P Jordan: Rivonia Trial Papers listing on Unesco world archives

19 February 2009

Former President Nelson R Mandela,
Members of the Mandela family,
Comrade Ahmed Kathrada,
MEC for Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation in the Gauteng Province, Ms Barbara
Creecy,
Your Worship, the Mayor of Tshwane,
Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Members of the National Archives Advisory Council,
Members of the South African National Commission of Unesco,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen

We are here this morning to enter into the Memory of the World Archives
documentation relating to a notorious legal process. It must be absolutely
clear us all that we are preserving for posterity something that should never
have occurred. What we are doing is safeguarding for future generations, both
here and in the rest of the world the record of an act of repression, the
Rivonia Trial of 1963 to 1964.

There does appear to be a great deal of confusion about three different, but
equally well-known trials. For the benefit of our media, where this confusion
seems to reign supreme, I want to set the record straight. Hopefully, this will
be the last time one is required to do this.

In 1952, Nelson Mandela, as volunteer in chief during the Defiance Campaign
of 1952, was charged together with others, in what became known as the Defiance
Campaign Trial. In 1956, Nelson Mandela, together with 156 other leaders of the
ANC and its allied organisations was charged with treason, in the Treason Trial
of 1956. That case finally collapsed in 1961, and all the accused were
discharged.

In 1963, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Dennis Goldberg, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed
Kathrada and others were charged with planning acts of sabotage and plotting to
overthrow the apartheid regime. That trial is known as the Rivonia Trial, after
the suburb of Johannesburg where they were arrested, it began in 1963 and ended
in 1964.

Though they were accused of plotting to overthrow the apartheid regime,
treason did not feature among the charges. It is important that we clearly
distinguish among these three trials because we have so often seen media
references to the "Rivonia Treason Trial", which creates confusion and has
badly muddied the waters. Perhaps this arises from the fact that Nelson Mandela
was among the accused in all three these cases, but they are very distinct.

Today's event relates to the Rivonia Trial of 1963 to 1964 alone.

Today's event takes place during the year that the father of South African
democracy, Nelson Mandela, will be celebrating his 91st birthday. And, may you
see many, many more! I am reminded of what you said during last year's Annual
Nelson Mandela Lecture delivered in Kliptown. You joked that many had attended
out of curiosity because they wanted to see what a 90 year old man looked
like!

I'm told that many people, who had the privilege of attending, said the
lecture so rejuvenated them, that the words of wisdom from yourself and
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, so inspired them that they said you
were 90 years young! May you long retain that inspirational youthfulness,
Myem-yem.

I also would like to use this opportunity to congratulate MaSisulu, Comrade
Albertina Sisulu, who like you celebrated her 90th birthday on the 21st October
last year. The long and enduring friendship between you and Mama Albertina is a
matter of record, as is your comradeship in the struggle for freedom and
democracy. No words can express the profound appreciation and gratitude of our
people for the sacrifices you both made so that we can enjoy the freedom we
have today.

Programme Director,

As we all know, Nelson Mandela was accused number one in the Rivonia Trial.
When we celebrated his 90th birthday last year, the world recalled his stirring
words, pronounced in his statement from the dock, and I quote:
"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African
people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black
domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in
which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is
an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an
ideal for which I am prepared to die."

It was those memorable words that transformed what was otherwise a desperate
act of repression into a heroic moment, which no one can ever forget! The
manikins and shrill-voiced midgets of the prosecution team have long been
consigned to the dust-bin of history, but the men of Rivonia attained
immortality in the eyes of the world community because of their undaunted
courage and those defiant words.

South Africa, Southern Africa and its people all owe a great debt of
gratitude to all those who were charged and imprisoned as a result of the
notorious Rivonia Trial. I want personally, to thank all the Rivonia Trialists
who shared their personal accounts during the re-union held at the Nelson
Mandela Foundation of 14 March 2008.

On an occasion like this, we must recall also the names of the trialists who
are no longer with us: Govan Mbeki, Elias Motsoaledi, Lionel"Rusty" Bernstein,
Walter Sisulu and Raymond Mhlaba. We recall too the sterling role played by the
international community who supported our trialists and believed in our
cause.

A trial of this magnitude generated a lot of documentation in the form of
photographs, files, written reports, leaflets, pamphlets, notebooks,
dictabelts, sound recordings etc. The mandate of the National Archives and
Records Service of South Africa is to collect, preserve and make accessible
public and non-public records under its custody. Because of the interest
created, at home and abroad, during and after this trial, it has not been
possible to have a complete set of the Rivonia Trial papers here at the
National Archives.

The records are scattered all over our country. Some are universities;
others are in libraries and collections in other parts of the world. During the
recent years the National Archives embarked on a drive to locate all these
records, with a view to repatriating them to South Africa, or at the very
least, obtaining copies of them to be deposited at the National Archives.
According to the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa Act No
43 of 1996 (as amended), the Rivonia Trial papers are public records, and
therefore have to be preserved at the National Archives of South Africa.

The process of tracing and repatriation has been slow and arduous. During
2000, for example, Mr. Mandela handed the microfilm copies of these papers to
my predecessor, the then Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology
(DACST), Dr Ben Ngubane, for onward transmission to the National Archives of
South Africa for preservation. We thank you, Madiba, for that public spirited
gesture. On 28th November 2008, the Oppenheimer Family, who had acquired a
sizeable collection of the papers from the leader of the prosecution team,
Percy Yutar, handed that collection to the National Archives of South Africa.
Let me once again thank the Oppenheimer family for that gesture. All these
original documents are now preserved at the National Archives of South Africa
where they rightly belong.

Programme Director, I would now like to turn to the Memory of the World
Programme of Unesco. To quote Ms Miriam Nisbet, Director of the Information
Society Division of Unesco:
"The memory of the World is the recorded collective legacy of the peoples of
the world. It is a significant proportion of the world's heritage of human
achievements since the dawn of time."

Unesco, having realised the potential dangers, both man-made and natural
disasters, threatening documentary heritage, established a Memory of the World
Programme in 1992. The objectives of the programme are:

* To preserve the world's documentary heritage by providing practical
assistance, advice and information, training of information professionals and
by obtaining sponsorships for worthy projects.
* Promoting universal access to documentary heritage by, for example,
digitising collections, use of the world wide web, publishing and distribution
of books, CDs, whilst respecting the laws governing copyrights and intellectual
property of countries, and most importantly, taking cultural sensitivities into
consideration, including the rights of indigenous peoples to hold custodianship
of their cultural heritage and guardianship of access to that heritage.

The programme's main strategic objectives are:
* identification of documentary heritage the world over
* raising awareness of documentary heritage
* preservation
* promotion of access.

The Memory of the World Programme is a three tiered structure managed at the
International, Regional and National levels. The Director General of Unesco
appoints 14 experts from around the world to advise him about collections and
to make recommendations regarding the awarding of the Unesco or JIKJI prize for
preservation of endangered documentary heritage. The prize is sponsored by the
Government of the Republic of Korea. It has already been won by the Czech
Republic and by Austria.

It was during the historic eighth meeting of the International Council on
Archives held in Tshwane, between 11 to 15 June 2007 that two more South
African collections were placed on the International Register of the Memory of
the World. These are the Rivonia Trial papers and the DOXA Collection, the
latter being an audio–visual collection focusing on the worst aspects of the
apartheid system. Our country has a total of four collections on the
International Register, the other two being:
* The Bleek collection, documenting the activities of the San people of the
Kgalagadi, housed at our National Library Campus in Cape Town. That collection
was listed many years ago, thanks to the efforts of then State Librarian, Dr
Peter Lor.
* The Dutch East India Company (also known as the VOC) collection, documenting
the history of that giant trans-national company, with its headquarters in the
Netherlands, that operated on our shores, in Indonesia, Malaya, India, Sri
Lanka and the China seas during the colonial era. South Africa is part of an
international collaborative project called, "Towards a New Age of
Partnership"(TANAP) whose aim sharing of the documentary heritage generated
during the centuries when the VOC was active in all the countries I have
named.

In South Africa, those records of the VOC are preserved at the Western Cape
Provincial Archives (Cape Town Repository). The Consulate of the Netherlands
made funds available for the transcription of the collection, written in 18th
Century Dutch, so that more scholars and researchers will be able to use it
today. I acknowledged the listing of this collection in Unesco's Memory of the
World International Register in April 2005.

That month, April, was chosen because of its significance, because it Jan
Van Riebeck landed at Table Bay during that month in 1652. The oldest known
written document from that time is a diary, dated 1651, penned by Jan van
Riebeck himself when he was on his way to the Cape. That diary forms part of
the collection now in the Cape Town Repository.

The participants in the Tshwane meeting already referred to also took a
decision to form an African Chapter of the Memory of the World Programme. Its
official name is, Africa Regional Committee of the Memory of the World,
ARCMOW.

The interim structure established in June 2007 was formalised in January
2008, with an Executive Committee appointed as follows:

* President – South Africa: our Deputy National Archivist, Ms Mandy
Gilder
* Deputy President – Kenya National Archives: Mr. John Mreria
* Deputy President - Senegal National Archives: Monsieur Papa Diop
* Deputy President – Mozambique: Mr Simao Jaime
* Deputy President - Mauritius National Archives: Mr Roland Chung Sam Wan
* Deputy President – National Archives of Algeria: Monsieur Abdulaziz
Bechane
* Secretary General – University Library of Namibia: Ms Ellen Ndeshi
Namhila.

During November 2008, the 1st meeting for the ARCMOW took place in Windhoek,
Namibia during which the Namibian Minister responsible for Archives
acknowledged the listing of Chief Hendrik Witbooi's papers in the UNESCO’s
Memory of the World International Register. Delegates from South Africa, Kenya
and Algeria attended this important event, held in the Court Yard of the
National Archives of Namibia on the 19 November 2008, where a plaque was
unveiled.

At the national level, in South Africa, I'm happy to announce that in 2004/5
I appointed a committee to advise me about the collections that could be
nominated for listing in the International Register. The National Committee is
represented by the following:
Chair - Ms Mandy Gilder: National Archives of South Africa
Secretary – Ms Khanyi Ngcobo: National Archives of South Africa
Member – Mr. Dennis Maake: National Film, Video and Sound Archives component of
the National Archives of South Africa
Member - Prof Makhanya – Culture Sector, National Commission for Unesco
Iziko Museums of Cape Town: Prof Bredekamp / Ms.Lalou Meltzer
NFI: Mr Makgolo Makgolo
National Library: Messrs John Tsebe/ Andrew Malotle
Department Science and Technology: Prof Yonah Seleti or Ms Carol van Wyk
SABC Sound Archives: Ms Ilse Assman
Heritage Chief Directorate Department of Arts and Culture Mr Phakamani
Mthembu
South African National Commission for Unesco; Messrs Letlhogonolo Lefoka/
Desmond Fillis
Freedom Park: Lubi Ndaba
National Heritage Council: Thabo Manetsi

I want to thank the South African National Committee for a job well done. It
is thanks to their efforts that the two collections I have mentioned above,
Rivonia Trial and Doxa Collection also managed to get onto the International
Register. I want to encourage them to keep up the good work, more needs to the
done, especially the creation of an awareness of the importance of preserving
our documentary heritage. The public needs to be made aware of the
vulnerability our heritage. They need to be made aware that anyone, be it an
archivist, librarian, student or researcher can initiate a nomination for
possible listing in either a National, Regional or International Register of
the Memory of the World Programme.

I urge our archivists, librarians, museologists, specialists, curators,
historians, conservators to collaborate with colleagues from other parts of the
world to ensure that global awareness about the importance of preserving
documentary heritage is taken to higher levels.

Programme Director, during the handover event held last year November at the
Nelson Mandela Foundation, I urged that the example set by the Oppenheimer
family be emulated by other prominent South Africans who bought portions of the
Rivonia Trial papers from the late Mr Percy Yutar. They should return them to
the National Archives as required by law.

Let me thank Mr. Craig Mathew of Doxa Productions, Cape Town for working
closely with the National Archives and ensuring that his audio-visual
collection also was listed in Unesco's Memory of the World International
Register

I want to thank the staff of my Ministry, of the DAC and the National
Archives for contributing to the success of this project. They include:

* Deputy Minister Ms. N.G.W. Botha
* Mr Themba Wakashe, the Director-General of the Department of Arts and
Culture
* Professor KW Kgositsile, my advisor
* Mr Freddy Mashamba
* Mr Sandile Memela
* Ms Lulama Ndabankulu, from the Ministry

I acknowledge also the contribution of:
* Mr Vusi Ndima,
* Ms Nnete Mothlabani,
* Mr Mack Lewele
* Mr Corney Wright
* Mr Francis Moloi, from the Department of Arts and Culture

The personnel of the National Archives, under the leadership of the Deputy
National Archivist, Ms Mandy Gilder, also deserve special mention.

I will now present certificates on the listing of the Rivonia Trial
Collection to the following institutions:
* Ministry of Arts and Culture. National Archives of South Africa
* Nelson Mandela Foundation
* Lillieslief Museum or Library.
* South African National Commission for Unesco [to be accepted by Mr.
Fillis]

I shall also hand over certificates relating to the Doxa Collection to the
following institutions:
* Doxa Productions
* Ministry of Arts and Culture
* National Archives of South Africa
* South African National Commission for Unesco.

Thank You

Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture