In October 2017 it was brought to SAHRA’s attention that a letter written by Steve Biko was going to be auctioned online in Britain. The letter was addressed to the Magistrate in East London, South Africa, and details a request to leave the magisterial district under which Biko was restricted in order to visit his wife. Steve Biko, the leader of the South African Student Organisation (SASO); and intellectual inspiration behind the Black Consciousness Movement, was known for being a prolific writer of letters. The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA), mandated to identify and conserve South African heritage Resources, approached the auction house concerned to enquire how the letter left South Africa and to inform them that in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act, No. 25 of 1999 (NHRA) and described in the List of Types of Objects, Gazetted in December 2002 (currently under review), objects associated with leaders and events in South Africa are protected and may not be exported without a permit from SAHRA. The auction house was not co-operative, and because their advert did not include the name of the “owner” of the letter, it was impossible for SAHRA to adequately deal with the matter. It is also likely, that the letter had been illegally exported. However, the key question is, how a letter addressed to the Magistrate that ultimately belongs to the State, ended up in private ownership?
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