BC
1110 THE NEIL AGGETT PAPERS
Manuscripts & Archives
University of Cape Town Libraries
The
collection captures the events following Neil Aggett's death and details of the
inquest. It also contains material pertaining to the Detainees Parents
Support Committee, (DPSC), and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, (TRC).
Notably, it provides an insight into the lives of political detainees who were
denied access to lawyers, personal doctors, and their families. In
addition, the collection comprises correspondence, newspaper clippings, videos,
and tapes. The personal section reveals Neil Aggett's poetic interest.
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BC
1110 Niel Aggett Papers |
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CONTENTS |
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INTRODUCTION |
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Biographical
note |
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The
Collection |
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A. |
PERSONAL |
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B. |
CORRESPONDENCE |
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C. |
THE
INQUEST |
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D. |
NEWSCLIPPINGS |
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E. |
VARIOUS
REPORTS AND ARTICLES |
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F. |
DETAINEES
PARENTS SUPPORT COMMITTEE (DPSC) |
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G. |
MEDIA
COVERAGE |
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H. |
TRUTH
& RECONCILIATION COMMISSION (TRC) |
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J. |
PHOTOGRAPHS |
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K. |
MISCELLANEOUS |
INTRODUCTION
BIOGRAPHICAL
NOTE
Neil
Aggett was born on 6 October 1953 in Nanyuki, Kenya.
At the age of 10 he immigrated to South Africa with his family. He attended school at Kingswood College in Grahamstown from
where he matriculated with a 1st class pass and a distinction in Maths.
He
went on to study Medicine at the University of Cape Town. He did his internship
at hospitals in Umtata (Transkei) and Tembisa in the Transvaal.
It was here that he became aware that his patients’ medical problems
stemmed mostly from “social problems such as poverty, unemployment and poor
living conditions.”
On
completion of his internship he worked at Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto. During
this time he also did part-time work for the Industrial Aid Society helping
workers with Workman’s Compensation problems, as many of the patients he
treated were injured at work. Often
these workers received little or no compensation or even lost their jobs leaving
them destitute. This probably led to his gradual involvement in other labour
issues such as unfair dismissals, labour contracts etc.
In
1979 he joined the African Food & Canning Workers Union (AFCWU) as secretary
of the Transvaal branch. He kept his links with the medical profession by
working 1 or 2 nights a week in the Casualty Dept. at Baragwanath Hospital.
He was detained on the 27 November 1981 together with Liz Floyd, his
girlfriend and former colleague in the Industrial Aid Society, under Section 22
of the General Laws Amendment Act. After 14 days this was changed to Section 6
of the Terrorism Act.
He
died after 70 days in detention on 5 February1982.
THE
COLLECTION
The
Neil Aggett papers were donated to the University of Cape Town Libraries in 1997
by his parents, Mr. J A E & Mrs. J N Aggett.
The
collection contains mainly material relating to the events which followed the
death of Neil Aggett while held in detention under Section 6 of the Terrorism
Act.
A
large part of the collection contain details of the inquest into the
circumstances of his death. This is in the form of correspondence between his
family and their lawyers Bell, Dewar & Hall.
There
is also a large collection of newsclippings in the form of scrapbooks, covering
Neil’s death, political detainees, security laws etc.
The
collection also contains some material relating to the Detainees Parents Support
Committee (DPSC); media coverage in the the form of videos and tape recordings,
as well as material on the Truth & Reconciliation Commission.
There are also personal papers such as school reports, diaries and a book
of poems. The correspondence
consists mainly of letters of sympathy and support for the family.
The
collection gives an insight into the experiences of political detainees while
held under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act, which allows the security police to
hold a detainee for an indefinite period without recourse to lawyers, personal
doctors or their families.
BC
1110 NEIL AGGETT PAPERS
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A. |
PERSONAL |
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A1 |
School
Reports: Kingswood
College Grahamstown, 1964-1970. |
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Afrikaanse
Taaleksamen Certificate, 1967 |
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General
Certificate of Education 1968, |
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First
Aid Certificate, 1969 |
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Senior
Prize Distribution list featuring Neil Aggett’s name. |
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A2 |
Diaries,
1969 & 1970 |
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A3 |
Journal,
1971 |
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contains
newsclippings, poetry, and writings of various philosophers such as Kant;
Hegel etc. on loose cards. |
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A4 |
“Neil’s
Poems”, nd. |
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A5 |
Notebook
on “Applied Psychology”, 2nd year medicine, 1972. |
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A6 |
Biographical
note |
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A7 |
Tributes
and a funeral programme. |
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A8 |
“Statement
of Assets & Liabilities
in the intestate estate of the late Neil Hudson Aggett...., 12/3/1986.” |
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A9 |
George
Meany Human Rights Award
- received by Neil Aggett’s father and sister Mr J A E Aggett and Mrs
Jill Burger on Neil’s behalf. |
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(audio
cassette recording) |
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#
Note: Baptism and Confirmation Certificates are in B3 |
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B. |
CORRESPONDENCE |
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B1 |
Letters
of Sympathy, 1982-1983 |
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(arranged
in alphabetical order) |
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B1.1 |
letters
& cards sent to Mrs. Jill Burger (nee Aggett) |
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B1.2 |
letters
sent to Mr. & Mrs. J A Aggett |
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B1.3 |
sympathy
cards |
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B1.4 |
donations
offered by organisations and individuals towards the costs of the inquest |
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B1.5 |
draft
letters from the Aggett family to Mr. & Mrs. Philip and Mrs. Bishop,
1984 & 1986 respectively |
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B1.6 |
miscellaneous |
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B2 |
Messages
of Support from Trade
Unions, organisations and individuals. |
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B3 |
2 flip files
containing correspondence relating to Neil Aggett’s death in detention. |
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contain:- |
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baptism
and confirmation certificates |
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newsclippings |
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letters
from Helen Suzman (parliamentarian); Hawa Timol (mother of Ahmed Timol who
died in detention); KAIROS- Christians against apartheid, Holland; Senator
Harold Young & Sir Billy Sneddon of the Australian Parliament and
Victoria Mxenge (attorney), 1982 |
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letter
from Yvonne Biller (nee Aggett) to Louis le Grange Minister of Police,
1982 |
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memorials
to Neil Aggett:- |
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commemoration meeting programme at Wits University, 5/2/1983 |
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-
interview with Liz Floyd “One
year later” by Learn & Teach. |
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-
George Meany Human Rights Award. |
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B4 |
Copies
of correspondence between the Aggett family and various newspapers and
extracts from newspapers relating to the death of Neil Aggett. |
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Includes
a letter from A. Heard, 8/10/1989. |
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B5 |
Letter
from the Aggett Family to Dr. S J Saunders
offering the University of Cape Town a donation to honour Neil’s memory. |
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C |
THE
INQUEST |
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C1. |
Summaries
& Updates of the Legal Position of the Inquest, Feb. 1982-June 83 |
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includes
correspondence between attorneys Bell, Dewar & Hall and the Aggett
family. |
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C2 |
Psychiatric Reports
by: |
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Jan
Adriaan Plomp |
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Louis
Jolyon West |
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(includes
a Curriculum Vitae & correspondence with attorneys Bell, Dewar &
Hall) |
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Bell,
Dewar, & Hall: a “note on psychological aspects as at 25 June
1982” |
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C3 |
Break-In at the Aggett’s
Somerset West home by the Security Police. |
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contains:- |
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Affidavits
by - Michael Joseph Richman (lawyer) |
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-
John A E Aggett |
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- Joyce N Aggett |
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-
William Anderson (the
Aggetts’ neighbour) |
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-
Sarah Isaacs
(housekeeper) |
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- Isak Isaacs
(housekeeper’s husband) |
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typed
pages of the “Sequence of Events” from 14/3/1982 - 21/3/1982 and
“Questions we would like asked” |
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Lawyers
letters to the Attorney General and the Divisional Commissioner of the
South African Police with a transcript of a tape recording of the
incident. |
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correspondence
between lawyers and Mr. J A E Aggett re: the court case against Lieutenant
Whitehead & Sergeant Erasmus, 1983. |
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a
newsclipping from the Rand Daily Mail, 9/2/1982. |
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C4 |
Statements
& Affidavits |
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(includes
some correspondence with the attorneys and an outline of an opposing
affidavit.) |
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Neil’s
statements while in detention marked: |
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FF2
- 25th to 28th Jan. 1982 |
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FF3
- 28th to 31st Jan. 1982 |
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FF4
- 28th to 31st Jan. 1982 |
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FF5
- 1st to 4th Feb. 1982 |
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Aggett,
John A E |
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Ames,
Francis R |
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Anderson,
Dr. Neil (a reference letter) |
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Breytenbach,
Yvette |
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Cachalia,
Firoze |
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Chikane,
Frank |
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Coleman,
Keith |
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Floyd,
Elizabeth |
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Hogan,
Barbara |
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Lerumo,
Thabo |
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Lodge,
Tom |
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Maphato,
Akila |
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Marcus,
Gilbert J |
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Mntonga,
Eric M |
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Momoniat,
Ismail |
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Naidoo,
Pramanathan |
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Nanabhai,
Shirish |
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Narsoo,
Montgomery |
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Ndou,
Samson |
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Njikelana,
Sisa |
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Smithers,
Maurice |
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Theron,
Jan Pierre |
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van
Heerden, Auret |
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C5 |
Judgement
- a printed copy of
the Inquest proceedings and the final judgement. |
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C6 |
File containing the record of
the Inquest by Bell, Dewar & Hall. |
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C7 |
Video
Cassette of a recording of the London Thames TV programme “TV EYE”
taking a satirical look at the Inquest proceedings. |
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D. |
NEWSCLIPPINGS |
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D1 |
February
1982 to 1983 |
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D2 |
“South African
Pressclips” titled:- |
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“The
Aggett Inquest” |
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“Repression
Focus” - Part 1: Detentions |
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- Part 2: Bannings
& Trials |
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D3 |
Scrapbooks
numbered 1-14 for the years 1982 - 1996 (1 scrapbook unnumbered and
undated.) |
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E. |
VARIOUS
REPORTS & ARTICLES |
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re:
Detention, Solitary Confinement & Torture in South Africa. |
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articles
on detention in the St Martin in the Fields parish magazine “The Mustard
Seed”& UCT NEWS, 1982. |
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“Any
Hope for Detainees?” Lawyers for Human Rights Bulletin No. 2 |
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“Report
of the Rabie Commission on Security Legislation,” a press statement. |
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“Deaths
in Detention” PFP COMMENT Sept,. 1977. |
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“Solitary
Confinement” rough draft of an article? |
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The
Biko Inquest. - a report by Sir Davis Napley |
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“A
Study of Detention & Torture in South Africa” a preliminary report
by Don Foster & Dianne Sandler. |
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F. |
DETAINEES
PARENT SUPPORT COMMITTEE (DPSC) |
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letters
from attorneys Bell, Dewar & Hall to Jill Burger (nee Aggett)
re: visitation rights? to Neil Aggett while in detention., 14 -
21/1/1986. |
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“Proposed
Study Programme” by DPSC |
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letter
from Yvette Breytenbach to Jill Burger, 18/1/82 enclosing DESCOM LETTERS. |
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article
from “The Star” 25/01/1982 titled “ Reaching.....Universal
Justice” |
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Public
Protest Meeting Notice re: Detentions |
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Programme
of play “Four Paces By Two” presented by DPSC. |
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Detainees
Support Committee National Conference, Johannesburg 3/4 July 1982 |
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Typed
list of questions concerning Neil Aggett’s death while in detention. |
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list
of names and phone numbers of relatives? of detainees and members of the
security police. |
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“Detainees
Remember” & “Remember the Detainees” - stickers. |
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G.
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MEDIA
COVERAGE |
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re:
Neil’s Death in Detention |
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requests
for film rights. |
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Hilary
Bletcher’s first draft of a play on the detention of Neil Aggett. |
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Julie
Frederikse’s - “Africa: a different kind of war” containing Neil
Aggett’s sworn Statement to a Police sergeant on his arrest/detention. |
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SABC
Radio Programme Sales featuring the programme:-“Talk at Will” -
23/6/95 a talk show chaired by Will Bernard with studio guests Anton
Harbour & Paul Erasmus. |
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TV
EYE - a London TV programme. It features interviews with members of
Neil’s family, Liz Floyd, Helen Suzman and others. (video
cassette) |
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H. |
TRUTH
& RECONCILIATION COMMISSION (TRC) |
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cassette
marked “Liz Floyd - Truth Commission, April 1996.” |
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list
signed by Z. Barends, Head of the Investigative Unit, Western Cape TRC |
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article
from the South African Medical Association Journal (SAMJ) |
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autopsy
report by Dr Jan Botha |
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correspondence
between Jill Burger, Dr Wendy Orr and Mr & Mrs Aggett. |
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J |
PHOTOGRAPHS |
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album
containing photographs of Neil Aggett as a child with his family in Kenya
and later as an adult in South Africa. |
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K |
MISCELLANEOUS |
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Booklet
titled “Two Problems and a Suggestion”. |
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UNISA,
Dept. of Criminology Police Science Guides I & III |
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copy
of Section 22 of the General Law Amendment Act 62 of 1966. |
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plan
of the prison cells? |
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“Mayo
Clinic Diet” |
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Zulu,
Alpheus Hamilton - “Dilemma of the Black South African” - a T B Davie
Memorial Lecture 17/05/1972. |
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Hassan
Howa president of the South African Council on Sport titled “Halt All
Apartheid Sport” |