The documents contained in the South African Debt Crisis Collection of 1985/86, which was recently donated to Stellenbosch University’s (SU) library, shed new light on the factors behind former President PW Botha’s resignation, and the economic tensions that facilitated the end of apartheid.
Some of the documents from the South African Debt Crisis Collection of 1985/86, which was recently donated to Stellenbosch University. “The papers now at Stellenbosch give, for the first time, an insight on these challenges and how – with the help of people such as Anton Rupert [and] Harry Oppenheimer in South Africa – the strategy which we used to deal with the US bank’s unrealistic approach [to sanctions] resulted in a lasting agreement,” said Sir Claude Hankes, donor of the collection, at its launch on 7 May. PHOTO: Supplied/Mimi Seyffert-Wirth
This was according to Sir Claude Hankes, Knight Commander of the Victorian Order (KCVO), and donor of the collection. Hankes spoke at the launch of the collection, which took place in the Old Main Building at SU on 7 May, and via Microsoft Teams.
Various papers in the collection reveal that former President Botha, the second-last president before the end of the apartheid era, engaged in secret negotiations and ultimatums with then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and German Chancellor Helmuth Kohl, prior to his resignation in 1989, said Hankes.
Sir Claude Hankes discusses the events following the ultimatum given to former President PW Botha by then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and German Chancellor Helmuth Kohl to resign.
“It was Prime Minister Thatcher and Chancellor Kohl who then asked Dr [Fritz] Leutwiler to personally inform […] President Botha, on their behalf, that despite the progress made, and despite the commitment to change, President Botha needed to step down in order for South Africa to become a democracy,” said Hankes.
Dr Fritz Leutwiler, the former president of the Swiss National Bank, “negotiated with the world’s banks on behalf of South Africa”, according to a Truth and Reconciliation Commission report from 2003. Hankes said that he was appointed by Leutwiler to take part in the negotiations among economic superpowers, such as the United States, on the manner in which economic sanctions against South Africa should be handled.
“These papers were my personal working papers resulting from the negotiations,” said Hankes.
While some believe that the negotiations prolonged the apartheid era, Hankes stated that they “facilitated the orderly change that took place” once apartheid ended.
The speakers at the launch of the South African Debt Crisis Collection of 1985/86. From left to right: Sir Claude Hankes, donor of the collection (displayed by projector); Prof Thuli Madonsela, law trust chair in social justice at SU; Professor Eugene Cloete, deputy vice-chancellor of research innovation and postgraduate studies at SU; Ellen Tise, senior director of library and information sciences at SU and Mimi Seyffert-Wirth, deputy director of digital scholarship at SU. PHOTO: Tamsin Metelerkamp
Some information found in the collection was previously unknown to the public, according to Hankes. The donation of the papers to SU adds an important piece to the puzzle of understanding South Africa’s road to democracy, said Prof Thuli Madonsela, the law trust chair in social justice at SU, who also spoke at the launch.
Other representatives of SU who attended the event as speakers included Prof Eugene Cloete, deputy vice-chancellor of research, innovation and postgraduate studies, and Mimi Seyffert-Wirth, deputy director of digital scholarship.
“This collection is an excellent addition […], and it is a privilege for the university to be entrusted with the responsibility to preserve this knowledge. It will allow the library to provide priceless opportunities for relevant and illuminating research,” said Cloete.
The collection will be held in the Manuscripts Section, Special Collections at SU Library, and will be available for research consultation from 1 July, according to Seyffert-Wirth.
Ellen Tise, the senior director of library and information sciences at SU, discusses the importance of the collection to research in South Africa.
Article updated on 12 May 2021.