News

Anglo American and De Beers assist in preserving National Heritage Archives at the University of Fort Hare

15 July 2010

The Anglo American Chairman’s Fund and the De Beers Fund have provided the Alice Campus of the University of Fort Hare with two R3.9 million grants (R7.8 million in total). These grants were used for the upgrading of the National Archive Heritage and Cultural Studies (NAHECS) Building, which has now been completed and was officially reopened today.  With these grants, the NAHECS will continue to contribute to the upliftment of education in the country and the study of national heritage.

The NAHECS is devoted to the heritage of South Africa, housing the National Liberation Archives and important heritage documents, amongst other items of historical and national importance. The genesis of the project can be traced back to early 2007, when the University of Fort Hare approached both the Anglo American and the De Beers Chairman’s Funds to consider assisting with the project. Subsequently, a proposal was brought forward to link the two buildings that flank the entrance to the university with a facility that would provide research, teaching, exhibition and social space opportunities.

Head of Media and External Communications for Anglo American South Africa and Trustee of the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund, Dr Pranill Ramchander says that the project forms a vital part of Anglo American’s wider social objectives.

“œAnglo American is fully committed to projects such as these, ones of national importance and scope. They are essential to the growth and development of South Africa,” he says. “œIn addition, this partnership will further extend our historical relationship that we have enjoyed with the University of Fort Hare, and will create a legacy for future generations, who will now have access to crucial records of South African history.”

This project has been chosen as the University’s flagship project, and is directly associated with the cultural centre and the De Beers Centenary Art Gallery. The cultural centre was a major investment made previously on the campus by the then Anglo American and De Beers Chairman’s Funds.

“œDe Beers, as one of South Africa’s longest economic contributors, is privileged to be involved in the preservation of the country’s heritage and history.  Without grants such as these the true history of South Africa could be lost and therefore the realities of the struggle unknown to the generations to come; something that we could not allow,” concludes Barend Petersen, acting Managing Director of the De Beers Consolidated Mines.

Fort Hare came into existence in 1916 and is, historically, the oldest black University in Southern Africa. Throughout its existence, Fort Hare graduates have come from as far north as Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria, and arrived with the expectation of receiving a first-class tertiary education.

Now over ninety years old, the university is serving a total of 8,548 students from its three campuses in Alice, Bisho and East London. Its five faculties and ten schools cover the range from undergraduate diplomas, through bachelors and honours degrees to masters and doctoral level studies.

The Anglo American Chairman’s Fund and the De Beers Fund are managed by Tshikululu Social Investments.