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Some of the other personal collections

Albie Sachs Collection

The Albie Sachs Collection consists of the personal documents collected by the lawyer, writer, activist and former South African Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs.  We, the People SA hold a small selection of items digitised from the full physical collection housed at the UWC-Robben Island Museum Mayibuye Archives, Cape Town. The Albie Sachs Collection covers 1959 to 1993. The collection documents the legal journeys and political contributions of its creator and reflects Albie’s lifelong engagement in the intersection of art and justice.

The journey starts with documents from Albie Sachs’ time as an advocate in Cape Town  and his own legal defence before exile in 1966. While exiled in Mozambique, Sachs continued to participate politically as rapporteur for the ANC’s Constitution Committee and later was included in the National Executive of the ANC. Sachs also played an active part in the negotiation process to end apartheid during CODESA and the Multi-Party Negotiation Process.

The Albie Sachs Collection as formed by Albie Sachs personal journey, contains personal correspondence and interests intertwined with research and legal draft documents. The collection brings together moments – significant, mundane, painful, and joyous – that serve to inform and humanise a struggle against a dehumanising system.

Samples of the Albie Sachs Collection are embedded in the Our Constitution online exhibitions.

VISIT THE ALBIE SACHS COLLECTION

Shalala and Skjelten Collection - Public Participation

This collection comprises Edward Shalala’s personal papers and records from his time as the head of the Constitutional Assembly Community Liaison Department (1994 – 1996) and Synnøve Skjelten research materials for her thesis and later book on public participation in South Africa’s Constitution making-process.

The Shalala and Skjelten Collection – Public Participation was created and arranged by Shalala with the intention of it becoming a critical resource for future research and a tangible record of South Africa’s Constitutional heritage. A large portion of this collection has been digitised. The full physical collection is available from We, the People SA at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg.

VISIT THE SHALALA AND SKJELTEN COLLECTION

EXPLORE THE ARCHIVE

Documents

Read the State of the Nation Address, 24 May 1994

Audio Visual

President Mandela gives his State of the Nation address in Parliament. Mandela ends his address with the words, “Let us all get down to work”.

“We must construct that people-centred society of freedom in such a manner that it guarantees the political and the human rights of all our citizens.”– President Mandela, extract from State of the Nation Address, 24 May 1994

President Nelson Mandela announces his cabinet. It includes members of the African National Congress, National Party and Inkatha Freedom Party.

“There was pride in serving in the first democratic government in South Africa, and then the additional pride of serving under the iconic leadership of Nelson Mandela … [He] represented the hopes of not just our country, but of oppressed, marginalised and the poor in the world.”– Jay Naidoo, then Minister of RDP housing
Members of South Africa's LGBTQ community take part in the annual Gay Pride Parade in Durban.
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The outside of Parliament.
Protesters demonstrating against the social grants controversy.
“We place our vision of a new constitutional order for South Africa on the table not as conquerors, prescribing to the conquered. We speak as fellow citizens to heal the wounds of the past with the intent of constructing a new order based on justice for all.”– President Nelson Mandela, 10 May 1994
Members of South Africa's LGBTQ community take part in the annual Gay Pride Parade in Durban.
asdasd
The outside of Parliament.
Protesters demonstrating against the social grants controversy.