Digital Southern African Resources

African National Congress Archive

Includes videos, photos, and posters related to the organization's activities, leaders, and campaigns, focused on the 1990s and forward.

African Activist Archive

A multimedia archive sponsored by the MSU African Studies Center and MATRIX “preserving and making available online the records of activism in the United States to support the struggles of African peoples against colonialism, apartheid, and social injustice from the 1950s through the 1990s.” The online archive currently contains around 4,000 documents from more than 75 U.S. organizations, including audio and video, material culture created by organizers (political buttons, posters, and T-shirts), photographs, and documents.

African Newspapers, 1800-1922

Collection provides more than 60 searchable African newspapers published in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Featuring English and foreign-language titles from Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Aluka

The collection consists of more than 190,000 pages of documents and images, including periodicals, nationalist publications, records of colonial government commissions, local newspaper reports, personal papers, correspondence, UN documents, out-of-print and other particularly relevant books, oral histories, and speeches. The collection’s materials were selected with the guidance of national advisory committees consisting of leading scholars, archivists, and public intellectuals in the six countries, as well as scholars from outside the region. Content contributors range from South Africa’s pioneering digitization project, Digital Innovation South Africa (DISA), to libraries and archives from Mozambique, Namibia, and beyond.

Digital Innovation South Africa

DISA is a freely accessible online scholarly resource focusing on the socio-political history of South Africa, particularly the struggle for freedom during the period from 1950 to the first democratic elections in 1994, providing a wealth of material on this fascinating period of the country’s history.

Digital Namibian Archive

Digital items include photographs, audio clips, movies, and the diaries of Hendrik Witbooi.

European Digital Archive of Soil Maps

Contains soil maps from around the world, including Southern Africa.

Forward to Freedom: A History of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, 1959-1994

Archives of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement. Includes Annual Reports, interviews, articles, and video clips.

Harold Scheub Collection

Includes collection of photographs from the 1960s, sound clips of South African languages, and collections from the three-volume set, South African Voices.

Imbiza

A digital repository of photos of videos from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Malawian Native Administration records (1891-1964)

Preserves Malawian Native Administration records which were generated between 1891 and 1964 by Native Authorities (traditional chiefs) in Malawi, formerly Nyasaland. The records represent a rich history of Malawi from the colonial period through the transition up to self-rule. Some of the documents have been digitized, while the full collection is available at the British National Library.

Matsieng Royal Archives

The Royal Family of Lesotho has been based in Matsieng since just after the 1858 war, when Matsieng was established by the second Lesotho king, Mohato (Letsie 1). Matsieng is near Morija, the original missionary settlement in Lesotho dating from 1843, where King Letsie 111 was born. The royal family has been based at Matsieng continuously since the founding of Matsieng, which has been a 'royal hub' of the Basotho kingship and chieftainship. The documents that have accumulated at Matsieng cover material dating from the early 19th century. The collection includes records of historical, political, legal and economic significance. Through this project 30,050 records have been digitised, 6,138 are on bewys while 23,912 are on chieftainship.

Microfilms from the Norwegian Mission Society Archives

A set of 98 rolls of microfilms digitized during January and February 2012. Project managed by Svein Warberg. Hard drive with 66000 images, containing historic documents mainly from Madagascar 1866 to 1980. About two thirds of the original documents are stored in Antananarivo, Madagascar at the Archives of Fiangonana Loterana Malagasy (i.e. the Malagasy Lutheran Church). The remaining originals are found at the Norwegian Mission Society Archives, with the exception of a few ministerial books from congregations in the Lutheran Church in South Africa (ELCSA).

Mozambique History Net

Contains selected newspaper clippings and other resources dealing with contemporary Mozambican history, many of which are in Portuguese, from the beginning of the National Liberation Struggle in Mozambique in the early 1960s to the advent of political pluralism in 1994.

Nelson Mandela Centre for Memory

Contains a number of virtual exhibits on the life and political career of Nelson Mandela, along with a rich collection of documents. Notably, this collection contains the drafts for the sequel to Long Walk to Freedom.

The Nordic Documentation on the Liberation Struggle in Southern Africa

The site provides finding aids of primary source materials that can be found at the different Nordic archival institutions, NGOs and archives of individuals who have been involved in the liberation struggles in Southern Africa. (See map of countries covered.) The available materials are mainly in the Nordic languages, but where possible, English is indicated. The website holdings include interviews with important actors, photographs, publications and posters and pins from 1960-1996.

Official TRC Website

Contains transcripts, amnesty applications, and hearing transcripts from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Ruth First Papers Project

The Ruth First Papers are the collected notes and writings of Ruth First, activist, campaigning journalist and scholar.

School of Oriental and African Studies Digital Archive

SOAS is digitising its collections slowly. These include the Zambezi Mission of the Methodist Missionary Society, but the digitised material so far is minimal. They are in the process of putting our collections of rare manuscripts, books, photographs, audio and film material on-line, to be freely available for everyone.

South African History Archive

SAHA's archival collections are largely made up of documents, posters, photographs, ephemera and oral histories donated to SAHA by individuals and organizations involved in past and ongoing struggles for justice in South Africa. These include significant collections relating to the anti-apartheid struggle, the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). In our archive, you will also find collections relating to SAHA's work using freedom of information legislation to promote awareness of access to information in South Africa, as well as materials created or collected in the course of SAHA's various oral history, education, heritage and outreach projects.

Swaziland Digital Archive

Preserves open access historical photos related to Swaziland from the pre-1880s to the present.

Traces of Truth

Includes not only records generated by the TRC, but also the ever-shifting stories in relation to the TRC carried by a myriad people, including victims. It also includes records used by the TRC, mainly records of state structures, and documentation of the TRC process by a wide range of individuals and organisations, within and outside of South Africa.

UDF 30 Years

Site chronicling the history of the United Democratic Front, including virtual exhibitions and timelines. Includes posters, photographs, documents and other archival materials.

Wilson Center: Cuba and Southern Africa

Cuban documents about Havana's policy toward Southern Africa in the final fifteen years of the Cold War collected by scholar Piero Gleijeses.

Wilson Center: South African Nuclear History

This collection provides a look at nearly twenty-five years of South African nuclear policy. These documents shed new light on the country’s unique nuclear history, from early uranium supply arrangements under the United States-South Africa Atomic Energy Bilateral to the South African response to the September 1979 Vela incident, through the early 1990s when it announced the existence and subsequent destruction of its nuclear program.

Wits Historical Papers

One of the largest and most comprehensive independent archives in Southern Africa. It houses over 3300 collections of historical, political and cultural importance, from the mid-17th century onwards, including a small and eclectic collection of digitised material, including some mid-19th century letters from missionaries and churchmen. Free online access.

BBC: Apartheid in South Africa

The programmes and documents aim to show what life was like for ordinary South Africans as well as revealing key moments in the struggle against this political system.

Overcoming Apartheid

Presents first-hand accounts of this important political movement. Interviews with South African activists, raw video footage documenting mass resistance and police repression, historical documents, rare photographs, and original narratives tell this remarkable story.

South African History Online

Contains a vast archive of articles, biographies, books, photographs, documents and audio and video material. According to their site, the biography feature alone consists of close to 7000 entries, making SAHO the largest biography project in South Africa.

The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela

Site built to accompany the PBS documentary on the life of Nelson Mandela. Includes the documentary itself, as well as transcripts of interviews with figures associated with Nelson Mandela, including Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, F.W. de Klerk, and others.

Chicago Anti-Apartheid Movement Collection

Features interviews with prominent Chicago-area anti-apartheid activists, including Prexy Nesbitt.

Forgotten Voices in the Present

Collection of oral histories from residents in three poor communities - Maandagshoek, Rammolutsi, and Sebokeng - in South Africa.

Inanda Seminary Oral History Project

Collection of oral histories collected by Meghan Healy-Clancy for her history of the Inanda Seminary.

Military Intelligence in Apartheid-Era South Africa

Collection of oral history interviews with military intelligence operatives active in apartheid South Africa.

Padraig O'Malley's Political Interviews

Official site for O’Malley’s Shades of Difference: Mac Maharaj and the Struggle for South Africa (2007), but also contains interviews with a number of South Africa’s political heavy-hitters, from Govan Mbeki to Ahmed Kathrada to FW de Klerk between 1985 and 2005.

Africa Through a Lens

Part of the wider World Through a Lens collection, featuring photos taken from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office photographic collection housed in the National Archives. This collection covers nearly a century of history on the African continent, with content from 25 countries from the Scramble for Africa, the colonial era, and the era of independence.

Die Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft Bildarchiv

In German. The Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main has put on-line a large keyword searchable database of colonial era photographs, 1822-1936, from the archives of the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft [German Colonial Society], a major organization behind Germany's colonial expansion. Covers Namibia, Tanzania, Cameroon, Togo, etc. One can click on the small photos to see a larger version. The database can be searched by Region, Subject Areas, Keyword, Person, Photographer, People. The collection, of thousands of photographs, is also being microfilmed for preservation.

Digitizing the Photographic Archive of Zenzo Nkobi

Housed on the South African History Archive site, this collection comprises approximately 10,000 negatives and slides created by Zenzo Nkobi. These images portray the activities of Southern African liberation movements in exile from the early 1970s to the early 1990s. These images cover the African National Congress (ANC) and Zimbabwean refugee and military camps in Zambia and Botswana in the 1970s. These images also show the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) military training camps, and rare images of the Freedom Camp massacre and other destabilization raids on Zambian soil by Rhodesian and South African troops.

Media Club South Africa

Free high-resolution photo library, featuring stock photography.

Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British Empire

Holds detailed information on over 6000 films showing images of life in the British colonies. Over 150 films are available for viewing online.

Community Video Education Trust

A freely-accessible collection of 215 pieces of video footage (approximately 90 hours of video) created by community videographers in Cape Town during the height of popular resistance in the 1980s and early 1990s.

South African Music Archive Program

The South African Music Archive Project is an online resource collecting around 13,000 audio samples from a range of collections.

The African Media Program

Offers an online, comprehensive database of films, videos, and other audio-visual materials concerning Africa as well as education services about African media. Includes information on 4,007 films based in Southern Africa.

Truth Commission-Special Report

Compiles all episodes of weekly broadcast of Truth Commission Special Report, in addition to transcripts and other documentation from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Africa Cartoons

Features the work of over 180 cartoonists from throughout the African continent.

Africa Is A Country

Forum for news, cultural criticism, and reflections on news from the African continent.

Afrobarometer

Features survey data from 35 African countries. Topics covered include Project aims to conduct regular assessments of social, political and economic opinions in such a way that public attitudes can be tracked over time and provided to policy advocates, decision makers, journalists, and concerned members of the public.