History of South Africa: Primary Sources

The governing social democratic political party of the Republic of South Africa. Use the "Document" tab to find articles, the constitution, declarations, letters, manifestos, speeches, and more.

Created by Digital Innovation South Africa (DISA) and hosted by JSTOR, this collection makes Southern African material of high sociopolitical interest accessible to scholars and researchers worldwide.

Created by the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, this collection includes diaries, letters, memoranda, reports, minute-books, press clippings, pamphlets, photographs, drawings, oral interviews, trial transcripts and financial, legal and personal documents related to the history of South Africa.

Collections of digital resources related to the life and work of Nelson Mandela.

Press clippings from the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.

Contains both primary source documents and secondary source articles and entries.

Official website for the Republic of South Africa's Department of Statistics.

A listing of the episodes of the TRC Special Report series that aired every week between 21 April 1996 and 29 March 1998, produced and presented by Max du Preez

Full text transcripts of amnesty and special hearings, press releases, and other important primary documents.

Preserves and makes accessible moving images from the years of struggle against apartheid.

An independent human rights archive dedicated to documenting, supporting and promoting greater awareness of past and contemporary struggles for justice through archival practices and outreach, and the utilisation of access to information laws.

United Democratic Front Posters from 1983-1991.

A multimedia resource that includes many interviews with participants in the struggle against apartheid.

Records of activism in the United States to support the struggles of African peoples against colonialism, apartheid, and social injustice. Time span: 1950s through the 1990s.

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

A reference source for everyone interested in the late 20th century history of national liberation in Southern Africa (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe) and the role of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden).

A collection of oral histories created by Columbia College Chicago. You can both listen to the interviews and read transcripts of them (keep in mind that some of the recordings may be less audible than others). You can also click on the link to the "Finding Aid" at the top of the web page in order to learn more about how this collection was created.

Transcripts of South African political figures talking with O'Malley about the transition of South Africa from apartheid to democracy.

An independent, girls' secondary school situated in Inanda township near Durban, South Africa.

These collections include "Military Intelligence in Apartheid-Era South Africa" and "'Forgotten' Voices in the Present": Alternative, post-1994 oral histories from three poor communities in South Africa.

Professor Kelly's resources to support the class oral history analysis assignment.

A multi-partner project focusing on the promotion and documentation of literature and literacy in the languages of Africa.

Offers an online, comprehensive database of films, videos, and other audio-visual materials concerning Africa, as well as education services about African media.

An African-led series of national public attitude surveys on democracy and governance in Africa.

Full text primary documents (letters, telegrams, memoranda, etc.) regarding U.S. relations with Africa. Additional volumes pertaining to other years are available.

In the search images search box (on top right hand corner) enter search terms, such as "South Africa".

An open access digital library of African cultural heritage materials created by Michigan State University in collaboration with museums, archives, scholars, and communities around the world.

To search this database from the Center for Research Libraries, enter a keyword in the the "Any Field" box of the Advanced Keyword Search page, and then select one of the following locations from the "Location" drop-down menu (to browse the collection, input an asterisk in the search box):
- Camp Monographs
- Camp Newspapers
- Camp Serials