As we commemorate Youth Day on 16 June this year, we turn our focus to the collections in the archive which comprise a wealth of documents, photographs, posters and t-shirts that document and reflect the role of the youth in the struggle against apartheid.
The key collections are the South African Youth Congress (SAYCO) collection (AL2425) and the related African National Congress (ANC) Youth League (ANCYL) collection (AL2451). Regarded as the most significant youth organisation to emerge during the 1980s, SAYCO was launched at the height of the state of emergency in 1987. SAYCO brought together various local youth organisations and became affiliated to the United Democratic Front (UDF). Following the unbanning of the ANC in 1990 SAYCO immediately began the process of re-establishing the ANC Youth League (ANCYL). When the ANCYL was re-launched on 27 October 1990 in Soweto, SAYCO dissolved. Materials in both collections include the constitution, minutes of meetings, reports and correspondence of each organisation, with the SAYCO collection spanning 1987-1990 and the ANCYL collection covering the period 1990-1991.
SAHA’s archival holdings are rich with interconnections to other collections containing valuable documentation relating to youth during repression and the education crisis of the eighties, such as the Progressive Teachers' League collection (AL2418), the United Democratic Front collection (AL2431), the Original SAHA collection (AL2457), the International Conference on Children, Repression & the Law in Apartheid South Africa collection (AL2595), the Emilia Potenza collection (AL2956), as well as the Zackie Achmat, Jack Lewis and Treatment Action Campaign collection (AL3165).
Images of youth, often iconic and emotive are found in the SAHA Original Photograph collection (AL2547) and the Gille de Vlieg collection (AL3274), while the SAHA Poster collection (AL2446) contains a number of significant posters relating to the commemoration of the Soweto uprising. The indelible mark left by the youth’s involvement in the struggles for justice in this country is also captured on the many t-shirts and stickers in the Ephemera collection (AL2450).
Archival documents and images from many of these collections are reflected in SAHA’s exhibition kit and online exhibition entitled ‘The Future is Ours: Commemorating Youth in the Struggle’.
See inventory for the SAYCO collection (AL2425)
See inventory for the ANCYL collection (AL2451)
See inventory for the Progressive Teachers' League collection (AL2418)
See inventory for the the United Democratic Front collection (AL2431)
See inventory for the SAHA Poster collection (AL2446)
See inventory for the the Original SAHA collection (AL2457)
See inventory for the SAHA Ephemera collection (AL2540)
See inventory for the SAHA Original Photograph collection (AL2547)
See inventory for the International Conference on Children, Repression & the Law in Apartheid South Africa collection (AL2595)
See inventory for the Emilia Potenza collection (AL2956)
See inventory for the Zackie Achmat, Jack Lewis and Treatment Action Campaign collection (AL3165)
See inventory for the Gille de Vlieg collection (AL3274)
