South Africa: Political Parties Material
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- Creator
- Institute of Commonwealth Studies
TitleSouth Africa: Political Parties Material
Reference codePP.SA
Date1919-
Scope and ContentManifestos, speeches, pamphlets, leaflets, letters, newsletters, journals, posters, press releases and miscellaneous election material at national, local and youth levels issued by the African Democratic Party (South Africa), the African National Congress, the African National Congress Youth League, the Azanian Students' Organisation (South Africa), the Congress of the People, the Conservative Party (South Africa), the Defenders of the Constitution (South Africa), the Democratic Party (South Africa), Denis Worrall, the Episcopal Churchmen for South Africa, the Freedom Front (South Africa), the Freedom Party (South Africa), the Herstigte Nasionale Party van Suid-Afrika, Independent Candidates, the Independent Party (South Africa), the Inkatha Freedom Party, the Labour Party of South Africa, the Liberal Party of South Africa, National Conservative Party (South Africa), the National Party (South Africa), the Non-Racial Franchise Association, the New Republic Party (South Africa), the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, the Progressive Federal Party (South Africa), the Progressive Federal Party (South Africa) Youth Movement., the Progressive Party of South Africa, Revolutionary Party (South Africa), the South African Coloured People's Congress, the South African Communist Party, the South African Congress of Democrats, the South African Labour Party, the South African Progressive Reform Party, Umkhonto we Sizwe, the United Democratic Front (South Africa), the Union Federal Party (Natal), the Unification Movement (South Africa), the United Party (South Africa), the Unity Movement of South Africa, and the Vigilance Association (Orlando, South Africa).
NotesAs the Union of South Africa (1910-1961) and subsequently as a republic the country's history between independence from British rule and the 1994 elections has been dominated by the issue of relations between its different racial groups. Following the ascension to power of the Boer-dominated National Party in 1948 racial discrimination became increasingly entrenched in law as part of the 'apartheid' policy. Resistance and repression increased together, with groups representing the demands of the non-white population (notably the PAC and the ANC) being banned and subsequently conducting an armed struggle from various bases in sympathetic neighbouring countries. Legislation such as the pass laws and the ruling requiring all pupils to learn Afrikaans led to protests and subsequent massacres, in the former case at Sharpeville in 1960 and in the latter in Soweto in 1976. Domestic events were played out against a backdrop of increasing foreign condemnation of the apartheid regime and its consciousness of the vulnerability of its position as an important factor in Cold War strategy. These issues, as well as the disputes between different factions in the liberation and apartheid movements, are raised, referred to and discussed within the materials held here. In addition, newer materials deal with the political scene after the transition to majority rule and the problems such as endemic poverty and AIDS which have tempered the initial optimism of the post-apartheid era.
Conditions governing accessAccess to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the supervised environment of the library.
Extent15 boxes
System of ArrangementAlphabetically by party, and then in rough chronological order.
Finding aidsItem-level descriptions are available on the library catalogue: http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/search~S17/
Related files
See also South Africa: Trades Unions Material (TU.SA) and South Africa: Pressure Groups Material (PG.SA), as well as Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries, the Ruth First Papers (ICS117), and material in the Institute of Commonwealth Studies library's main classified sequence.
Level of descriptionfonds