main sectors of civil society – legal/litigation; NGO/academic, and community/union/activist. Interviewees for this project include: Alfani Yoyo (Consortium for Refugees and Migrants South Africa), Alison Tilley (Open Democracy Advice Centre), Booby Peek (Groundwork), Bonita Meyersfeld (Centre for Applied Legal Studies - University of the Witwatersrand), Cherith Sanger (Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Task Force), David Fig (BioWatch), Dustin Kramer (Social Justice Coalition), Elroy Paulus and Lynette Maart (Black Sash), Gareth Newham (Institute for Security Studies), Geoff Budlender (Human Rights Advocate/ legal Resources Centre), Jaap de Visser (Community Law Centre - University of the Western Cape), Jackie Dugard (Human Rights activist/legal scholar/Socio-Economic Rights Institute), Jacob van Garderen and David Cote (Lawyers for Human Rights), Jane Duncan (ex-Director of Freedom of Expression Institute; University of Johannesburg Department of Media/Communications), Janet Love (Legal Resources Centre), John Appolis (veteran unionist and political activist), John Clarke (Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance), Judith February (ex-IDASA; Institute for Security Studies), Kate Tissington (Socio-Economic Rights Institute), Mark Heywood (Section 27), Mashao Chauke (Schubart Park Residents Association), Melissa Fourie (Centre for Environmental Rights), Nathan Geffen (ex-TAC leader; editor of GroundUp), Nicole Fritz (Southern Africa Litigation Centre), Nthuthuzo Ndzomo and Bayanda Mazwi (Equal Education), Patrick Bond (Centre for Civil Society – University of KwaZulu-Natal), Prakashnee Govender (COSATU Parliamentary Office), Richard Callan (University of Cape Town Law School), Roger Ronnie (ex-General Secretary of SAMWU/unionist and activist), S’bu Zikode (Abahlali base Mjondolo), Samantha Hargreaves (ex-Landless People's Movement/Women’s Rights activist), Sandra Liebenberg (University of Stellenbosch Law School) and Simon Delaney (Human Rights lawyer - independent).

Complementing the interviews is a collection of research materials on crucial constitutional rights cases that have come before the Constitutional Court as well as academic, legal and activist materials written over the past two decades on civil society’s interpretation of and interactions with the constitution.

The issues explored during the research phase of this project include:

• The impact of the constitution on the work of civil society;

• The changing attitudes of civil society towards, and levels of trust in, the constitution;

• The extent to which the constitution is accessible to civil society as a tool for transformation.

These oral history and research materials as well as the project report “Riding the Transitional Rollercoaster – the shifting relationship between civil society and the Constitution in-post apartheid South Africa” by Dale McKinley form part of a broader SAHA project collection on the Constitution.

The Constitution and Civil Society Project collection also builds on the materials contained in the Constitution Hill Trust collection (AL3295). The latter comprise a wealth of materials that speak not only to the history of the site, but also the process by which heritage sites are conceptualised and developed, and the vision and development of the constitutional court within the site. It is a combination of historical archive (donated materials related to the history of the site, going back over a century) and institutional archive (materials generated by Constitution Hill Trust relating to activities of the site, and of the Constitutional Court). Materials have been donated by ex-prisoners and their families (such as drawings done by Fatima Meer while imprisoned), as well as ex-wardens and staff (such as handcuffs, batons, uniforms, etc.).

AAMM Alternative Afrikaans Music Movement -

AUD Audio - recording

LP Long - playing record

SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation -

TS Transcript -

Solo Artists and/or Interviewees A - W

AND André Letoit -

BER Bernoldus Niemand -

BRE Brendan Jury -

CAR Carl Raubenheimer -

CHR Chris Letcher -

GAR Gary Herselman -

HAN Hannalie Coetzee -

JAM James Phillips -

JEN Jennifer Ferguson -

JOH Johannes Kerkorrel -

KAS Kasse Mady -

KKO Koos Kombuis -

LES Lesego Rampolokeng -

LLO Lloyd Ross -

MAC Mac MacKenzie -

MAT Matthew van der Want -

MZW Mzwakhe Mbuli -

NOI Noise Khanyile -

RAL Ralph Rabie -

RAY Ray Lema -

RIC Richard Nwamba -

ROB Robin Auld -

ROG Roger Lucey -

SAL Salif Keita -

SIM Simba Morri -

STE Steve Newman -

TON Tony Cox -

VUS Vusi Mhlasela -

WAR Warrick Sony -

WIL Willem Möller -

Bands A - W

ABS Abstractions -

AER Aeroplanes -

BEK Bekimbazo Brothers -

CFL Cherry Faced Lurchers -

COR Corporal Punishment -

DRA Draadloos -

FSM Free State Music -

GBB Gereformeerde Blues Band -

GEN Genuines -

HAP Happy Ships -

ILG Illegal Gathering -

ISJ Isja -

JCS Jo’burg City Stars -

KER Kêrels -

KGB Kgwanyape Band -

KHS Kalahari Surfers -

KOO Koos -

KTM K - Team

LUR Lurchers -

RAD Radio Rats -

SAN Sankomota -

SOF Softies -

SUN Sunshines -

TAN Tananas -

THF Tight Head Fourie and the Loose Forwards -

URB Urban Creep -

WJM Winston’s Jive Mixup -

Compilations A - V

ANA A Naartjie in our Sosatie -

FOR Forces Favourites -

FOS Fosatu Workers Choirs -

NEW New Africa Rock -

VOE Voëlvry -

The story of Shifty Records is a true South African story of musical activism.

When Lloyd Ross, the force behind Shifty Records, first encountered the band Corporal Punishment in the late 1970s, he was blown away by their music what he recalls “the most vital and deeply honest music ever made in South Africa”, and he could not understand why such compelling music could be completely ignored by the music industry. The influences of the music originating from the East Rand bands, and in particular a young James Phillips would become Lloyd Ross’s primary inspiration for recording and producing “honest” music when nobody else would – a path he would never deviate from.

By the early 1980s the country was in political turmoil and the situation would only escalate as the dark decade progresses. With this, a music sub-culture of defiance emerged. Lloyd Ross noticed that young people started to ignore boundaries, became more attentive to each other’s music and started playing together. He felt that “some even believed it was possible to rock apartheid into oblivion’. Still, nobody was recording the music.

In 1983, Lloyd Ross and Ivan Kadey, an architectural lecturer and member of the mixed-race punk band National Wake, set up a mobile recording studio in a Gypsey caravan, hitched to a Ford V6 truck. They would bring a significant shift to the South African music industry. Now legendary and true to its name, the Shifty mobile recording studio shifted between places, and even between boundaries into Lesotho to record their first band Sankomota, who was banned from entering South Africa. The band had previously toured South Africa under the name Uhuru, but half way through, the tour was cut short, presumably due to the lyric content of their songs. When no record company was willing to release the album that Shifty had recorded, Shifty did it themselves and their first album, titled Sankomota was released in 1984.

A prolific recording studio, Shifty continued to produce an album every two months until 1993 and remained one of a few outlets for independent musicians to voice their opposition against apartheid during that time.

These recordings resulted in the most comprehensive collection of South African political and social commentary music in existence with a range of genres that reflect the diverse cultures and influences from which the artists drew their inspiration. The reason being – no other institution would record this music within the context of state repression and censorship at the time, so Shifty virtually did it all.

When Shifty released James Phillip’s 'Wie is Bernoldus Niemand?', the first ever rock album in Afrikaans in 1985, the impact was immense. Afrikaans musicians Koos Kombuis and Johannes Kerkorrel, amongst others, would cite this album as a major influence in their own music, and one that would trigger the emergence of the so-called Alternative Afrikaans Music Movement (AAMM) and the subsequent ground-breaking Voëlvry tour of 1989.

It is interesting to note that the major instigators of the so-called Alternative Afrikaans Music Movement were not Afrikaans at all, but two Englishmen. Lloyd Ross’s determination to capture the Afrikaner voice of dissent and James Phillips’ aspiration to assist young Afrikaners in nurturing positive identities would prove that music transcends language barriers.

With the release of the Afrikaans protest album, titled 'Voëlvry' in 1988 the stage was set and time was right for the Voëlvry tour, sponsored by Shifty Records and the 'Vrye Weekblad', the following year.

Steered by energetic tour manager and rock and roller, Dagga-Dirk Uys, the free birds Andre Letoit, James Phillips as Bernoldus Niemand, Johannes Kerkorrel and the Gereformeerde Blues Band and entourage would ignite towns and cities across South Africa with the sound of rock and roll boere-punk. Banned from most university campuses, they managed to secure alternative venues and performed to packed audiences throughout the tour. When university rector Mike de Vries banned the concert from the Stellenbosch campus, the town experienced one of the biggest demonstrations it had seen in years as 1500 students protested in anger. The bannings and the restricted airplay by the SABC would only boost what Max du Preez called the ‘Boere-Woodstock’. Many believed that Voëlvry boosted the Afrikaans language like few events before it and helped to bring about change.

When once asked during an interview what the highlights of his career were, Lloyd Ross pointed out three ground-breaking events and moments that have become historic in their own right:

• The Voëlvry tour (getting banned off a whole lot of Afrikaans university campuses and generally causing a commotion during a terrible period in SA history)

• Mzwakhe Mbuli achieving gold status on an album despite being banned. His 'Change in Pain' album became Shifty’s biggest seller.

• The honour to have recorded James Phillips’ entire repertoire.

In 2011, SAHA, in collaboration with Lloyd Ross embarked on an archive project to preserve, organise, research and make accessible the endangered archive of Shifty Records. The sound recordings in particular were in urgent need of digitisation to a stable medium, as the formats of many of its historic audio recordings were deteriorating rapidly.

The custody of the archives of the Constitution Hill Trust was taken over by the South African History Archive (SAHA) when it moved from the University of the Witwatersrand to the Women's Jail Section at Constitution Hill in August 2012. The materials in this collection relate as much to the history of the site, as it does to the vision, development and construction of the Constitutional Court, and the conceptualisation and development of Constitutional Hill as a heritage site.

The seed for a new Constitutional Court building was planted in 1995 after many of the Constitutional Court judges at the time felt that the location of the Court in an office block in Braamfontein was not accessible enough. The search was soon commenced for an area that would be accessible and visible, that would aesthetically translate the court’s mission of transparency and inclusiveness, and that would truly be embedded in a context of historical and symbolic importance. After a long process of searching for the perfect site, the judges settled on the notorious Old Fort prison, commissioned by Paul Kruger in 1893 to keep control over the uitlanders (foreigners) in the mining village of Johannesburg. The Fort was later used as a prison and from the beginning of its history white inmates were kept within the rampart walls, while black inmates were held outside. In 1902, Sections Four and Five, known colloquially as Number Four, were built to house black prisoners.

At the time that the Old Fort, declared a National Heritage Monument in 1965, was chosen as a prospective site for the court, it and the Number Four prison complex had fallen into extreme disrepair. Since the vacation of the Old Fort and Number Four in 1983, almost no upkeep had taken place. For many, the Old Fort’s neglect was worrying and the introduction of the Constitutional Court to the site also became an opportunity to renovate and restore the crumbling complex to national monument status. Constitutional Court judge Albie Sachs described the choice of the site in 2003 as a sign of the “transformation of South Africa from a racist, authoritarian society to a constitutional democracy. A more South African centre of repression and hope could not have been found.”

The Constitution Hill Collection located at SAHA’s offices at the Women’s Jail, contains documents, correspondence, publications, and photographs that trace the history of the making of Constitution Hill from the early 1980’s. The collection spans the time from when it was first suggested to turn the entire site (including Number Four) into a heritage site, to the opening of the complex and the Constitutional Court.

The Making of Constitution Hill

The collection includes various documents that concern the making of Constitution Hill as we know it today, including a large collection of site photographs that show the transformation of the site from the beginning of construction in 2002 to the completion in 2004, as well as some site plans and presentation files that were used by the architects, construction companies and planners. Organisational documents like reports, minutes, tenders, business and funding proposals that trace the planning on various levels, from various teams and organisations can be found in the collection. This includes the organisational documents from various committees and state bodies that were either commissioned to implement various programmes, or that were solicited to help with the creation of the site. These teams and stakeholders include: Heritage, Education and Tourism team (HET), Department of Public Works, The Johannesburg Development Agency, the National Monuments Council, and the South African Heritage Resources Agency.

Historical Research

Research into the site’s history and the early history of Johannesburg that was undertaken by the Heritage, Education and Tourism team (HET) in the form of articles, historic photographs and reports are also present in the collection. This research spans the use of the Fort from when it was constructed under the instruction of Paul Kruger, president of the Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek in 1893, to its occupation by the British army during the South Africa War in 1900, to its use as a prison during Apartheid where political prisoners like Henry Nxumalo, Nelson Mandela, O.R Tambo, Barbara Hogan, Winnie Mandela, and Albertina Sisulu were held. The research was undertaken in order to conceptualise the key points of the site that could be included in a programme of permanent exhibitions, which can still be viewed on the site.

Prisoner Narratives

The HET team that was commissioned to coordinate and implement the museum exhibitions on display at the Fort and Number Four researched into the personal narratives of criminal and political male and female ex-prisoners held at Number Four and the Women’s Jail. These ex-prisoners are lesser known, but their stories are important in understanding the processes of arrest and unfair trial during the apartheid era; the prison conditions of black inmates; and the relations to warders. This research takes the form of interview transcripts, video interviews, and ex-prisoner workshop transcripts. An extensive number of these documents relate to the Women’s Jail. Some of the ex-female prisoners still meet on a weekly basis and SAHA is in the process of working with these women on updating and legitimising the collection.

Public Programmes

Planning for public programmes from 2004 – 2007 generated a large amount of accompanying material. This material includes photography, posters, brochures and invitations. Public programmes include exhibitions, festivals, educational tours and programmes, as well as the events that occurred during the public opening of various sections of the complex, such as the Women’s Jail. Documents relating to the site’s participation in the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) are also available.

Historical Papers and Works

The collection holds various historical documents. This includes correspondence by ex-prisoners of the Fort and the Women’s Jail such as Barbara Hogan, Esther Barsel, and Eli Weinberg, Violet Weinberg and Sheila Weinberg. The Weinberg collection of correspondence span Eli, Violet and Sheila’s incarceration; the house arrest of Sheila and Violet; Eli and Violet’s exile in Tanzania; correspondence between Sheila and various Indian prisoners held on Robben Island; and letters from the state, most notably the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Internal Security, to Eli, Violet and Sheila. Fatima Meer’s original drawings and paintings of everyday life in the Women’s Jail are also kept in the archive.

Museum Objects

Museum objects that were commissioned and donated by various institutions and stakeholders can also be found in the collection. Items include warder uniforms, personal items donated by ex-prisoners, and soap, blanket and paper mache sculptures created by male ex-prisoners for exhibition purposes.

From March - September 2013, SAHA conducted an oral history and photographic project exploring the legacy of the 1913 Land Act in three communities in South Africa in order to mark the centenary of this act.

The three communities identified for this project were Driefontein, Mogopa and Braklaagte. TRAC (Transvaal Rural Action Committee) of the Black Sash was active in all three communities, particularly in relation to forced removals and forced incorporation into homelands.

Preparatory archival research was undertaken in order to devise relevant research questions to inform the oral history collection process. Interviews were then conducted in each community, to explore issues including the role of women as agents for resistance (including the Women's Rural Movement), modes of divisions within communities, as well as an exploration of both state and community tactics for resistance.

Gille de Vlieg contributed to the project through photographing the oral history process to create a body of contemporary images to contrast with her archival images in the Gille de Vlieg Photographic collection (AL3274).

Contained in this collection are the materials produced and collected in the course of Land Act legacy Project. This includes the oral history materials, photographs taken during the project, materials collected from community members and project documentation.

This collection contains the audio-recordings and transcripts of twenty-six interviews conducted with ZAPU survivors and other individuals portrayed in the Zenzo Nkobi images in SAHA collection AL3265 as part of a SAHA oral history and research project into aspects of the armed struggle for Zimbabwean independence.

Central to this project are the 10 000 photographic negatives taken by Zenzo Nkobi, a Zimbabwean photographer with ties to Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and contained in the Zenzo Nkobi Photographic collection (AL3265). Undertaken by SAHA in 2010/2011 the aim of this project was to source a more accurate and detailed analogy of events experienced by these individuals within ZAPU and ZPRA during that period, as well as their understanding of the role played by ZAPU in achieving independence in Zimbabwe.

These interviews explore various aspects of ZAPU's history from its early development to its administration and leadership, recruitment and training of military combatants (ZPRA), regional alliances, international solidarity and life in refugee camps. The interviews further provide an insight into post-independence politics in Zimbabwe.

Photographs of some of the interviewees and the project report, titled 'ZAPU through Zenzo Nkobi's Lens' form part of this collection.

AAPSO - Afro Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organisation

ANC - African National Congress

CGT - Camp for Guerrilla Training

FC - Freedom Camp

FRELIMO - The Liberation Front of Mozambique, the Portuguese Frente de Libertacao de Mocambique

FROLIZI - The Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe

GDR - German Democratic Republic

JZ - JZ Moyo Camp

MK - Umkhonto we Sizwe (armed wing of ANC)

MOU - Memorandum of Understanding

MWHA - Matopo World Heritage Area

PAIGC - African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape verde (Portuguese: Partido Africano da Independencia da Guine e Cabo Verde)

RSA - Republic of South Africa

SWAPO - South West Africa People's Organisation

UN - United Nations

UNIP - United National Independence Party

VC - Victory Camp

ZANLA - Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (armed wing of ZANU)

ZANU - Zimbabwe African National Union

ZANU - PF - Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army-Patriotic Front

ZAPU - Zimbabwe African People's Union

ZIPA - Zimbabwe People's Army

ZPRA - Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (armed wing of ZAPU)

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AGOA African Growth and Opportunity Act -

ANC African National Congress -

APF Anti - Privatisation Forum

ARP Alexandra Renewal Project -

ASF Asian Social Forum -

AWC Anti - War Coalition

AZAPO Azanian People's Organisation -

BCC Boiketlong Community Committee -

BCCSA Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa -

BOCOSFO Bophelong Community Development Forum -

CAWP Coalition Against Water Privatisation -

CAX Coalition Against Xenophobia -

CDL Conference of the Democratic Left -

CEPPWAWU Chemical Energy Paper Printing Wood and Allied Workers Union -

CHRA Combined Harare Residents Association -

CNF Community Network Forum -

COJ City of Johannesburg -

COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions -

COREMO Concerned Residents Movement -

DME Department of Minerals and Energy -

EJNF Environmental Justice Networking Forum -

ERP Education Right Project -

EWCCC Evaton West Community Crisis Committee -

FBE Free Basic Electricity -

FBW Free Basic Water -

FXI Freedom of Expression Institute -

GDLC Gauteng Democratic Left Committee -

GDS Growth and Development Summit -

GEAR Growth, Employment and Redistribution -

GIWUSA General Workers Union of South Africa -

IEC Independent Electoral Commission -

KCR Kathorus Concerned Residents -

LEF Labour and Economic Forum -

LPM Landless People’s Movement -

MTBPS Medium Term Budget Policy Statement -

NEHAWU National Education Health and Allied Workers' Union -

NEW National Exploratory Workshop -

OFWCC Orange Farm Water Crisis Committee -

PAC Pan Africanist Congress -

PAWUSA Public and Allied Workers Union of South Africa -

PCR Phiri Concerned Residents -

POPCRU Police and Prison Civil Right Union -

PSC Palestine Solidarity Committee -

RED Research and Education in Development -

RLF Rosa Luxemburg Foundation -

RRCC Rammolutsi Rehatammoho Crisis Committee -

SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation -

SACCAWU South African Commercial, catering and Allied Workers Union -

SACP South African Communist Party -

SADC Southern African Development Community -

SADF South African Defence Force -

SAMWU South African Municipal Workers Union -

SANGOCO South African National NGO Coalition -

SCA Supreme Court of Appeal -

SCR Soweto Concerned Residents -

SECC Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee -

SMI Social Movements Indaba -

SPRA Schubart Park Residents Association -

SRWCC SAMANCOR Retrenched Workers Crisis Committee -

TCC Tembalihle Crisis Committee -

UUSC Unitarian Universalist Service Committee -

VCF Vaal Community Forum -

WEF World Economic Forum -

WOW War on Want -

WCCC Working Class Crisis Committee -

WCR Wynberg Concerned Residents -

Wits University of the Witwatersand -

WSF World Social Forum -

WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development -

The Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) was formed in July 2000 around two important struggles: the struggle against iGoli 2002 in Johannesburg, and the struggle against Wits 2001 at Wits University. Both of these attacks on the working class were a direct result of the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) policy of the African National Congress (ANC) government.

One of the main goals of the APF was to coordinate working class struggles against privatisation. With a strong belief in mass action to achieve their goals, the APF’s involvement in the meetings, rallies, marches and demonstrations as part of their many campaigns led to the development of the movement over a period of ten years.

The APF collection documents the growth and decline of the APF’s ten year existence and bears testament to the organisation’s steadfast commitment in the struggles against privatisation through their campaigns.

The APF collection consists of paper-based and digital documents, posters, ephemera, audio-visual and oral history materials. The documents, ephemera and audio-visual materials were collected by Dale McKinley over a two year period through the APF’s own office; through individual leaders/activists/members both at the APF and community affiliate levels, and through his own substantial personal archive accumulated over a period of ten years as a co-founding member, activist and elected leader of the APF. The oral history collection consists of oral histories (audio and transcripts) from selected APF and associated community affiliate leaders, activists and members. Dale McKinley and Ahmed Veriava conducted these interviews for the APF oral history project on behalf of the South African History Archive (SAHA) in 2010.

Dale McKinley was involved in the predecessor to the APF (the Anti-Igoli Forum) during 1999-2000 and was one of the co-founders of the APF when it was formally launched in 2000. During the first two years of the APF, McKinley was an ordinary member of the APF Activist Forum. In 2002 he became the APF media officer-spokesperson and coordinator of the media sub-committee (a position he occupied until early 2010). During the same year he also became the media officer-spokesperson for the newly formed Social Movements Indaba (SMI - a position he occupied until 2008). As media co-coordinator, McKinley sat on the APF Office Bearers collective from 2002-2005 as an ex-officio member and helped write and produce a quarterly APF newsletter. In 2003 McKinley became a co-founder of the APF-initiated Coalition Against Water Privatisation (CAWP) and acted as its media officer-spokesperson as well as legal liaison until 2010. In 2007, McKinley was elected as the Treasurer of the APF after he had previously acted - during 2006 - in the capacity of interim Treasurer. He served in this position until 2010. At the APF's 2010 AGM (April) he declined to run for re-election and thus stepped down as an office bearer. He remained an ordinary member of the APF until late 2010 when its structures and leadership collective effectively ceased to operate.

Throughout the ten years that Dale McKinley was an activist and leader of the APF, SMI and CAWP, he represented the organisation at a number of national and international meetings/conferences, gave numerous public talks/speeches on behalf of the APF as well as authoring and publishing many educational, academic and media articles and essays on related struggles and debates.

The Mafela Trust organisation was established in 1989 by a group of freedom fighters of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) to research and document the political and military activities of ZAPU and its armed wing, the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZPRA), during the liberation war in Zimbabwe. Records pertaining to ZAPU and ZPRA history, including war records, were confiscated by the government-led Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in 1982 during the post-independence struggle, and never returned.

In the absence of a documented history, the Mafela Trust has been guided by their mission statement "When you go home tell them of us and say for your tomorrow we gave our today", to launch numerous national projects in an attempt to recoup what has been lost. Most notable of these projects are the 'Fallen Heroes' project - an identification and commemoration of those who died during the liberation war, and the ‘War Graves’ project – the location and subsequent exhumation of war graves. Further research and oral history projects bear testament to the Mafela Trust's determination to recover the ZAPU/ZPRA history, including documenting the history around the formal alliance with Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC).

The materials produced as part of these projects form the bulk of the Mafela Trust collection at SAHA and include paper-based and digital materials, photographs, oral history interviews and video material. These materials were identified as endangered in the course of a research, digitisation and oral history project conducted by SAHA in 2010 and 2011, and the materials were relocated to Johannesburg in 2011 for comprehensive archival processing. A selection of materials in this collection has been digitised.

ANC - African National Congress

MK - Umkhonto we Sizwe

MOU - Memorandum of Understanding

MWHA - Matopo World Heritage Area

RSA - Republic of South Africa

ZANU - Zimbabwe African National Union

ZAPU - Zimbabwe African People's Union

ZPRA - Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army

In 2010 and 2011, the South African History Archives (SAHA), in partnership with Tshepo Moloi, Gille De Vlieg, Mmatjatji Malabela, Nonhlanhla Ngwenya and Lucky Zimba conducted a research project entitled "Voices from Below: An Oral and Photographic Community History of Tembisa". The objectives of the project is: to conduct community workshops in Tembisa to collect 'voices from below' oral histories, with supporting photographic components, about the quotidian life in Tembisa. Also to create an oral and photographioc archive at SAHA on the hitory of Tembisa as well as to promote awareness of this archive through preparation of a popular publication and physical and virtual exhibitions.

The Forced Migration Studies Programme at the University of Witwatersrand conducted oral history interviews on the Xenophobia violence that occurred in South Africa in 2008. The interviews were conducted by students in the Forced Migration studies Programme with foreign nationals in the Gauteng area. No audio recording were donated, but the edited transcripts of these interviews forms part of the collection as well as the consent forms signed by the interviewees.