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Archives in the trenches: repatriation of African National Congress liberation archives in diaspora to South Africa

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Abstract

The African National Congress (ANC) liberation archives were created in countries all over the world. These liberation archives form part of the national archival heritage of South Africa as they bridge the gap of undocumented history of people who were previously marginalised by the apartheid government. After the ban on liberation movements was lifted in South Africa, the ANC embarked on the process of identification and repatriation of the records that were fragmented throughout the world. This study investigated the approaches followed by the ANC in identifying and repatriating its liberation archives from the trenches to make them accessible. Qualitative data were collected through interviews with purposively selected employees of the African National Congress, MultiChoice, Africa Media Online and the Nelson Mandela Foundation who were involved in the repatriation of the liberation archives. Interview data were augmented through content analysis of ANC documents such as policies, websites and annual reports, as well as observation of the storage conditions of the liberation archives. The key findings revealed that the ANC established an archives management committee that played an important role in the identification, repatriation and, ultimately, digitisation of liberation archives. The committee utilised former liberation struggle members to identify records in ANC hosts in various countries. It was established that, although the ANC was aware of where its records were abroad, not all its records were repatriated to South Africa after the unbanning of the liberation movements. For example, there were host nations, like Italy, that disputed the return of the ANC liberation archives to South Africa. The liberation archives are in the custody of the Fort Hare University as a chosen official repository for the ANC. It is concluded that the repatriation of the liberation archives is an ongoing process, as not all records have been repatriated to South Africa. As the ANC is in power at the time of writing, this is the opportunity for the organisation to negotiate with countries that still have custody of its liberation archives, such as Italy, to repatriate such records to South Africa. A further study on legal ownership and copyright, digitisation and ensuring the authenticity of the ANC liberation archives is recommended. This study can be extended to other liberation movements in southern Africa.

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Notes

  1. The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress, and its allies the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats and the Coloured People’s Congress. It is characterised by its opening demand; The People Shall Govern! The Charter was officially adopted on 26 June 1955, at a Congress of the People in Kliptown. The meeting was attended by roughly three thousand delegates but was broken up by police on the second day, although by then the charter had been read in full. The crowd had shouted its approval of each section with cries of ‘Afrika!’ and ‘Mayibuye!’ (http://www.anc.org.za/kids/freedom-charter).

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Correspondence to Mpho Ngoepe.

Appendix: A list of ANC missions (Pfister 2003)

Appendix: A list of ANC missions (Pfister 2003)

Countries

Cities

Period

Africa

Algeria

Algiers

1962–1993

Angola

Luanda

1975–1995

Botswana

Gaborone

1984–1994

Egypt

Cairo

1964–1994

Ethiopia

Addis Ababa

1980–1995

Ghana

Accra

1960/1961–1989

Kenya

Nairobi

1987–1994

Lesotho

Maseru

1975–1994

Libya

Tripoli

1987–1994

Madagascar

Antananarivo

Early 1980s–1994

Morocco

Rabat

1962–1991

Mozambique

Maputo

1975–1995

Namibia

Windhoek

1990–1994

Nigeria

Lagos

1976–1994

Senegal

Dakar

1975/1976–1994

Swaziland

Mbabane

1976–1994

Tanzania

Dar-Es-Salaam/Morogoro

1962–1995

Uganda

Kampala

August 1989–1992

Zambia

Lusaka

1964–1993

Zimbabwe

Harare

1980–1994

America

Canada

Ottawa

1969–1994

Cuba

Havana

December 1978–1994

USA

New York

1974–1994

USA

Washington

1989–1994

Asia and Pacific

Australia and Pacific

Sydney

Jan 1984–Jan 1993

India

New Delhi

1967–1996

Japan

Tokyo

May 1988–May 1994

Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur

1991–1995

Europe

Belgium

Brussels

1981–1994

Denmark

Copenhagen

Jan 1985–May 1994

Finland

Helsinki

October 1988–July 1993

France

Paris

1981–1994

Germany and Austria

Bonn

Jan 1984–January 1993

Germany (East)

Berlin

November 1978–1989/90

Hungry

Budapest

Existed in 1990–1994

Italy

Rome

1972–1994

Netherlands

Amsterdam

1988–1994

Norway

Oslo

1970s–1992

Romania

Bucharest

1982–1992

Spain

Madrid

1987/88–1994

Sweden

Stockholm

1977/78–1994

UK Ireland

Belfast

Year not provided

UK

London

1960–1995

USSR

Moscow

1987–1994

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Ngoepe, M., Netshakhuma, S. Archives in the trenches: repatriation of African National Congress liberation archives in diaspora to South Africa. Arch Sci 18, 51–71 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10502-018-9284-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10502-018-9284-9

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