Identity area
Reference code
ZA UFHL MR-RT-010
Title
Govan Mbeki Papers
Date(s)
- 1964 - 1996 (Accumulation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
1 item relates directly to the Rivonia Trial ; Artifacts, Publications, Text-based documents.
Context area
Name of creator
(9 July 1910 - 30 August 2001)
Biographical history
Historian, anti-apartheid activist, and leading member of the ANC and the SACP. Served on the High Command of MK. Father of former South African president Thabo Mbeki 1999–2008). Convicted in the Rivonia Trial and sentenced to life imprisonment. Released from Robben Island Prison, 1987. Served in South Africa’s post-apartheid Senate, 1994–97, as deputy president of the Senate, and as a member of its successor, the National Council of Provinces, 1997–99. Awarded the ANC’s highest honour, Isitwalandwe Seaparankoe, in 1980. Clan name, Zizi.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Include his songs and music from Robben Island, artefacts such as his beloved guitar with its Island-built case. The collection holds his correspondence, manuscripts of his books, some of which was written on toilet paper and smuggled out of prisons, and a record of his life on the Island and after his release. 'Oom Gov' also gave to the University his own library in a ceremony at his house weeks before he died. Many of the books are those given to him by the authors.
Although most the material does not relate to the Rivonia Trial, this collection has been included as it speaks to the character of one of the Trial's main accused. Rivonia Trial material is: Part One of the State’s Concluding Address at the Rivonia Trial.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Unrestricted
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
- Africa » South Africa » Eastern Cape » Alice