SAHA @ Wits

The South African History Archive (SAHA) has moved to its new archival space at the University, which concludes the re-incorporation of this significant archive at Wits.

The South African History Archive (SAHA) was established by anti-apartheid activists in the 1980s, and was closely connected in its formative years to the United Democratic Front, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the African National Congress. It is an independent human rights archive dedicated to documenting, supporting and promoting greater awareness of past and contemporary struggles for justice through archival practices and outreach, and the utilisation of access to information laws.

For many years into the 1990s-early 2000s SAHA was housed in the William Cullen Library, after which it moved to the Women's Jail at the Constitution Hill, where it continued to be active for a number of years. In 2020 the SAHA Board proposed its physical relocation back to Wits University, which was subsequently endorsed and facilitated by the University in 2021. However, the large archival holdings of SAHA remained in storage at the Document Warehouse. 

The new archival spaces in the basement of the Education Library, have now made it possible to move SAHA's collection from out-storage into these designated new archival spaces, and make them accessible for researchers in the adjacent reading area. Please consult the SAHA digital repository page using this link.

To access these archival holdings at the Wits Education Library, please contact staff to schedule your visit and guide you to the Education campus.