Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1998 (Accumulation)
- 1998 (Accumulation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
0.1 linear metre (1 archival box) containing 1 paper
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The South African Defence Force Contact Bureau was an organization of members of the former South African Defence Force (SADF). The panel of the Contact Bureau consisted of four retired chiefs of the former SADF. These are Generals MA Malan, CL Viljoen, JJ Geldenhuys and AJ Liebenberg. On 30 August 1997 the Generals organized the 'SADF Symposium and Reunion'. The intention of the symposium was, according to its conveners, 'to counteract the one-sided, negative image of the former SADF that had arisen as a result of the TRC proceedings in South Africa'.
The four aforementioned retired generals each read a paper at the symposium. A letter was drafted at the symposium and sent to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). It criticizes the TRC for its apparent bias towards the African National Congress (ANC), its apparent prejudice against the former SADF and white South Africans and a history of the former SADF.
Effectively the contents of the letter are an apology of Apartheid's state-sanctioned violence against its political opponents and a further criminalization of oppositional politics and activities of the liberation movements
The papers that were delivered at the SADF Symposium and Reunion as well as the letter of the Contact Bureau are reproduced as full texts on the following website:http://home.wanadoo.nl/rhodesia/samilhis.htm
Included in this collection is a press release of a complaint lodged by the Generals to the Public Protector. Response to this complaint is documented in the 'The TRC Report of the Office of the Public Protector' (AL3062/E 3).
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Included in this collection is the letter of criticism to the TRC and a press release of a complaint lodged by the Generals with the Office of the Public Protector.
Materials collected from TRC Archival Audit.
The TRC Archival Audit
Between 2003 and 2006, SAHA and Historical Papers, University of Witwatersrand embarked on a project to locate, retrieve and make available records relating to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC). The project entailed conducting an archival audit of all existing TRC records in order to identify and locate documentation in danger of being lost.
In the process of conducting the archival audit, SAHA and HP located many collections from individuals and organizations that participated in the TRC process, including this collection. Selections from these materials as well as TRC related material found in the freedom of Information Collection and other pre-existing SAHA and HP collections, were digitized and can be accessed online at http://truth.wwl.wits.ac.za/
A guide to archival resources relating to South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission can also be found at http://www.saha.org.za/pdf/trc_directory.pdf
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
This collection is open for research
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Uploaded finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
20090730