South Africa's Two-branch National Library
For many years, South Africa had two national libraries in Cape Town and Pretoria, each of which received a copy of every book published in South Africa – a status known as legal deposit. In 1999 they merged to form a two-branch National Library of South Africa, which is similar to our Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
Before it merged, Cape Town's library was known as the South African Library, the oldest library in the country. Established in 1818, it took on legal deposit status in 1916 and still specializes in rare book preservation. Today it is differentiated from Pretoria as the national reference library.
Pretoria's Staats-Bibliotheek der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (State Library of the South African Republic) was established in the late 1800s and from 1964 on served the dual role of public library and national library. Over the years, the State Library has taken a lead in the establishment of a national interlibrary lending system.
Other Libraries and Services
The city of Cape Town has a large public library system, and free membership is available for students. Cape Town was the first city in South Africa to offer free internet access at every public library. Look online to find a full listing of Cape Town Public Libraries.
The many universities in Cape Town also offer library services. The four major university library systems in the Cape Town area are the University of Cape Town Libraries, Stellenbosch University Libraries, the University of the Western Cape Libraries, and Cape Peninsula University of Technology. These four university libraries also offer a consortium of their library systems known as Cape Library Cooperative, or CALICO.
A Note About Archives
Although some of the tools mentioned here catalog older manuscripts and books, you may need to visit an archive of primary source materials to advance your research. Access will probably be more of an issue in archival repositories, and it is customary for researchers to send or bring a letter of introduction from a faculty advisor or colleague. It may also be wise to contact the archive ahead of time and let them know when you're planning to come and what materials you'd like to look at.