Two new donated collections added to SAHA's growing collections

Recently the archive received two significant collections from the Human Rights Institute of South Africa (HURISA), formerly called the Institute for the Study of Public Violence, ISPV and from the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits).

The collection donated by HURISA consists primarily of reports and court transcripts forming part of the records of the Goldstone Commission of Enquiry conducted between 1991 and 1994. Equally important, are the records donated by CALS which contain newspaper clippings that were collected and compiled by the International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF), an international solidarity organisation that secretively operated from London until the organisation’s unbanning in South Africa in 1990. Through their activist and humanitarian work IDAF sought to keep the conscience of the world alive by creating awareness about apartheid but more than that IDAF provided critical support through legal aid and welfare support to those affected by apartheid.

Although these are very different collections, it is remarkable how these collections are placed within conversation with the other as these pieces of history are representative of a very divisive and tumultuous past yet also speak to threads of struggles for justice and an enduring spirit of activism.

For more information on IDAF please see White Lies by Denis Herbstein.