Start main page content

Events

Is it time to free the apartheid archives

When: Thursday, 24 August 2017 - Thursday, 24 August 2017
Where: Braamfontein Campus East
Seminar Room, Humanities Graduate Centre, South West Engineering Building
Start time:9:00
Enquiries:

Gabriele.Mohale@wits.ac.za  / (011) 717-1940

The History Workshop and the Historical Papers Research Archive at Wits,  together with Section 27 and Pari will host a colloquium on apartheid archives.

Titled: Is it time to free the Apartheid era archives? Promoting Open and transparent public record keeping for a democratic South Africa, the colloquium aims to create public awareness about the urgent need for an open and transparent regulation of the records of the Apartheid era and to promote initiatives in the interest of sound public record keeping.

Archives and Democracy

Programme

09:00 – 09:15: Welcome Note

Professor Zeblon Vilakazi; Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Postgraduate Affairs)

09:15 – 10:00:  Apartheid Era Archives: Understanding the context ( Keynote Address)

Presenters: Ronnie Kasrils, ANC/MK Veteran and former Minister of Intelligence;  Yasmin Sooka, Executive Director of the Foundation for Human Rights

Facilitator: Professor Noor Nieftagodien, Head of the History Workshop at Wits

10:30 – 11:30: Archives and transparency: Why access matters

Presenters: Henne van Vuuren (Open Secrets) on Navigating the obstacles to access; Marjorie Jobson (Khulumani Support Group) on Human right to the truth and archives and Christine Reddell (CER & Access to Information Network) on the Shadow Report 2016

Facilitator: Maggie Davey 

11:30 – 13:00: State of the archives: How public is public record keeping?

Presentation by a representative from the National Archives, Joel Pearson (Public Affairs Research Institute) on Document wars in local municipality archives and Toerien van Wyk (South African National Archives) on Access to classified records through PAIA

Facilitator: Ivor Chipkin, Executive Director at PARI

14:00 – 15:30:  The law and open archives: Contributions from Germany and South Africa

Presenters: Gerd Rüdiger Stephan (Deputy Director of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and Head of the Archive section on The Stasi Act & Archives, Janet Cherry and Gabriele Mohale on the TRC recommendations relating to State archival records and reflections by a former researcher for the TRC, and Emma Webber (Victoria Mxenge Group of Advocates) on The limits of the Law: the use of PAIA in challenging access

Facilitator: Gabriele Mohale (Archivist at the Historical Papers Research Archive)

16:00 – 17:00: Panel Discussion – Agenda for openness: How do we liberate the archives?

Panelists: Hennie van Vuuren, author of of Apartheid, Guns and Money: A Tale of Profit Karabo Rajuili, The amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism; Dale McKinley, Right2Know and Ferial Haffajee, Huffington Post South Africa

Facilitator: Mark Heywood (Executive Director at Section 27)

calendar iconAdd event to calendar