As part of the research project, Patryk Wawrzyński, PhD, took two research trips to the Republic of South Africa. Thanks to them, he was able to gather necessary sources and conduct field research. They took place in November 2013 and September 2014. In both cases, Patryk Wawrzyński was a guest of the Department of Political Studies at the University of Cape Town. He also received help from the National Library of South Africa as well as from state institutions dealing with historical education and non-governmental organisations. As a result, not only did the scholar create a rich collection of source materials, but he was also able to interview a number of local people, which helped to gain better understanding of the specific nature of memory narrations in the Republic of South Africa and of the role of Nelson Mandela’s cabinet in the reconstruction of the political identity of the society and of the restructuring of the social framework of collective memory. The research trips also led to the establishment of cooperation with the University of Cape Town, the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth.
As part of his research trip in 2014, Patryk Wawrzyński gave a guest lecture at the University of Cape Town, entitled „The Democratization of Poland: East European Experience in the South African Context”.