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Witness Seminars Pretoria King’s Research Portal Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication record in King's Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Kandiah, M. D., & Glencross, M. P. (2014). South Africa Witness Seminars: The History, Role and Functions of the British Embassy/High Commision in South Africa, 1987-2013; Britain & South Africa, 1985-91. Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on King's Research Portal is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Post-Print version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination, volume/issue, and date of publication details. And where the final published version is provided on the Research Portal, if citing you are again advised to check the publisher's website for any subsequent corrections. 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Oct. 2021 Witness Seminars: The Role and Functions of the British Embassy/ High Commission in Pretoria: 1987–2013 Britain and South Africa: 1985–91 gov.uk/fco South Africa Witness Seminars: The Role and Functions of the British Embassy / High Commission in Pretoria: 1987-2013 Held in 2013 and organised by the Institute of Contemporary of British History (ICBH), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Arts and Humanities Research Council & Britain and South Africa: 1985-91 Held in 2009 and organised by the ICBH in conjunction with IDEAS at the London School of Economics. ISBN: 978-1-910049-07-5 1 Contents The Role and Functions of the British Embassy / High Commission in Pretoria: 1987-2013 3 Introduction 4 Brief chronology 6 Session One – From Apartheid to Free Elections 18 Chair: Professor Philip Murphy, Director, Institute of Commonwealth Studies. Witnesses: Lord Renwick of Clifton, KCMG: Ambassador, 1987–91; Dr David Carter: Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission, Cape Town/Pretoria, 1992–96. Session Two – Relations with the Rainbow Nation 37 Chair: Dr Sue Onslow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies. Witnesses: Andrew Pearce: First Secretary (Economic), 1996–2000; Andrew Turner: First Secretary (Political), 1998-2001; Dame Nicola Brewer, DCMG: High Commissioner, 2009-2013. Britain and South Africa: 1985-91 60 Chair: Professor Shula Marks, OBE, FBA, former Director, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, 1983-93. Witnesses: The Rt. Hon. Lord Howe of Aberavon, CH, PC, QC: Foreign Secretary, 1983–89; Lord President of the Council, Leader of House of Commons, and Deputy Prime Minister, 1989–90; Lord Powell of Bayswater, KCMG: Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, 1984–91; Sir Patrick Moberly, KCMG: HM Ambassador to South Africa, 1984-87; Mrs Patsy Robertson: Former Director of Information at the Commonwealth Secretariat and spokesperson for Sir Sonny Ramphal, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. 2 The Role and Functions of British Embassy/ High Commission in Pretoria: 1987-2013 Tuesday 26 November 2013 Map Room, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Edited by Dr M.D. Kandiah Institute of Contemporary British History (ICBH), King’s College London Additional editing assistance by Dr Matthew Glencross, ICBH, King’s College London Transcript produced by Ubiqus UK 3 Introduction This Witness Seminar examined the history, role and functions of the British Embassy / High Commission1 in Pretoria, principally from the testimonies and perspectives of those who served there. This was the penultimate in a series of six witness seminars sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It is part of the Witness Seminar Programme of the Institute of Contemporary British History (ICBH), King’s College London. Previous seminars covered the High Commission in New Delhi (held on 17 November 2011), the Embassy in Beijing (held on 7 June 2012), the High Commission in Canberra (8 November 2012), and the UK Mission to the United Nations New York (22 May 2013). Since 1986 the ICBH Witness Seminar Programme has conducted nearly 100 witness seminars on a variety of subjects: two in particular have related to the functions of British Embassies: in Washington (held in 1997)2 and in Moscow (held in 1999).3 Both of these witness seminars were chaired by Lord Wright of Richmond and both have been published. These witness seminars have been well received by the academic community, who have increasingly come to see that it is important to examine and analyse how Embassies and High Commissions have worked historically in the promotion of British policy overseas, and also by practitioners. A recent volume (2009) on The Washington Embassy, edited by Michael Hopkins, Saul Kelly and John Young, demonstrated precisely why it is necessary to know more about how UK Embassies operate and has suggested why Embassies will continue to be important for those who study diplomacy. The volume, as the introduction suggested, offered ‘valuable insights into change and continuity in British diplomatic practice’ over the period; it also showed ‘how the balance of attention … varied according to the pressure of circumstances, the current priorities of the government in London and the preferences of individual ambassadors’; and, importantly, confirmed ‘the pivotal role’ played by the Embassy and the Ambassadors in maintaining healthy bilateral relations. However, the editors have also pointed out that ‘there are real difficulties in studying the broad work of the embassy’—how it interacted with local staff; precisely how it performed day-to-day necessary social tasks; and so forth.4 The significance of history and the importance of gathering and utilising oral history interviews were identified in the report of the Foreign Affairs Committee, The Role of the FCO in UK Government (29 April 2011). In oral evidence the then Foreign Secretary 1 When in June 1994 South Africa re-entered the Commonwealth, the Embassy went back to being designated a High Commission. 2 G. Staerck (ed), ‘The Role of the British Embassy in Washington: Witness Seminar’, Contemporary British History, Vol12 No3 (1998), pp. 115-38. 3 G. Staerck (ed), ‘The Role of HM Embassy in Moscow: Witness Seminar’, Contemporary British History, Vol 14 No3 (2001), pp. 149-61. 4 M.F. Hopkins, S. Kelly and J.W. Young, The Washington Embassy: British Ambassadors to the United States, 1939-77 (2009), p. 2. 4 William Hague stated: ‘history is vitally important in knowledge and practice of foreign policy’. He further stated, ‘One of the things that I have asked to be worked up is a better approach to how we use the alumni of the Foreign Office, [and] … continue to connect them more systematically to the Foreign Office.’ He went on to say: ‘these people who are really at the peak of their knowledge of the world, with immense diplomatic experience, then walk out of the door, never to be seen again in the Foreign Office.’ With the notable exception of Lorna Lloyd’s Diplomacy with a difference: the Commonwealth Office of High Commissioner, 1880–2006,5 there have been few studies focusing on the work on High Commissions and none specifically on the Pretoria. The British Diplomatic Oral History Programme, based at the Churchill Archive Centre, Cambridge, contains a number of important interviews of those who served at this mission. To name just four: Sir Ewen Fergusson; Sir John Leahy; Peter Longworth; and Lord Renwick of Clifton.6 Sir John Leahy7 and Lord Renwick8 have also written about their experiences about their time in South Africa. An ICBH witness seminar in 2009, explored the UK government’s policy towards South Africa during the final years of the apartheid regime. Sir Patrick Moberly commented upon the role the Embassy played when he was Ambassador (between 1984 and 1987). That witness seminar is published here and provides useful additional testimonies from non- diplomats like the Foreign Secretary during the 1980s, Lord Howe of Aberavon, and the Prime Minister’s Foreign Policy Adviser, Lord Powell of Bayswater. However, testimony relating to the Embassy / High Commission in more recent period is absent and needs to be collected. Hence the Witness Seminar in 2013 was held to gather the memories of those FCO alumni who had worked at the Pretoria Embassy / High Commission over the past 30 or so years—a period that has seen the UK’s relationship with South Africa evolve as the country has moved from an apartheid nation to a multi-cultural democracy. Dr M.D. Kandiah Director, Witness Seminar Programme Institute of Contemporary British History King’s College London 5 L. Lloyd, Diplomacy with a difference: the Commonwealth Office of High Commissioner, 1880–2006 (2007). 6 http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/archives/collections/BDOHP/ [Accessed 30 Sept. 2013] 7 J. Leahy, A Life of Spice (2007). 8 R. Renwick, Unconventional Diplomacy in Southern Africa (1997) and A Journey With Margaret Thatcher (2013). 5 Brief Chronology9 NOTE: The following chronology was provided to all participants and attendees in advance of the Witness Seminar. It was intended to help refresh participants’ memories by covering significant events and milestones in the history of South Africa, with reference to Britain and to major world events.
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