Between history, amnesia and selective memory: The South African armed forces, a century’s perspective

Waag, Ian Van der; Visser, Deon

doi:10.5787/40-3-1029

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…8 The argument carried by Van der Waag and Visser that "[t]here is hardly an aspect of this history that cannot be interrogated and, as numerous researchers find, query opens the trapdoor to a vast, sunken, documentary labyrinth of a virtually forgotten past" unfortunately comes with somewhat of a caveat. 9 While the DoD Archive indeed contains a vast amount of primary sources documenting the history of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and its predecessors, access to the majority of its archival holdings remains restricted -thereby leaving the proverbial trapdoor only partially open to researchers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legislative disconnect or institutional gatekeeping? Challenges of researching South Africa's military past

Kleynhans¹,

Gordon²

2020

SCIM

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The Department of Defence Archive in Pretoria is the repository of all military documents generated by the Union Defence Force, the South African Defence Force and the South African National Defence Force. This makes it the foremost source of primary information for researchers of South African military history. However, an almost total ban on access to archival documents from 1 January 1970 onwards complicates research into later periods. In fact, anyone researching post-1970 military-related topics has to apply for access to archival documents through the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The traditional weapon in the armoury of the historian-the systematic trawling of archives-is thereby negated, while the methodology of post-1970 historical research differs significantly from commonly accepted historical practices. Finding aids, the only access route to classified information in this analogue archive, offer only the briefest descriptions of the content of files, and researchers need almost esoteric intuition to identify documents that are even remotely relevant to their research. Additionally, a fee is payable for declassification, and the process can take several months to complete. This review article reports on the theoretical workings of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, and uses an actual research example as a case study to illustrate the practical implications of conducting research at the Department of Defence Archive in South Africa based on classified military documentation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Legislative disconnect or institutional gatekeeping? Challenges of researching South Africa's military past

Kleynhans¹,

Gordon²

2020

SCIM

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Bibliographie

Dieng¹

l'Afrique Du Sud Entre Émergence Et Responsabilité

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Maintien de la paix. Apports et limites de l’action diplomatique sud-africaine

Dieng

2014

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Ce document étudie les apports et les limites de l’Afrique du Sud en matière de maintien de la paix. L’Afrique du Sud, première puissance économique et militaire africaine et pays émergent, joue un rôle diplomatique important en Afrique, le continent qui accueille le plus grand nombre des actions de maintien de la paix. Ses capacités et son leadership lui ont permis de remorquer des processus de médiation, de mobiliser des intervenants extérieurs, de se mettre en première ligne dans certaines opérations de maintien de la paix, renforçant ainsi sa crédibilité dans la gestion des conflits. Toutefois, depuis quelque temps, l’engagement de l’Afrique du Sud, qui présentait déjà beaucoup de faiblesses, tant en termes de capacités que de leadership conforme à sa réputation et à son statut, semble connaître une perte de vitesse. En revanche, on note une montée en puissance d’une Realpolitik, qui suscite beaucoup de critiques.

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Between history, amnesia and selective memory: The South African armed forces, a century’s perspective

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

Legislative disconnect or institutional gatekeeping? Challenges of researching South Africa's military past

Legislative disconnect or institutional gatekeeping? Challenges of researching South Africa's military past

Bibliographie

Maintien de la paix. Apports et limites de l’action diplomatique sud-africaine

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