South African History and Heritage
Digital repositories with liberation struggle collections
For more information on physical archives in South Africa with liberation struggle materials, please visit our links section on Archives and Human Rights Documentation.
African Activist Archive Project (MSU)
A growing online archive of African liberation struggle materials - pamphlets, newsletters, leaflets, buttons, posters, T-shirts, photographs, and audio and video recordings - developed by Michigan State University, in partnership with African organisations. Contains materials relating to US activities in support of the South African liberation struggle.
Visit the African Activist Archive website
Aluka
Aluka is an international, collaborative initiative building an online digital library of scholarly resources from and about Africa, iaround a number of themes, including struggles for freedom in Southern Africa.
Visit the Aluka website
Digital Innovation South Africa (DISA)
Based at UKZN and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, DISA is a collaborative initiative aimed at creating a freely accessible online scholarly resource focusing on the socio-political history of South Africa, particularly the struggles for freedom during the period from 1950 to the first democratic elections in 1994. A number of SAHA collections have been digitised in conjunction with DISA and are available from the DISA website.
Visit the DISA website
The Heart of Hope: South Africa's Transition from Apartheid to Democracy
Contains transcripts of more than 100 interviews conducted by Padraig O'Malley with South African political figures.
Visit the Heart of Hope website
IISH - The Netherlands institute for Southern Africa (NiZA) Collection
Describes the archives of the Committee South Africa (from the 1960s), the Dutch Anti-Apartheid Movement (AABN), Broadcasting for Radio Freedom, Angola Committee, KZA, Eduardo Mondlane Foundation, Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa (NIZA), some local groups and individual anti-apartheid activists held at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam. Includes an excellent web dossier Netherlands against Apartheid, 1948-1994 on the history of the broad Dutch solidarity movement with the liberation struggle in Southern Africa.
Visit IISH NiZA Collection website
South African Heritage Organisations
South African National Heritage Council (SANHC)
The National Heritage Council aims to preserve, protect and promote South African heritage, both tangible and intangible, for sustainable development.
Visit the SANHC website
South African Heritage Resource Agency (SAHRA)
SAHRA is a statutory organisation established under the National Heritage Resources Act as the national administrative body responsible for the protection of South Africa's cultural heritage.
Visit the SAHRA website
SAHO > Museums, Monuments and Galleries in South Africa
Useful directory of South African heritage organisations, organised by province, compiled by South African History Online (SAHO)
Visit the SAHO directory
Related South African legislation
National Heritage Resources Act (no. 25 of 1999)
This Act introduces an integrated and interactive system for: managing national heritage resources; promoting good government; and empowering civil society to nurture and conserve their heritage resources.
Read the Act online