TRC Final Report

Volume 1

Chapter 8

Subsection 9

Department of Prison Services

75 The joint investigative team responsible for this investigation conducted its work between November and December 1997. It received excellent support from the Department of Correctional Services.

76 In terms of records management policy and practice, the Department of Prison Services was in most respects a model governmental body. From the early 1960s, it secured SAS approval for its records classification systems, regularly reported revisions to them, and was diligent in securing disposal authorisation from the Director of Archives for all records categories. Records were destroyed in terms of these authorities, and the requisite destruction certificates were forwarded to the Director of Archives. SAS documentation demonstrates that the Department was also diligent in reporting cases of records lost or destroyed other than in terms of the authorities. These cases were all investigated by the SAS, and no evidence of sinister motives was uncovered.

77 However, from at least 1985 the Department routinely destroyed classified records in terms of the NIS Guidelines for the Protection of Classified Information. This was done without any consultation with the SAS. Moreover, the 1993 Cabinet-approved guidelines for the disposal of ‘state sensitive’ records and the circular received by all government offices from the Security Secretariat in July 1993 recommending the destruction of certain categories of classified records were both acted upon. The circular was understood to constitute an instruction from a higher authority than the SAS, and was implemented to the letter. A substantial volume of classified records was destroyed. Appropriate destruction certificates were prepared.

78 In probing the Department’s records management practice, the joint investigative team focused on records documenting security and political prisoners or detainees, and prisoners sentenced to death. The findings were as follows:

a The files of each security and political prisoner were transferred to Pretoria on the prisoner’s release. These files were investigated by the team and found to be intact, in excellent condition and under the careful management of the Department’s Directorate of Security. The historical value of this documentation is extremely significant.

b A separate visit to the strongroom containing the files of the ANC Rivonia trialists and several other ANC leaders showed these files to be in a similar state of excellent preservation. The files are those of President Mandela and Messrs Harry Gwala, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Wilton Mkwayi, Andrew Mlangeni, Elias Motsoaledi and Walter Sisulu. There was a total of 208 personal files as well as a number of registers, dagboeke and additional documents. Again, the historical value of these records demands the utmost care and protection.

c The Department kept no record of security and political detainees. The latter were under the direct control of the Security Branch of the SAP, which managed the relevant documentation.

d Documentation of prisoners sentenced to death had been preserved, and was under the control of Correctional Services’ Regional Commissioner for Gauteng.

The Department of Justice’s Security Legislation Directorate

79 This investigation was conducted by representatives of the Commission and the National Archives with the excellent co-operation of the Ministry of Justice. Because of the small size of the Department of Justice’s Security Legislation Directorate, and the concentration of all its records into a single Ministry of Justice strong room, it was possible to complete the investigation without any logistic problems within one week during December 1997.

80 The Directorate was established in 1982 and endured until 1991. Its predecessor was the Internal Security Division and, before that, the function was performed (beginning in 1949) by various individuals in the Department. Its function was to make recommendations to the Ministers of Justice and Law and Order concerning the administration of security legislation. For example, whether an individual or organisation should be banned; whether an individual should be restricted; whether a gathering should be allowed, and so on. Legislation falling within its ambit included the Suppression of Communism Act, the Internal Security Act, the Affected Organisations Act, the Terrorism Act, the Unlawful Organisations Act and the Public Safety Act. It is worth noting that its involvement with Section 29 detainees was terminated in 1987, and that it played no role concerning state of emergency regulations. Its recommendations were made on the basis of investigations initiated by the Security Branch of the SAP. These recommendations were supported by information gathered on its behalf by the Security Branch, the NIS and Military Intelligence. It had no information-gathering capacity of its own.

81 The evidence suggests that the Directorate’s records management practice was impeccable. Records were kept in accordance with SAS and departmental directives, and disposal was performed in terms of disposal authorities issued by the Archives Commission and the Director of Archives. While the Directorate did routinely destroy classified documents received from other government offices in terms of NIS guidelines, it ignored the 1993 Cabinet-approved disposal guidelines and the 1993 Security Secretariat circular advising the destruction of certain classified records.

82 The Directorate’s extant records constitute a comprehensive and extremely valuable collection. Kept in excellent condition by the Ministry of Justice, it comprises the following:

a a series of case files for individuals, spanning the period 1949-1991;

b series of case files for organisations and for publications. It should be noted that the series for organisations includes files inherited by the Directorate dating back to the 1920s;

c policy, administrative and other subject-based correspondence files.

83 The Ministry of Justice readily made this documentation available to the Commission.