2000

June - Registration of SAHO as an NGO

South African History Online (SAHO) was established in 2000, as a not-for-profit Section 21 organisation

30 August - The Lives of Courage campaign was launched by SAHO in Durban. The keynote speaker at the launch was the then Deputy Minister of Defence, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.

2001

23 February - Launch of SAHO website

The Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal, at the Values in Education conference held in Cape Town, launched the SAHO website.

SAHO published the book Imperial Ghetto. Ways of Seeing in a South African City by Omar Badsha.

Imperial Ghetto - Ways of Seeing in a South African CityImperial Ghetto - Ways of Seeing in a South African City

18 March - The exhibition Imperial Ghetto by Omar Badsha was launched in Addis Ababa.

1 June - Publication: With Our Own Hands - Fighting Poverty in South Africa Edited by Omar Badsha

A book and exhibition about poverty and development in South Africa, commissioned by the Department of Public Works, with a focus on the impact of poverty alleviation programmes in three of South Africa’s poorest provinces.

With Our Own Hands - Fighting Poverty in South AfricaWith Our Own Hands - Fighting Poverty in South Africa

30 August - The first of the SISA SERIES: Published by SAHO and South African Social Identities

September - Jakes Gerwel opened the exhibition Rituals and Graven Images by Omar Badsha at the Iziko National Gallery Address. 

13 November - SISA Imperial Ghetto was launched at the Durban Art Gallery in Durban

SISA SERIES edited by Abebe Zegeye launched at the Africa to Africa Cultural Exchange Programme, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria. The SISA book series included :

Imperial Ghetto - Ways of Seeing in a South African City by Omar Badsha (publication, exhibition & web gallery)

Imperial Ghetto - Ways of Seeing in a South African CityImperial Ghetto - Ways of Seeing in a South African City

After Apartheid: Social Identities in the New South Africa Vol. 1 Edited by Abebe Zegeye (publication)

After Apartheid: Social Identities in the New South Africa Vol. 1After Apartheid: Social Identities in the New South Africa Vol. 1

After Apartheid: Social Identities in the new South Africa Vol. 2 Edited by Abebe Zegeye and Robert Kriger (publication)

After Apartheid: Social Identities in the New South Africa Vol. 2After Apartheid: Social Identities in the New South Africa Vol. 2

Kala Pani: Caste and Colour in South Africa by Rehana Ebrahim-Vally (publication)

Kala Pani: Caste and Colour in South AfricaKala Pani: Caste and Colour in South Africa

Coloured by History - Identity and Place Amongst Coloured South Africans Edited by Zimitri Erasmus (publication)

Coloured by History - Identity and Place Amongst Coloured South AfricansColoured by History - Identity and Place Amongst Coloured South Africans

The I of the Beholder - Identity Formation in the Art and Writing of Breyten Breytenbach By Marilet Sienaert (publication)

The I of the Beholder - Identity Formation in the Art and Writing of Breyten BreytenbachThe I of the Beholder - Identity Formation in the Art and Writing of Breyten Breytenbach

2002 

August - The book Amulets & Dreams - War, Youth and Change in Africa, edited by Omar Badsha, with photographs by Guy Tillim and Omar Badsha, text by Julia Maxted (publication & web gallery).  Published by SAHO, in cooperation with Unisa Press and the Institute for Social Security Studies. Pretoria, 2002. Pp. 161. The book covered civil strife and its effects on the society in six African countries namely Angola, Mozambique, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Eritrea. The book and exhibition opened in Durban at the launch of the African Union by the OAU Secretary General Amara Essay (2002). 

Amulets & Dreams - War, Youth and Change in AfricaAmulets & Dreams - War, Youth and Change in Africa

23 August - 30 September 2002 - Bonani Africa Photographic Festival 

SAHO organised a photographic festival of the work of African photographers. The festival was made up of fifty exhibitions which were exhibited at Museum Africa in Johannesburg. The festival also included a conference which was attended by students from Natal University, University of the Western Cape and three Gauteng Technikons. The official launch of the festival took place at the Market Theatre, Johannesburg.

October - The book Our Dream Deferred - The Poor in South Africa by Abebe Zegeye and Julia Maxted was published by SAHO and Unisa Press and launched at the Pretoria Art Museum.

Our Dream Deferred - The Poor in South AfricaOur Dream Deferred - The Poor in South Africa

2003

27 April - The exhibition FREEDOMza, a joint venture between SAHO and the Department of Education, was shown at the April 27 celebrations at the Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town.

18 June - Publication and Exhibition: Cape Flats Details - Life and Popular Art in Cape Town’s Townships by Chris Ledochowski 

First published by SAHO & Unisa Press. The exhibition opened at the Michael Stevenson Contemporary Gallery, Cape Town. The book sold out. This book is the culmination of ten years of documenting life in the Cape Flat’s African and Coloured townships of Cape Town by one of South Africa’s most talented, but least recognised, documentary photographers. Due to popular demand, a re-print and update of the book were undertaken for the International Book Fair in Cape Town (June 2008).

Cape Flats Details - Life and Popular Art in Cape Town’s TownshipsCape Flats Details - Life and Popular Art in Cape Town’s Townships

18 July - Photographic essays Freedom ZA by six South African photographers documenting the lives of 15 secondary school learners from urban and rural communities and representing the broad spectrum of South African society. This exhibition was curated for the Department of Basic Education to celebrate 10 years of Democracy. 

Publication - Sita - Memoirs of Sita Gandhi edited by Uma Dhupelia-Mesthrieat and published by SAHO was launched at the Local History Museum, Durban. Sita, a granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, recounts with charming details her childhood years at Phoenix Settlement, a farm from which the longest surviving Indian newspaper, Indian Opinion, was published. Her account provides a striking glimpse of the challenges faced by Gandhi's South African family in continuing his legacy.

9 August - The photographic exhibition Natal Organisation of Women by Omar Badsha opened at the BAT Centre, Durban.

2004

Publication -  Robert McBride: A Coloured Life by Gomolemo Mokae was published by SAHO with Vista University (2004).

Robert McBride: A Coloured LifeRobert McBride: A Coloured Life

Revisions - Expanding the Narrative of South African Art Campbell Smith Collection 

Edited by Hayden Proud (exhibition & publication) - a private collection assembled by Bruce Campbell Smith and exhibited at the South African National Gallery in Cape Town. The book was launched in early 2007 and was published by SAHO and Unisa Press. The principal focus is on "work by black South African artists" between the 1920s and 2004. The collection presents a range of images - including some undoubtedly, if not iconic, importance - ranging from the colonial and apartheid eras right through to the first ten years of the new democratic.

Revisions - Expanding the Narrative of South African ArtRevisions - Expanding the Narrative of South African Art

2005 

September - The Nkosi Albert Luthuli Oral History Schools Project launched

The first Nkosi Albert Luthuli Young Historians Competition took place in partnership with the Department of Education. The aim of the competition was to increase an interest in history and to encourage scholars throughout South Africa to engage with their shared history in addition to exploring their personal and community histories.

Celebrating 50 years of the Freedom Charter: A booklet compiled by SAHO for the Department of Education which was distributed to schools across the country.

2006

A booklet An Age of Hope: Landmarks in a Century of Struggle 1906 – 2006 was compiled by SAHO for the Department of Education and distributed to schools across the country. 

The exhibition Age of Hope: The history of the Women's struggle was held in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Women’s Anti-pass March - edited by Joni Light & Omar Badsha. The exhibition consisted of over 100 images of women and the struggle over the last century. The exhibition was displayed at a Department of Education conference in Boksburg, Johannesburg.  

Second Albert Luthuli Young Historians Competition (In partnership with the Department of Education).

2007

17 April - The Amersfoort Legacy, A History of SA Education

SAHO Commemorated 350 years of formal education by organising an exhibition and a conference at the Slave Lodge, Cape Town. The event was hosted in partnership with the UCT School of Education and Iziko Museums. The event was used as a platform to launch various other SAHO projects related to education. Keynote speaker, Enver Surty (Deputy Minister of Education), formally launched the project and exhibition. 

21 May - SAHO’s re-designed website was officially launched by the Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, at an event held at the Department of Education 

Third Albert Luthuli Young Historians Competition (In partnership with the Department of Education) prize giving and adjudication took place in Cape Town.

2008

Fourth Albert Luthuli Young Historians Competition (In partnership with the Department of Education) Prize giving and adjudication took place in Durban and formed part of SAHO’s Online History Classroom section. Due to changes in the history curriculum, SAHO began the process of updating all of the history classroom content, a project currently in progress.

June - Publication of the book Cape Flats Details - Life and Popular Art in Cape Town’s Townships by Chris Ledochowski,  Re-print and update of the book were undertaken for the International Book Fair in Cape Town. 

Cape Flats Details - Life and Popular Art in Cape Town’s TownshipsCape Flats Details - Life and Popular Art in Cape Town’s Townships

2009

6 August - The publication Cocktails of liberty - Contours of the 1976 Western Cape Student Uprising by Cornelius Thomas was published and launched in January in partnership with Vivalia Press.

Cocktails of liberty - Contours of the 1976 Western Cape Student UprisingCocktails of liberty - Contours of the 1976 Western Cape Student Uprising

August - Towards a Women’s History: SAHO hosted a symposium entitled Towards a Women’s History: Building a Women’s Archive at Freedom Park in Pretoria. At this event we also opened an exhibition, For Freedom and Equality, Women in 20th Century South African History. The exhibition was displayed at Freedom Park in Pretoria and later at the University of Pretoria. Our aim was to begin a national dialogue amongst historians and museum and archive workers in order to help SAHO compile a comprehensive women’s history.

September - Professor David Everatt, Dr Ben Turok and Omar Badsha spoke at the Dadoo Conference as part of the Yusuf Dadoo Centenary Celebrations, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr Yusuf Dadoo. As part of its rewriting of the history of the liberation movement, SAHO updated its material on Yusuf Dadoo, leader of the South African Communist Party.

In addition, SAHO and the Centre for Sociological Research held a public lecture and conference at the University of Johannesburg. In partnership with Mogale City and the South African Communist Party, SAHO also organised a gala dinner to celebrate the life and times of Dr Yusuf Dadoo.

September - Fifth Albert Luthuli Young Historians Competition (In partnership with the Department of Education). Prize giving and adjudication took place in Bloemfontein. 

2010

SAHO launched its One City, Many Histories research project on the history of the nine cities where the 2010 Soccer World Cup was held.

One City, Many HistoriesOne City, Many Histories

18 August - 30 September - Bonani Africa Festival of Photography - One of the largest ever exhibitions of contemporary South African documentary photography, the Bonani Africa 2010 Festival of Photography showcased 56 photographers from South Africa whose work addressed the intersecting questions of narrative and social engagement. The exhibition was held at the Cape Town Castle of Good Hope. 

Bonani Africa exhibition opening; As part of the festival, coinciding with the opening of this exhibition, SAHO organised a three-day conference at the Iziko National Gallery in Cape Town entitled Beyond the Racial Lens: The Politics of South African Documentary Photography, Past and Present. This conference brought South Africa’s pre-eminent photographers, art historians, and curators into conversation with a younger generation of photographers, artists and activists.

After a two-month run at the Castle in Cape Town, the Bonani exhibition travelled to Museum Africa in Johannesburg (September 2010 - March 2011). A 200-page catalogue based on the exhibition was also published.

2010 

SAHO’s Education Programme and the Nkosi Albert Luthuli Oral History Competition (2010-2011). In addition to the competition, the DBE granted SAHO the funds to produce two booklets for schools. The first was printed in August 2011 to celebrate women in South African history, and the second in January 2012, which examined key holidays and anniversaries and why we celebrate them.

2011

June - SAHO moved from a HTML content site to a new Drupal Web 2.0 format, the new interface made it easier for visitors to find and add new information to the website.

14 June - In Pursuit of Liberty: Legality vs. Justice Exhibition 

The exhibition was launched at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, depicting Apartheid-era courts as sites of struggle. The exhibition was on display at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton until November 2011.

In Pursuit of Liberty: Legality vs. Justice ExhibitionIn Pursuit of Liberty: Legality vs. Justice Exhibition

2012

Lives of Courage book launch

Two of SAHO's publications were launched at the ANC’s centenary conference and Parliament:

The Final Prize, My life in the Anti Apartheid Struggle by Norman Levy.

The Final Prize: My Life in the anti-apartheid struggleThe Final Prize: My Life in the anti-apartheid struggle

Alex Hepple: South African Socialist by Bob Hepple.

Alex Hepple: South African SocialistAlex Hepple: South African Socialist

The launch of the SAHO Graduate Internship Programme: launched by Minister Blade Nzimande.

SAHO also initiated a ground-breaking new collaborative project with tertiary history departments in Canada and the United States of America and received financial support from Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority (CATHSSETA).

Publications: SAHO published two new books and a CD:

One Hundred Years of the ANC: Debating Liberation Histories Today. Edited by Arianna Lissoni, Jon Soske, Natasha Erlank, Noor Nieftagodien and Omar Badsha, SAHO and Wits Press, the book was based on papers presented at a conference organised jointly by SAHO, the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) and University of Johannesburg History Departments in 2011.  

One Hundred Years of the ANCIOne Hundred Years of the ANC

The book In Transit: Autobiography of a South African Freedom Fighter by Fanele Mbali was launched by SAHO as part of its Lives of Courage Programme

In Transit - Autobiography of A South African Freedom FighterIn Transit - Autobiography of A South African Freedom Fighter

Publication/Special Project: Insurrections, CD arising from a joint SA-Indian music/poetry initiative, Lineages of Freedom.

September - The exhibition The Forgotten People: Political Banishment under Apartheid, based on the book of the same title by Professor Saleem Badat, Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University, opened at Freedom Park, in Pretoria. 

Lineages of Freedom event: 

Lineages of Freedom: A celebration of Culture and Shared Ties. Held jointly with the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), SAHO organised a cultural programme titled Lineages of Freedom: A celebration of Culture and Shared Ties at the District Six Homecoming Centre and Fugard Theatre, Cape Town.

A photographic exhibition, Walking on Water: Migrants and Travelling Stories, by Omar Badsha, and a concert, Insurrections, a special musical suite composed by South African and Indian musicians and poets. A DVD of the concert was co-produced by SAHO and the Humanities Centre at UWC. The DVD was launched in India and South Africa in 2013.

Exhibition: Red in the Rainbow

SAHO partnered with Lynn Carneson in an exhibition called Red in the Rainbow held at the Nelson Mandela Gateway Museum in Cape Town. This multi-media exhibition showcased the life of Fred and Sarah Carneson, their family and their comrades in Cape Town taking the visitor through a vivid experience of what it was like for people of all races to oppose the Apartheid regime.

Red  In The RainbowRed In The Rainbow

Film: Breathe Again

SAHO co-produced the film, Breathe Again, with Azanian Rizing productions. The film is based on the story of Derrick Orderson, a record-holding Cape Flats swimmer marginalized by Apartheid, directed by his nephew Kurt Orderson and has been shown at film festivals in South Africa and on the international film festival circuits, university and community venues.

Breathe AgainBreathe Again

Click here to watch Breathe Again

2013 

21 - 23 February - SAHO co-hosts with Rhodes University, Durban Moment Conference (The rise of the Trade Union Movement) at Rhodes University, Grahamstown.

May - Book Launch: In Transit - Autobiography of A South African Freedom Fighter by Fanele Mbali, in collaboration with the Humanities Department of the University of the Western Cape at the District Six Museum.  

In Transit - Autobiography of A South African Freedom FighterIn Transit - Autobiography of A South African Freedom Fighter

May - The Forgotten People: Banishment under Apartheid exhibition by Professor Saleem Badat at the Humanities Faculty at The University of Cape Town.

The Forgotten People: Banishment under ApartheidThe Forgotten People: Banishment under Apartheid

21 August - SAHO curated, designed and produced a photographic exhibition, Celebrating 40 years of the Durban Strikes, for the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU). The exhibition premiered at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Durban.

Celebrating 40 years of the Durban StrikesCelebrating 40 years of the Durban Strikes

August - SAHO compiled a booklet for the Department of Basic Education on the 1913 Women’s Anti-pass Campaign.

September - SAHO launched its Voluntary Internship program with one American and one Canadian University. That year SAHO worked with 7 students from the Southern Methodist University in Texas and 10 Students from The McGill University in Canada.

2014

17 June - Launch of Popular Education Website

In a collaboration between SAHO, Popular Education Programme and the Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (DHET), the Popular Education website was launched.

Publications

The Final Prize: My Life in the anti-apartheid struggle by Norman Levy

The Final Prize: My Life in the anti-apartheid struggleThe Final Prize: My Life in the anti-apartheid struggle

Better to Die on One's Feet by Michael Dingake

Better to Die on One's FeetBetter to Die on One's Feet

We are no longer in France by Allison Drew

We are no longer in FranceWe are no longer in France

Africa in Today’s World by Max Coleman

Africa in Today's WorldAfrica in Today's World

2015

23 April - SEEDTIME – Omar Badsha retrospective opened at IZIKO National Gallery, Cape Town, and Museum Africa Johannesburg

SEEDTIMESEEDTIME

25 - 26 September - Insurrections III: The Storming - Insurrections, a collection of 11 compositions, the product of poetry-music collaboration between Indian and South African artists.

Insurrections III: The StormingInsurrections III: The Storming

16 September - Mafika Gwala Annual Lecture: The Arts of Resistance - Mafika Gwala and South African Poetry by Ari Sitas

2016

31 March - NIHSS Digital Contributions Awards

Publications

Alfred Temba Qabula – Collected Poems, edited by Ari Sitas

Alfred Temba Qabula - Collected PoemsAlfred Temba Qabula - Collected Poems

The Flight of the Gwala Gwala Bird - Eleven Essays by Ari Sitas

The Flight of the Gwala Gwala BirdThe Flight of the Gwala Gwala Bird

Mafika Gwala Collected Poems, edited by Mandla Langa and Ari Sitas

Mafika Gwala Collected PoemsMafika Gwala Collected Poems

6 October - Mafika Gwala Second Annual Lecture and Book Launch

Mafika Gwala Second Annual Lecture and Book LaunchMafika Gwala Second Annual Lecture and Book Launch

23 – 25 November - Conference: The Politics of Armed Struggle in Southern Africa - The Wits History Workshop, the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA) and South African History Online (SAHO) hosted the conference on the history and politics of the armed struggle in southern Africa at Wits in Johannesburg.

The Politics of Armed Struggle in Southern AfricaThe Politics of Armed Struggle in Southern Africa

2017

21- 22 June - The Storming: Insurrections Ensemble by Dilip Menon, Centre for Indian Studies in Africa, University of Witwatersrand

The Storming: Insurrections Ensemble by Dilip Menon, Centre for Indian Studies in Africa, University of WitwatersrandThe Storming: Insurrections Ensemble by Dilip Menon, Centre for Indian Studies in Africa, University of Witwatersrand

August - Publications: 

Seedtimes by Omar Badsha published by SAHO

SeedtimesSeedtimes

My Life: The Making of an Afrikaner Revolutionary in the South African Liberation Struggle by Stephanie Kemp  

My LifeMy Life: The Making of an Afrikaner Revolutionary in the South African Liberation Struggle

Walking with Giants by Sindiso Mfenyana

Walking with GiantsWalking with Giants

10-11 September - Insurrections Ensemble: Defining Grief and Defiant Hope, at the Centre for African Studies Gallery at the University of Cape Town. 

5 October - Mafika Gwala Third Annual Lecture - With a keynote address by renowned South African poet, writer and activist, Mongane Wally Serote. The programme included the prize-giving ceremony to the winners of the Students Essay Writing Competition.

Mafika Gwala Third Annual LectureMafika Gwala Third Annual Lecture

2018

Seedtimes Exhibition and Book Launch 

8 March - A4 Arts Foundation, District 6, Cape Town

10 May - University of Pretoria

12 July - Kalk Bay Artist Studio

Seedtimes Exhibition and Book LaunchSeedtimes Exhibition and Book Launch

29 August - Book Launch 

My Life: The making of an Afrikaner Revolutionary in the South African Liberation Struggle by Stephanie Kemp.   

My Life: The making of an Afrikaner Revolutionary in the South African Liberation StruggleMy Life: The making of an Afrikaner Revolutionary in the South African Liberation Struggle

13 September - Book Launch 

The Vespa Diaries. Sunnyside Park Hotel, Parktown, Johannesburg.

The Vespa DiariesThe Vespa Diaries - Book of Poems by Ari Sitas

16 & 17 September - For Once: Threads of Sorrow - Insurrections Ensemble at the Centre for the Less Good Idea, Arts on Main, Maboneng, Newtown, Johannesburg 

Threads of Sorrow - Insurrections EnsembleThreads of Sorrow - Insurrections Ensemble

5 October - Mafika Gwala Fourth Annual Lecture

6 October - Insurrections Ensemble, Tshisimani Activist Centre, Cape Town

Insurrections EnsembleInsurrections Ensemble, Tshisimani Activist Centre, Cape Town

2019

30 August  - Film Festival

SAHO hosted a film screening in partnership with UCT’s Centre for Film and Media Studies (CFMS) department, as well as the Centre for Curating the Archive (CCA). The film festival, in honour of women's month, was a public event that celebrated and raised awareness around South African women. The festival aimed to commemorate all women, so as not to erase or exclude those who do not fit into prescribed gender or sex categories. Hosted at Ashley Kriel Hall, Salt River

SAHO FIlm FestivalSAHO FIlm Festival

31 October - Mafika Gwala Fifth Annual Lecture 

A lecture on the role of art and artists in the struggle for Human Rights. The lecture was presented by Fred Khumalo, titled: What the Revolutionary Oracle Taught Me, held at the University of KwaZulu Natal.