FIAT/IFTA regrets to announce the passing of Brenda Kotze, who died last October. She will be deeply missed by the community, as well as by colleagues and friends across the international world of television and audiovisual archives.

Brenda Sharp (Kotze) began her professional career in 1987 at the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, where she worked primarily in administration and forged many long-lasting friendships with her colleagues. In 1988, she joined the National Film, Video and Sound Archives (NFVSA), where she worked across various sections before eventually heading her own department: Outreach and Public Programming.

In this role, Brenda established oral history projects and outreach programmes, supported school learners in the practice of conducting interviews, and consistently provided hands-on training to those who requested it across all areas of audiovisual archiving. Her commitment to knowledge-sharing and professional development was widely recognised.

In 2011, Brenda served on the planning committee for the FIAF Summer School and Conference hosted in Pretoria, South Africa, an important event that brought together representatives from audiovisual archives across the African continent.

At a conference held in Cape Town in 2012, Brenda played a key role in facilitating an initial meeting with the Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (INA) to explore potential collaboration on the digitisation of the Rivonia Trial (1963–1964) dictabelt sound recordings. This initiative proved highly successful: between 2014 and 2016, INA digitised 591 recordings and provided sound preservation training opportunities in both France and South Africa.

Brenda was widely respected for her extensive knowledge of South African cinema and film preservation, which she continuously updated to remain aligned with international archival standards and trends. Many filmmakers relied on and trusted her expertise regarding the NFVSA’s film collections.

Among her most recent professional contributions was her selection as a key consultant for the Mass Digitization of 6,000 South African Newsreels Project (October 2023–October 2024). Brenda retired in 2023 after a long and impactful career.

Grateful for the commitment that Brenda Kotze showed to FIAT/IFTA and to the international world of television archives over many years, FIAT/IFTA extends its sincere condolences to her family, friends, and colleagues.