Construction began in the dead night of the 13 of August 1961.The idea was to create a physical division between East and West Berlin in Germany. It also served as a symbolic boundary between democracy and communism. The wall had guard towers and anti-vehicle trenches and various other defence structures. The concrete barrier stretched over a vast distance wrapping around West Berlin, cutting it off entirely from the Eastern side. Anything connecting the two sides was cut off, including telephone wires. Since the construction began while most ...

According to documents released to SAHA under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, the Department of Home Affairs has registered a total of 3720 same-sex civil unions, from December 2006 to November 2011. The South African Constitution and in particular section 9 (3) of the Constitution provides “that the state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, ...

... Principles on National Security and Right to Information. The principles dubbed, "The Tshwane Principles", are based on international and national law, standards, good practices, and the writings of experts. They aim to address issues on "national security-rather than all grounds for withholding information." Furthermore, they guide one on the minimum standard that should be met when restricting access to information on public grounds. These Global principles "were developed in order to provide guidance to those engaged in drafting, revising or implementing laws or ...

On May 1st 1989, academic and activist David Webster was gunned down outside of his home in Troyeville on the east side of Johannesburg by apartheid agent Fredi. Some twenty years later, David's contribution to the struggle has been officially recognized by the renaming of Bloemhof Park in Troyeville to become the David Webster Park on 1 May 2009. A mosaic plaque by artist Jacob Ramaboya has been placed on a wall in the park: "David Webster 1945-1989 Assassinated in Troyeville for his fight against apartheid - lived for justice, peace and friendship" In conjunction with ...

The end of February saw India increasing the number of commissioners to its Central Information Commission. The three new members who will be joining the commission are; Rajiv Mathur, Vijai Sharma and Basant Seth.The incumbent commissioners were selected by a panel which included; the Prime Minister Manmohan Signh, opposition leader Sushma Swaraj, and the minister of law Salman Khurshid.The decision taken by the Central Information Commission to increase commissioners is borne from the increasing pressure and demand to resolve access to information matters in India.The ...

According to materials released by the South African Police Service (SAPS) to the South African History Archive (SAHA) under the Promotion of Access to Information Act, the problem of lost and stolen firearms is rampant amongst police detachments across the country. The statistics that were released suggest that 18,196 police firearms have been lost or stolen during the 5 year period beginning 1 April 2005 and ending on 31 March 2011. The sheer volume of the missing weapons, shocking as it may be, is perhaps not the most worrisome trend revealed by the statistics. The ...

... SAHA collection AL3295 - B01.2.2  Birth child of the 1993 interim constitution, South Africa's Constitutional Court is the highest court in South Africa. Initially housed in temporary accommodation when it was first established in 1994,  it was decided that the court needed a building of its own, worthy of its mandate. It was suggested that the Old Fort prison in central Johannesburg, with its complex and multilayered history, would be an appropriate location and an architectural competition was launched for the design of the ...

In his 2011 state of the nation address, the president said 83% of the nation had been provided with electricity. However, according to materials released to SAHA through the Promotion of Access to Information Act, this is not quite the case.In a document titled; Electricity Backlog Summary, which was released by the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME), indicates that the president's assertions on the state of electrification are not true.The document points out total electrification of 64% when backlogs are factored in, a true reflection of the current state ...

... about PAIA and do not yet feel ready to facilitate training themselves. Indeed many participants expressed a desire for SAHA to undetake extensive PAIA training with their organisations. However, the products are designed not only to assist trainers in training but also to facilitate an individual's own learning about PAIA and the level of engagement at the launches demonstrated this utility well. Durban launch Durban launch Cape Town

... Environmental Affairs and Transport spent a combined total of R57 million on catering for the 2010/2011 financial year and a further R92 million in 2011/2012. The records were released pursuant to requests made by SAHA under the Promotion of Access to Information Act to probe government spending. SAHA requested information regarding departmental spending on catering, air travel, accommodation, meeting venues, security, vehicles and office space for the 2010/11 and 2011/12 years. Put into a service delivery perspective, the 2011/12 combined expenditure ...