Reporting on Africa: From Apartheid to Pan-Africanism, 1949-1995

Colin Legum (1919-2003) was a South African journalist and writer on African politics. Born in a rural farming town of Kestell, his worldview was shaped by the degrading poverty and racial injustice he witnessed in his hometown. This experience fed his passion for political reporting and he got his first job in journalism at the age of 15 for a Johannesburg newspaper called the Sunday Express. Legum could not tolerate the Apartheid government that seized power in South Africa in 1948 and left for Britain the following year. Working for the Observer, he became well known for his anti-Apartheid writing and helped popularise African history with the British public.

This collection contains a range of his writings and reports on 20th century African politics. This includes material on Pan-Africanism, including on the Organisation of African Unity, articles documenting and attacking the Apartheid regime in South Africa, as well as exploration of African politics against the back drop of decolonisation and the Cold War. Legum only returned to South Africa in 1991 when he was politically able to, living there until his death in 2003.

In nearly half a century of reporting on Africa, the journalism and scholarly work of Colin Legum... earned him recognition as the British media's premier analyst of African affairs.

The Guardian, Obituary

Key Documents

Document

Writings from West Africa, 1940s-1980s

Document

Pan-Africanism: Head of State’s Conference, 1963

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'Press Digests’ from Apartheid South Africa, 1967

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Legum’s ‘Third World Reports’, 1985

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Insights

Africa in the mid-20th century was about to go through a transition that would change the shape of not just the continent, but the entire world. After the devastation of World War Two, the colonial powers that had exploited Africa were significantly weakened. This allowed a proliferation of nationalist movements that eventually overthrew their colonial masters and created a plethora of new independent African nations.

As well as adjusting to their newfound independence, African nations also sought to define their place in the escalating Cold War, which saw both the United States and Soviet Union attempt to convince new nations of the merits of their opposing systems.

The process of decolonisation gave rise to burgeoning pan-Africanism, the trans-continental movement to nurture solidarity between indigenous and diasporic ethnic groups in Africa, who had shared the common experience of imperialism. As such, the collection features material related to the Addis Ababa Charter, as well as files from the Organisation of African Unity.

The collections 'South African Press Digests' document the pervasive Apartheid measures that effected the native population, including native-only taxes and the banning of public meetings, as well as the African National Congress' terror campaign against the regime.

Legum's 'Third World Reports' examine news developments in Africa and their ramifications for the international situation during the Cold War. As such, the reports examine independence and separatist movements, civil wars, elections, and African nations relations with the United States and Soviet Union.

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