This article challenges the notion that Afrikaner nationalism was underpinned by Afrikaner Unity. Focusing on the University town of Stellenbosch between 1934 and 1939 it explores the extreme fluidity of Afrikaner nationalist politics during this period, demonstrating the multiplicity of identities, and conflicting and co‐existing ideologies, which these politics comprised. The contested nature of Afrikaner nationalism in the period after the formation of Malan's “Purified” National Party in 1934 is illuminated through an examination of the debates within the Stellenbosch constituency over the true nature of the Afrikaner. Contestations over Afrikaans Kultuur (culture) were a key element of politics in Stellenbosch during this period, as Nationalist politicians and their supporters sought to “reclaim” control over “their” cultural icons.

Much has changed since I first undertook research in South Africa six years ago. It is only having recently begun a a new research project that I have realized just how different things are now. Even more has changed since the ending of minority rule, as there has been a restructuring of both the State Archives Service and of the libraries of national deposit, as discussed later in this paper. The paper emerges from my reflections at this time and discusses both my experience of using archives in South Africa in the past and some of the resources which I have been able to make use of in planning my next research trip. My original research was on Afrikaner nationalist politics and identities in the 1930s and 1940s, and I now plan to work on Afrikaner moderates and English-speakers in the United Party during the same period, examining issues of identity and ideology, imperialism and nationalism. My work has taken me to several different archives in South Africa, which fall into two distinct types. The first of these are government archives, and the second are university archives. This paper will draw on my experiences of the archives I visited in 1997 and 1998, and on a brief trip I made to South Africa in 2002.Government archives in South Africa are held by the National Archives of South Africa (NASA), established in 1996 by the National Archives of South Africa Act (No. 43 of 1996). The National Archives replaced the old State Archives Service, and was structured to take into account changes in the provincial structure and to “reflect the post apartheid political order.”