Archive for Contemporary Affairs, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein

Ground floor, Room 109
Stef Coetzee Building
Campus Avenue South
University of the Free State, Bloemfontein
Website: https://www.ufs.ac.za/supportservices/departments/archive-for-contemporary-affairs-home
Contact, Information Officer: +27 51 4012646

Reading Room Hours:
Mondays to Fridays
08h30 – 12h45
13h30 – 16h00

Founded in 1970 as part of the Institute for Contemporary History, the archive is concerned with the collection and preservation of political sources documenting South African political history since 1902. In 1998 it became independent as the Archive for Contemporary Affairs.

It houses nearly 1000 private document collections, including from economists, politicians, churches and cultural and community leaders. The Archive has a fully equipped Sound Archive and hundreds of audio cassettes containing rare research material are available to researchers. As well as private documents and the sound archive material, the Archive has a good collection of newspapers and newspaper cuttings, official publications, a unique collection of pamphlets, thousands of photographs, press releases and speeches of Ministers. The heart of the holdings is the outstanding political collection.

A listing of all collections is available online, and inventories of most are also available and can be downloaded from the excellent archive website. There are some collections which are subject to specific donor stipulations. Applications for the viewing of these collections must be made in advance; and as this can take time, access arrangements are best made in advance.

Last updated: 1 January 2018