The collection contains the papers of Reinhold Frederick Alfred Hoernle and includes mainly correspondence, notes, press clippings and printed items relating mainly to liberalism and politics.

Incomplete records belonging to the National Union of South African Students (1933 -1992) form a large part of this collection.

The following abbreviations are used in the collection:

ANC - African National Congress.

FONS - Friends of NUSAS.

JODAC - Johannesburg Democratic Action Committee.

NUSAS - National Union of South African Students.

RAU - Rand Afrikaanse Universiteit.

RHODES - Rhodes University, Grahamstown.

SASPU - South African Students' Press Union.

SDS - Studente vir 'n demokratiese samelewing.

SRC - Students' Representative Council.

SASTS - South African Students' Travel Service.

UND - University of Natal, Durban.

UCT - University of Cape Town.

WITS - University of Witwatersand, Johannesburg.

In 1984 NUSAS, along with 600 other organisations affiliated to the United Democratic Front (UDF). NUSAS thus had a long history of political resistance.

The Geneva office of EMPSA, responsible for recruiting, screening and selecting international monitors for the purposes of the programme, could then forward names to EMPSA South Africa for a final decision and endorsement. In practice, given the urgency of the situation, much of the liaison took place directly between international partners (church bodies; non-governmental organisations) and EMPSA South Africa.

Correspondence, lists, profiles on monitors and application forms resulted from this 'recruitment drive' and they are included in the collection.

The Johannesburg based EMPSA head office was responsible for coordinating the programme within South Africa. It provided the base from which monitors were deployed to various regions. Minutes, reports, correspondence, press statements and publications generated by this office are included.

Detailed reports, each with its own distinctive character, submitted by successive monitoring teams deployed in priority areas such as KwaZulu Natal, the Eastern Cape and the PWV make up the bulk of this collection. It should be kept in mind when reading the reports that some of the monitors, unfamiliar with the circumstances in which they found themselves and given the shortness of their stay (approximately six weeks), experienced difficulties in adjusting to the many demands that were placed upon them during the course of their work. Thus certain reports might represent events in a 'subjective light'.

This in no way invalidates their relevance as social documents attempting to convey the intensity of events as they unfolded. Daily and weekly reports (this includes correspondence) supplements the monitors regional final reports. During the approach to the elections, and the elections themselves, the EMPSA monitoring presence was increased. Election teams were grouped under specific areas in a particular region and their reports can also be found under daily/weekly reports.

Monitors were handed background information packs at the start of their programme. They were also issued with a uniform which served to identify the programme. These items are to be found in the collection.

EMPSA worked closely with church networks and established links with other non-governmental organisations, both nationally and internationally. Some of these records are reflected in the collection, notably the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the Independent Forum for Electoral Education (IFEE), the National Peace Accord, the Network of Independent Monitors, the Panel of Religious Leaders for Electoral Justice, Media Monitoring Projects and other observer missions to South Africa.

Other topics in the form of background documents are also included. They include education/youth, election monitoring and observing, policing, negotiations and violence.

This collection consists of two boxes containing the original documents and two boxes of photocopies of the original documents. The inventory for the photocopies differs slightly from the original collection and has been included in a file together with the photocopies for reference.

The Records of the LRC (Johannesburg) currently cover the period 1980-1995 but will continue to be added to as it records are archived.

The papers consist mainly of historical information on USSALEP, minutes, correspondence, records of the various projects and individual files on management committee members and some exchangees. Not all files have been retained; in the case of fundraising correspondence and individual files a sample was considered sufficient to indicate the scope of the project for historical purposes. There is a certain amount of duplication; for the convenience of researchers the minutes have been collected separately in D and additional copies may be found in the correspondence files and mailings to members; material of historical interest may also be found in correspondence files, which are a rich source of information on the organisation. Some photographs are in the original personal files and some have been assembled under N. A number of photos are not identified.