The Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an independent international non-governmental organisation based in the United States that works to bringing perpetrators of human rights abuse to justice, investigating and exposing human rights violations and challenging governments to end the abusive exercise of power. It was established in 1978 as the Helsinki Watch, a watchdog organisation aimed at monitoring human rights abuses in the former Soviet Union sphere of political influence. Ten years later, in 1988, the organisation became known as the Human Rights Watch, recognizing that systemic human rights abuse was universal. It currently operates in more than 70 countries.

The documents that make up this collection reflect the activities of the HRW with regards to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

The NGO Working Committee was founded in November 1999 by a number of individuals and ten NGOs that had been involved in the TRC process either on an official level or as members of civil society concerned with the plight of victims of apartheid. The Black Sash initiated the establishment of this NGO coalition. The committee acted as a lobby and pressure group to ensure that Government implements the recommendations regarding Reparation and Rehabilitation made by the TRC in its final Report of 1998. Consequently, the records that make up this collection document the monitoring and lobbying activities of the Committee.

Following the handover of the TRC’s Final Report in 1998, a group of NGOs based in the Western Cape banded together in 1999 to form a coalition to put pressure on the South African government to implement the TRC’s recommendations vis-à-vis the payment of reparations to victims of gross human rights violations. This group became known as the NGO Working Group on Reparations (NGOWGR) under the leadership of Fr Michael Lapsley of the Institute for the Healing of Memories. (A similar coalition had been formed in Johannesburg in 1997. Although there was some interaction between the two groups, they largely operated independently of one another.)

The NGOWGR aided the fight for reparations primarily by writing letters to the press and prominent members of government and the TRC, making phone calls to key role players, arranging meetings with them, and so on, in order to keep the issue of reparations under the spotlight. In doing so, it had to work closely with other victim support groups, such as the Khulumani Support Group (KSG), a national victim support and advocacy group formed in 1995 to assist victims through the TRC process. The relationship between the two groups was sometimes strained, with KSG believing that the process of obtaining reparations ought to be victim-driven, and that other “liberal” groups detracted from this focus.

Among the NGOs that were involved in the NGOWGR were the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Jubilee South Africa, The Trauma Centre, Black Sash, Legal Resources Centre and the Quaker Peace Centre.

The Lawyers for Human Rights is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation that advocates effective human rights and serves as a constitutional watchdog. It is furthermore, an international force in the development and delivery of human rights. It is also primarily provides legal services to disadvantaged communities.

The LHR began in 1979, when its primary focus was to fight against the oppression and abuse of human rights under apartheid. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the LHR focussed on the atrocities committed by relevant South African stakeholders in their attempt to enforce apartheid principles.

It also investigated and prosecuted cases involving attempts by security forces and other role-players to hamper the transition process towards the first democratic elections. During 1994, LHR also played a crucial role in the transition to a democratic South Africa when it assisted with voter education and monitoring processes.

According to the LHR Constitution, adopted in Nov 1994, the aims and objectives of the organisation were:

Promote, uphold, foster, strengthen and enforce in South Africa all human rights, including civil rights, political rights and socio-economic rights. It strives to protect and enforce the provisions of the Bill of Rights and the South African Constitution.

Uphold and promote the utilisation of law as an instrument for the promotion, protection and enforcement of human rights.

Assist in the maintenance of the highest standards of justice administration.

Protect fundamental human rights in accordance with international human rights.

Political independence from all organisations which function within and form part of society. As a non-governmental organisation it has an additional objective to uphold democracy, encourage a human rights culture, promote and strengthen South African civil society.

In order to pursue its aims and objectives, LHR's functions involve:

Engaging in the study of and research into human rights and their protection.

Holding periodic related conferences, meetings and seminars.

Publishing human rights' journals.

Monitoring legislative, executive and administrative State activities and representing human rights infringements.

Issuing publications concerning human rights and related research findings.

Cooperation with national and international organisations committed to the achievement of related objectives.

Providing practical assistance during related litigation matters.

Borrowing money for the purposes of promoting LHR's aims and objectives.

LHR's management, policy formulation and code of conduct for members and employees remain the responsibility of the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees is made up of prominent civil society citizens seriously committed to the issues of human rights. The Board of Trustees are the employer of all employers working for LHR. The powers of the Board are:

To apply, obtain, collect and receive money and other sources of income by means of contributions, subscriptions and donations exclusively for utilisation in South Africa.

Open and operate banking accounts and invest the assets of the Trust.

The members of LHR includes any person in South Africa who holds judicial office, practices as an attorney or advocate, law teacher, legal post in public service or local government, candidate attorney, enrolled for any law degree or diploma, and has had a law degree or diploma conferred.

LHR also has regional membership branches around South Africa. The regional branches are required to promote the aims and objectives of LHR; uphold the objectives and code of conduct; undertake tasks and projects that further LHR's objectives; participate in national projects and activities; and liaise with personnel and employees to offer support and assistance in the performance of functions and projects.

Funding

Since its inception in 1979, LHR has depended on the generosity of national and international funders.

Projects

LHR has been and is currently involved in numerous projects. The origins of many of these projects can be found in this record collection. There are basically eight categories of projects. This being education and training, gender issues, paralegal training, penal reform, refugee rights, security of farm workers, children?s rights, and disability rights.

Education and training

The aim of this project was the propagation of a human rights culture through education and training. It targeted groups at both provincial and national levels of government. The groups targeted are children and adults in urban and rural areas to include matters like paralegals, community learning centres, community-based organisations, state institutions, schools and universities.

Access to justice

This programme aimed at remedying the inequitable access to justice to people living in rural areas. This project involves facilitating legal and para-legal services and training to indigent persons.

Human rights promotion

The project aims at monitoring and exposing human rights violations by means if lobbying, campaigning, research and litigation. The programme focuses on issues such as policing, gender and child rights, disability, criminal justice, prisons, AIDS, environment, international and regional human rights mechanisms, and refugees matters.

The De Wet Potgieter collection is the product of the donor's career in the South African news and media over the course of 31 years.

Spanning the late apartheid and transitional periods, into the early 1990s, this collection is a reflection of De Wet's journalistic career, during which he carefully collected all the materials relating to his investigations and ultimate exposure of media disinformation, far right-wing activities and government malpractice. It further includes material relating to the many covert operations and front organisation of the South African Defence Force (SADF) and the undercover operations of the Security Branch of the South African Police (SAP). In his narrative to the collection he explains:

"As a result of my work as court reporter I came into contact with a lot of security policemen and intelligence operatives who made a point of talking to members of the Afrikaans language newspapers and passing on bits and pieces of information that the "lefties" did not get. Little did I realise at that stage that this was part of a very deliberate well orchestrated campaign in sowing dissent and disinformation to the media."

All through the years he was to keep "each and every document, top secret information and other material leaked" to him carefully collected in boxes. All these materials are now contained in the document series of the De Wet Potgieter collection. This series also includes materials relating to PW Botha and the Mandela tapes, PW Botha's last cabinet meeting, threats against the De Klerk regime, and the assassinations of Chris Hani and former Swedish prime minister Olof Palme.

The other series in this collection comprises the oral history interviews with individuals involved in military intelligence operations during the apartheid era, conducted by De Wet Potgieter on behalf of SAHA from 2009 to 2010 as a contracted employee . Materials in this series include the audio recordings, transcriptions, and English translations of Afrikaans transcriptions. SAHA is the copyright holder for these materials.The third and last series in this collection contain the Doug Lee photographic material.

Starting his career as a court reporter at the Afrikaans newspaper "Oggendblad" in 1974, he continued to work as municipal reporter, military correspondent and general reporter at some of the most significant Afrikaans newspapers in the country before he became news editor of "Die Vaderland". After a short stint as news editor of Afrikaans magazine "Rooi Rose" in 1986, he returned to the demanding realm of newspapers when he could no longer resist the call of the news desk. From 1986 to 1993 he was first bureau chief and then investigative journalist at the "Sunday Times". He next moved to the Afrikaans Sunday newspaper "Rapport" as investigative journalist until 2004.

It was at "Rapport" that he joined forces with his old friend and photographer Doug Lee, and together the two covered many groundbreaking stories, forming a formidable team as investigative journalist and news photographer. Doug Lee's photographs, many of which are a result of his teamwork with De Wet Potgieter, are now part of the De Wet Potgieter collection. Complementing De Wet's collection, many of Doug Lee's images document historic events leading up to the first post-apartheid democratic elections in South Africa in 1994. His lens also captures, in particular, many right-wing activities, including numerous Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) marches with leader Eugene Terreblanche almost always in attendance.

De Wet Potgieter is the author of "Contraband, South Africa and the International Trade in Ivory and Rhino Horn", published by Quellerie Publishers in 1995, and "Total Onslaught", published by Zebra Publishers in 2007.

ANC - African National Congress

APLA - Azanian People's Liberation Army

AWB - Afrikanerweerstandsbeweging

BBB - Blanke Bevrydingsbeweging van Suid-Afrika

BSP - Boerestaat Party

CCB - Civil Cooperation Bureau

DCC - Directorate for Covert Collection

IFP - Inkatha Freedom Party

ITU - Investigation Task Unit

KVS - Kerk van die Skepper (Church of the Creator)

MK - Umkhonto we Sizwe

PAICC - Pan Afrik Industrial Investment Consultants

PAC - Pan Africanist Congress

SACP - South African Communist Party

SADF - South African Defence Force

SAIMR/SAIMAR - South African Institute of Maritime Research

SAP - South African Police

SDU - Self Defence Units

TREWITS - Teen-rewolusionere Inligtingtaakspan (Counter Revolutionary Intelligence Task Force)

VRMB - Verenigde Regse Massa Beweging

WAM - World Apartheid Movement

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The Mark Gevisser collection comprises the material collected during research done for Mark Gevisser’s biography of Thabo Mbeki entitled The Dream Deferred (2007). The material mainly consists of secondary research sources in the forms of newspaper clippings, journal articles, book extracts, public and internal ANC documents (such as press statements, minutes of meetings and correspondence), Mbeki’s own writing (speeches and articles) and Gevisser’s notebooks. The collection further includes audio cassettes of interviews conducted, for the most part, by Mark Gevisser with family, friends and colleagues of Thabo Mbeki.

The Mbeki biography starts with an exploration of the familial roots of the ‘non-traditional’ Moeranes and Mbekis; the meeting and coming of political awareness of Mbeki’s parents Epainette Moerane and Govan Mbeki in 1930s Durban; their move to the rural Mbewuleni in the Transkei, Thabo Mbeki’s birthplace and Mbeki’s childhood and schooling in Mbewuleni, Queenstown and Alice (Lovedale) during the years missionary schools were transferred to state schools under Bantu education. The following part explores Mbeki’s move to Johannesburg in 1960 to study for his A levels through Sached in order to do a British degree; his joining of the SACP and his departure into exile in 1962 to study economics at the Sussex University. The next part covers the period from 1962 to 1971 when Thabo Mbeki studied in Britain, against the backdrop of the Rivonia trial and imprisonment of the ANC high command back home, and later at the Lenin Institute in Moscow; Thabo Mbeki’s involvement with the international anti-apartheid and anti-racialist movements as well as youth groups YSS and SASA and his relationship to the ‘new’, anti-Soviet left. The following section tracks Thabo Mbeki’s return to Africa in 1971; his marriage to Zanele in 1974; his time spent working in Zambia, Swaziland and Nigeria in the ANC’s ‘Revolutionary Council’ as well as the ANC’s relationship with the IFP, and the disintegration of the Mbekis’ familial bonds. The final three sections look at the period of negotiations from 1978 to 1994, Thabo Mbeki and other exiles’ return home from 1990 and lastly the Mandela and Mbeki presidencies from 1994 onwards. The chapters on negotiations explore Mbeki’s role in turning the ANC’s public image around in the 1980s whilst overseeing the Department of Information and Publicity, and in securing a negotiated settlement. The final part focuses on Mbeki’s relationship with Mandela and the manner in which he handled debates about the economy, the arms deal, racial reconciliation and the AIDS crisis.

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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The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation (AKF) collection was first created in September 2015 as a digital collection, intended to create access to various digital records relating to the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation's work on non-racialism, through SAHA's online repository "Tracing the Unbreakable Thread".

The first series in this collection relates to the AKF's 2011 Leaders' Project. This series consists of 26 transcripts of interviews conducted for the project, as well as the project report, published by the AKF in 2012.

The black-white joint councils appeared under a variety of names - Europeans and Africans/Non-Europeans/Bantu/Natives, according to the accepted nomenclature of the time. There were, in addition, Coloured-European and Indo-European joint councils. In only two instances did a joint council include Africans, Europeans and Coloureds (Bloemfontein and Umtata) and in only one case (Johannesburg) was there a separate council for European and African Women.

The joint councils owed their inspiration to two Americans, Dr. James Aggrey, who was black, and the Rev. Thomas Jesse Jones who was white. They came to South Africa in 1921 as members of' a commission sent by the Phelps-Stokes Foundation to enquire into education for Africans. They were deeply distressed by the signs of racial tension and advocated the introduction of inter-racial councils which had proved successful in the American south. They persuaded black leaders and white liberals, in particular C.T. Loram {Chief Inspector of Education in [Natal) and J.D. Rheinallt Jones (Secretary for the Witwatersrand Council of Education) to form racially mixed councils, adapting, where available, the native welfare societies, composed solely of whites.

The first joint council was established in Johannesburg in 1921. Soon joint councils sprang up in other towns throughout South Africa and also in Southern Rhodesia and the need became obvious for a national organisation. This resulted in the formation of the South African Institute of Race Relations in 1929 but joint councils continued to exist. There was a close relationship between the Institute and the joint councils. The Institute's secretariat helped to send out circulars and Institute staff such eel J.D. Rheinallt Jones, Ngakane and A.L. Saffery travelled the country encouraging the formation of new councils and trying to resurrect defunct ones. Despite efforts to link joint councils by newsletters, conferences and the Consultative Committee, essentially each council operated on its own and stood or fell according to the enthusiasm of its members.

The people who participated in joint councils were mostly from the professions. There were clergy of all denominations, including the Dutch Reformed Church, and without their help the councils could not have survived. From the universities there were people like E. Brookes, M. Hodgson (later Mrs Ballinger), L.A. Hoernlee, D.D.T. Jabavu and W.M. Macmillan. There were lawyers like D. Molteno, O.D. Schreiner and W.H. Ramsbottom, journalists like R.T. Mackenzie, R.F. Selope Thema and H. Selby Msimang, civil servants like C.T. Loram and Major J.F. Herbst, municipal officials like G. Ballenden, head of the Native Affairs Department of Johannesburg City Council and businessmen like J.H. Pim and M. Webb.

The aims of joint councils were:

1. To promote the well-being of the Union and good relations between the European and Non-European peoples through discussion and practical co-operation.

2. To investigate and deal with any matter affecting the relations of the races.

3. To initiate or support measures for the amelioration of social and economic conditions, particularly within the Council's own areas.

4. To make representation on specific matters to Governmental and other authorities.

5. To publish the results of discussions and investigations on racial matters.

6. To enlighten the public and create a sound public opinion on racial questions.".

Fundamental to all these objectives was the fact that a joint council involved the races working together. While not achieving all their aims they were instrumental in having improvements made in the living conditions of Non-Europeans, particularly in having clinics, creches and schools built. They took a strong line on questions of broad policy issues such as the Colour Bar legislation and organised campaigns to make the people's feelings known to government.

The joint councils had varying fortunes from those which had only a brief existence to others which functioned far many years such as Johannesburg (1921-1955), Grahamstown (1921-1973), Port Elizabeth (1924-1952), Pietermaritzburg, (1927-1960) and Pretoria (1934-1963). Lack of visible achievements led blacks to withdraw from the joint councils and join political organisations. Nevertheless, the joint council movement was an interesting experiment in race relations, in learning to work together within the existing system to bring about changes.

The Commission was appointed in 1930 and headed by Dr. John Edward Holloway. The Terms of Reference of the Commission included an inquiry into "The economic and social conditions of Natives especially in the larger towns of the Union", which in essence was its main concern.

The Commission gathered its evidence mainly through submissions from all sectors of society and through public hearings throughout the Union of South Africa. The areas of inquiry were defined by a list of subjects, which were published in the Government Gazette and included amongst others: 'Tribal and Detribalised Natives', 'Land', 'Landless Native Population', 'Native Migrations', 'Native Agriculture', 'Rural and Urban Native Areas', 'Native Labour', 'Education of Natives', 'Native Taxation'.

Institution: ASSOCIATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Subordinate body: STANDING COMMITTEE OF ASSOCIATED CHURCH SCHOOLS