Deep in the bowls of Luthuli House in Johannesburg, an estimated six to eight million documents of untold South African history are being collected and compiled.
On Thursday, Frene Ginwala, African National Congress (ANC) head of archives at Luthuli House, the party headquarters, received the latest addition to the mound of information from the Dutch Anti-Apartheid Movement — a collection of videos, including depictions of boycotts, demonstrations and protests against the apartheid system, which endured for 48 years.
”The videos show the way culture can be used as a weapon of struggle. They depict artists, musicians, exiled comrades who are dead now and who were involved in the anti apartheid movement,” said Fons Geerling, general secretary of the African Skies Project who handed over the archives.
”We are very pleased to hand over nearly 200 hours of the shared history between The Netherlands and the ANC,” said Geerling.
The material was shot by filmmakers connected to the Dutch Anti-Apartheid Movement and by independent filmmakers.
The foundation undertook to restore, digitise and catalogue the material after realising the importance of this aspect of South African history.
”Glancing through the archive is a moving experience. It shows the main campaigns of the Dutch Anti-Apartheid Movement, the confrontation with politicians, the building of a mass movement.
”It means also leafing through the history of the ANC: watching the very first visit of ANC president Oliver Tambo to The Netherlands up to the visit of President Nelson Mandela,” said the chairperson of the foundation, Hedda van Gennep.
ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said it was a ”very important moment for South Africa to receive the rich history collected and filmed” by the Dutch.
”The archives are meant to be utilised to stimulate debate and educate young people on the ideals of our movement,” he said.
The archives will soon be available for public viewing.
”We were written out of history. Now we must generate a commitment to retrieve our history through the media, through documentaries,” said Ginwala. ”Citizen action is what pushed governments to take positions during apartheid; now we need the same kind of citizen action to push the development agenda.” — Sapa