Fonds AL3450 - Open Secrets Collection

Identity area

Reference code

ZA SAHA AL3450

Title

Open Secrets Collection

Date(s)

  • 1980s (Accumulation)
  • 1976 - 2000 (Accumulation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

Comprising of 8.01GB ; 2553 Files; 143 Folders. 38 Main Folders

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

A persistent yet inaccurate myth prevails in South Africa that all of the apartheid state’s records were destroyed. This is not the case, in fact a vast collection of apartheid-era material remains locked away in public and private archives. Between 2012 and 2017, Open Secrets engaged in research in archives across the world in search of the lost stories of apartheid era economic crime. During this period, we collected approximately 40,000 documents in 25 public archives, consulting numerous collections in seven countries including South Africa, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. This material provided the backbone of the publication Apartheid Guns & Money: A Tale of Profit, authored by Hennie van Vuuren and published by Jacana in May 2017. The book, informed by the often newly declassified material found in this archive, tells a tale of global complicity with apartheid. It identifies a global covert network of banks, intelligence agencies, arms companies and politicians that supported apartheid through weapons and oil sanctions busting.

The bulk of the findings in the book, and the material now in this archive are from South African public archives. In mid-2013, 48 Promotion of Access to Information (PAIA) requests were lodged with state agencies in terms of PAIA. Most of these documents date from the period 1978–94 and included TRC-related investigations (from the late 1990s). Most requests were ignored or refused on flimsy grounds. It was thanks to the persistence of The South African History Archive (SAHA), assisted by lawyers from Lawyers for Human Rights and pro-bono counsel from Geoff Budlender, Nasreen Rajab-Budlender, Nyoko Muvangua, Hermione Cronje, Lebogang Kutumela and Frances Hobden, that some departments finally (though only partly) relented, and provided access to this information. Much of it has been untouched by South African researchers. It’s a rich vein of material that demands our attention as we come to understand our story.

Where at all possible, the archives provided here include some of Open Secrets’ summaries of the documents contained there. All inventories, finding aids, and lists of folders requested are included wherever these are available.

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Scope and content

The Open Secrets collection is a digital collection. It has been arranged according to the location of information acquired in the process of research by Hennie Van Vuuren. Available online are research notes and summaries of information compiled by Open Secrets. The copies of documents from these sources/archives will not be put online, however they will be made available on inquiry by researchers.

Section 01: African National Congress Archive based at Fort Hare University.

Section 02: Bodleian Library University of Oxford.

01 Anthony Sampson papers; 02 Minerals and Resources Corporation Ltd (Minorco) Reports; 03 UK Anti-Apartheid Movement; 04 UK Conservative Party

Section 03: Armscor Archive, South African Government.

Section 04: Auditor General of South Africa.

Section 05: Barbara Hogan donated papers of investigations by the Auditor General, African Studies Library, University of Cape Town

Section 06: Belgium Foreign Affairs.

Section 07:Belgium National Archive.

Section 08: Companies and intellectual Property Commission (CIPC)

Section 09: David Klatzow Papers - Helderberg Air Crash

Section 10: Department of Defense Archive (SANDF)

Section 11: Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO)

Section 12: United Kingdom Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

Section 13: From Verwoerd to Mandela - Original Contributions - Stellenbosch University Library.

Section 14: Julian Amery Papers, Churchill College Archive, Cambridge University.

Section 15: Minister Danie Steyn Private Papers.

Section 16: National Party Papers, Archive for contemporary Affairs, Free State University.

Section 17: National Security Archives - George Washington University.

Section 18: Shipping Research Burea;

Section 19: South African National Archives.

Section 20: South African National Library.

Section 21: South African National Treasury.

Section 22: Swiss National Archive.

Section 23: Times Media Limited (Avusa)

Section 24: UK National Archive.

Section 25: United States Library of Congress.

Section 26: University of Leuven (KADOC)

01 Andre Vlerick; 02 Walter de Bock.

Section 27: World Council of Churches (WCC)

Section 29: West German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Section 30: Wits Historical Papers

Section 31: South African History Archive. 01 DOJ TRC Related Documents; De Beers_Release on OAG PAIA Request

Section 32: Polokow Suransky Papers, DoD Documents.

This is a Digital collection of documents comprising of 8.01GB ; 2553 Files; 143 Folders.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

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This collection is open for research

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Status

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Dates of creation revision deletion

20170811

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