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Masana Sam Nzima
For his excellent contribution in photo journalism and placing the brutality of the Apartheid police in the internationa...
Hector Pieterson
Student Activist, one of the first students to be killed in the 1976 student rebellion in Soweto, Johannesburg
Chief of the Zondi, Bambata is killed
In the Mpanza valley in the Umvoti district, a minor chief of the Zondi, Bambatha ka Mancinza Zondi (also spelt Bambada...
Robert Kennedy, American politician, speaks at the University of Cape Town about the racial inequality of apartheid
On 6 June 1966, Robert Kennedy, the brother of former American president John F. Kennedy and American politician, made a...
A tribute to a great struggle stalwart Paul David by Siva Naidoo
Devadas Paul David was a member of the Natal Indian Congress, the United Democratic Front and the African National Congr...
Struggle and archive
The formerly exiled ANC activist and later judge, Albie Sachs, is archiving his life, including a new film that forms pa...
Chief Albert Luthuli is banned for a further five years
Chief Albert Luthuli, President General of the African National Congress (ANC), led the Defiance Campaign in 1952, a non...
Edson Sithole: new book uncovers the work of a thinker, lawyer and Zimbabwean freedom fighter who ‘disappeared’
Edson Sithole
Edson Sithole was born in what was then Southern Rhodesia in 1935. He was the first black person in Southern Africa...
South African activist Frank Anthony wrote a novel that has been forgotten: why it shouldn’t have been
How does it come about that a man who dedicated the greater part of his life to a vision of a just South Africa, and sac...
Johannesburg Magistrate court is bombed
Two bombs exploded at the Johannesburg magistrate's court. The first, a minor explosion that acted as a decoy, was follo...
Frank Anthony
Member of Non European Unity Movement (NEUM), Robben Island prisoner, banned person, poet, and author
Ruth First is born
Ruth Heloise First, journalist, academic, political activist and the wife of former South African Communist Party (SACP)...
The UN Group of Experts on Apartheid proposes establishment of a National Convention to set a new course for the future of South Africa
The United Nations Group of Experts on Apartheid presented its report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN...
After being allowed into the racially exclusive SA Amateur Athletics Union, Matthews Motshwarateu, breaks the national 5,000m record
Black athlete Matthews Motshwarateu, recently allowed into the racially exclusive SA Amatuer Athletics Union, breaks the...
Djibouti votes: ageing president set to extend his rule after changing constitution
SA artist Sydney Khumalo is born
South African artist Sydney Alex Khumalo (also documented as Kumalo), was born in Johannesburg. He began studying at Pol...
Transkei breaks all diplomatic ties with the Republic of South Africa
Transkei Prime Minister Chief Kaiser Matanzima announces his government's decision to break all diplomatic ties with the...
Reconciliation talks between F.W de Klerk and Nelson Mandela are rescheduled due to violence in Sebokeng
On 5 April 1990, at an informal meeting in Cape Town, President F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela agreed to reschedule fo...
The Security Council begins deliberations on the situation in South Africa
The United Nations Security Council began deliberations on the situation in South Africa, under an agenda item entitled:...
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was first proclaimed a United Nations’ Day of observa...
Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick "Terror" Lekota
Member of SASO, the UDF, the ANC and COPE. Political prisoner, Politician, President and Leader of the Congress of...
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Congo gained independence from Belgium in 1960. From 1971 to 1997 the country was officially the Republic of Zaire
Nawal El Saadawi: Egypt’s grand novelist, physician and global activist
Egyptian novelist, physician, sociologist and global activist Nawal El Saadawi died on 21 March 2021 at t...
John Langalibalele Dube is born
John Langalibalele Dube (22.02.1871- 11.02.1946) was born at the Inanda Mission station of the American Zulu Mission (AZ...
The South African Council on Sport at 50: the fight for sports development is still relevant today
Third Voortrekker Town Established
Regulations were proclaimed for the layout of Pietermaritzburg, the third Voortrekker town and the first in Natal. It wa...
P.W. Botha offers to resign
Prime Minister P.W. Botha offered to resign amid speculation regarding his involvement in the Information Scandal of 197...
First air flight from London to South Africa
By the 1920s, the development of heavier than air flight had progressed considerably, partly due to the outbreak of Worl...
16 June 1976 - Soweto Uprising
IntroductionThe 16 June 1976 Uprising that began in Soweto and spread countrywide profoundly changed the socio-political...
1949 Anti Indian Pogrom in Durban
On Thursday evening, 13 January 1949, violence erupted in the Indian business area in Durban. On the first day there was...
Steve Biko, a pioneer of the Black Consciousness Movement, is born
Sixty-five years ago Steve Bantu Biko who would become a pioneer of the Black Consciousness(BC) philosophy was born in K...
The Mfecane: Understanding a Period of Transformation in Southern Africa
The Mfecane - known as the Difaqane or Lifaqane in Sesotho - was a period of profound political, social, and demographic...
Historic moment as Constitutional Court finds Zuma guilty and sentences him to jail
South Africa’s Constitutional Court has found former president Jacob Zuma guilty of contempt of court and sent...
Kenya is granted independence
Kenya gained its independence from Britain with Jomo Kenyatta as the country’s first Prime Minister. The Union Jack was ...
Who was Albert Luthuli? The murdered South African leader who put his people above himself
South African liberation leader Albert Luthuli died on 21 July 1967 near his home in Groutville, in the South African pr...
Colleen Lombard
anti-apartheid activist, political detainee, treason trialist and author
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa is approved by Parliament
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa is regarded as one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. ...
Vaal Uprising Begins as Sharpeville Residents Resist Rent Increases
On this day, residents of Sharpeville and surrounding Vaal Triangle townships rose up against a R5.90 rent increase impo...
All That Glitters by Emilia Potenza
The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 was a turning point in South African history. Far more than diamonds,...
Nigerian women occupy ChevronTexaco oil terminal
On this day, approximately 600 Itsekiri women began a peaceful occupation of ChevronTexaco's Escravos oil terminal in th...
Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, SA minister of education since 2004, is born in Durban
Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor was born in Durban on 7 December 1953. Her father, Joe Matthews, was a prominent anti-aparth...
Chiliboy Ralepelle becomes the first black player to lead the Springboks against a World XV in England
Rugby player, Mahlatse Chiliboy Ralepelle was born in Tzaneen on 11 September 1986. Ralepelle moved to Pretoria and atte...
Dr Franklin Abraham Sonn
Dr Franklin Abraham Sonn was born in October 1939 in Vosburg in the Karoo, Northern Cape and raised in Queenstown in the...
Sunny Girja Singh
Chairman of Military Committee in Maputo, Robben island prisoner, exile, member of uMkhonto weSizwe, ANC Representative ...
South Africa Declares Gender-Based Violence a National Disaster
On this day in 2025, South Africa officially classified gender-based violence and femicide as a national disaster, follo...
SA Prime Minister speaks before the British Parliament
In believing that his policies had finally been accepted by White South Africans, Prime Minister Jan Christiaan Smuts st...
Carl Niehaus is sentenced to 15 years in prison for high treason for being a member of ANC underground
Carl Niehaus grew up in Zeerust, North West Province, and completed his higher education at Rand Afrikaans University (R...
P. W. Botha grants reprieve to the “Sharpeville Six”
South African President P. W. Botha granted a reprieve to the "Sharpeville Six" (Reginald Sefatsa, Reid Mokoena, Moses D...
A history of Apartheid in South Africa
Background and policy of apartheidBefore we can look at the history of the apartheid period it is necessary to understan...
The death of Samora Machel
This feature celebrates Samora Machel and examines the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death and acknowledges t...
Griffiths Mxenge is murdered
Griffiths Mxenge, an African National Congress (ANC) veteran and apartheid activist, was assassinated and his body was s...
Cradle of Humankind
The Fossil Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai, and EnvironsThe Sterkfontein Valley landscape is in bot...
Heritage day, Braai Day or Shaka Day: Whose Heritage is it Anyway?
BackgroundHeritage Day is one of the newly created South African public holidays. It is a day in which all are encourage...
Multi-party delegates endorses the Interim constitution
Delegates at the multiparty Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) negotiation endorsed the Interim Constitut...
Bettie Cilliers, famous SA painter, is born
Bettie Cilliers-Barnard, famed SA painter and mother of actress Jana Celliers was born in Rustenburg, Transvaal. Though ...
The Story about Africa’s “First Woman Billionaire”
Where does Isabel dos Santos's wealth come from? Her country's resources are basically treated as her family's property.
Kole Omotoso, the Nigerian writer, scholar and actor who inspired a continent
Over 400 Kikuyu suspected to be part of the Mau Mau movement are arrested in Kenya
Mali was once part of the Great Songhay Empire, but came under French rule in 1892. After almost seventy years of coloni...
Miriam Makeba, South African singer, dies
South African singer Miriam Makeba dies at the age of 76 after a 30 minute performance for Roberto Saviano in the Italia...
United Democratic Front member Pearl Tshabalala assassinated
Ms Pearl Tshabalala, a prominent businesswoman and member of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Clermont, Durban, who ...
Well-known political activist and academic, Dr. Neville Alexander is born
A well-known political activist and academic, Neville Edward Alexander was born on 22 October, 1936 in Cradock, Eastern ...
Elephant poaching reaches an all time high
While African elephants have been hunted for several centuries, the exploitation of elephant herds on a massive scale be...
Charlotte Maxeke dies
Charlotte Makgomo Maxeke, teacher, social worker, politician and founder of the Bantu Women's League of South Africa, di...
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu
Outspoken critic of apartheid, teacher, author, lecturer, Nobel Prize winner, former Archbishop of Cape Town, Archbishop...
Omar Badsha: an ordinary South African whose struggles and triumphs offer insights into broader social movements—Sean Jacobs reviews Available Light by Daniel Magaziner
Omar Badsha worked exclusively with available light. His approach to photography mirrored his broader approach to life a...
SA War Memorial is opened at Delville Wood
The South African National War Memorial was opened outside the village of Longueval, France, next to the historic Delvil...
The UN General Assembly adopts resolution 1881, requesting South Africa to release all political prisoners
With the inception of apartheid in 1948, numerous repressive laws limited the freedom and movement of black South Africa...
Uganda gains independence
The East African country Uganda gained independence from Great Britain as a parliamentary democratic monarchy with tradi...
South African War: Thousands of Black men and women forced to walk home
With the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War (or South African War) imminent, thousands of Black men and women were le...
The Dutch East India Company decides to send French Huguenot refugees to the Cape
On 3 October 1685 the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam decided to send French Huguenot refugees to the Cape for set...
Brazil - Russia - India - China - South Africa (BRICS)
BRICS is an acronym that refers to the grouping of five major emerging economies in the world: Brazil, Russia, India, Ch...
M K Gandhi, pioneer of the SA Passive Resistance movement and leader who led India to Independence, is born
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born into a Hindu Modh family in Porbandar, India. In 1893 he accepted a year-long contra...
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
ANC Political Activist and ex-wife of Nelson Mandela, Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture, President of ANCWL, member of...
The South African Council on Sport at 50: the fight for sports development is still relevant today
The South African Council on Sport (SACOS) was the sports wing of the anti-apartheid liberation movement. It was es...
Fatima Meer, South African anti-Apartheid activist is born
Professor Fatima Meer was a writer, academic and human rights and gender activist who born in Grey Street Durban on the ...
South African Communist Party leader, Dr. Yusuf Mahomed Dadoo dies
A political activist and Chairman of the South African Communist Party (SACP), Dr. Yusuf Mahomed Dadoo died on...
Mass funeral for the victims of Bisho massacre
More than 70 000 angry mourners gathered at King William's Town, to pay their respects to the victims of the Bisho Massa...
Amersfoort Legacy - History of education in South Africa
The opening moment of education in South Africa coincides with the foundation of the colonial experience at the Cape in ...
The Women of Marikana
The town of Marikana, formerly known as and still sometimes referred to as Rooikoppies (red hills), is based in Rustenbu...
1946 African Mineworkers Strike
"Two hundred thousand subterranean heroes who, by day and by night, for a mere pittance lay down their lives to the fami...
Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan
Pharmacist, member of the Natal Indian Congress, African National Congress, uMkhonto weSizwe, South African Communist Pa...
Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle reached the Galapagos Islands
Darwin's experience in the Galapagos would be the principle inspiration for his work, On The Origin of Species, one of t...
1946 Indian Passive Resistance Timeline
1859After protracted negotiations between the Natal Government and the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, the ...
Protest against gender- based violence throughout South Africa
On 4 September 2019, people gathered outside parliament in Cape Town to address gender- based violence in South Africa. ...
Sharpeville Deputy Mayor killed
The Deputy Mayor of Sharpeville, Sam Dlamini was hacked to death by a group of youths, and doused in petrol and burned. ...
Anti-apartheid activist Sister Bernard Ncube dies
On 31 August 2012, anti-Apartheid activist Sister Bernard Ncube died at the age of 80. She was a practicing Roman Cathol...
Gill Marcus is born
Gill Marcus, former Deputy Minister of Finance from 1996-1999, Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank and Man...
Elections in post Apartheid South Africa
1994: South Africa's first non racial, democratic electionsSouth Africa’s democratic system was endorsed by voters drawn...
December 16, the reflection of a changing South African heritage
IntroductionDecember 16 looms large in the history of South Africa. Today in the new South African it is celebrated as t...
SA poet and artist Wopko Jensma is born
South African poet and graphic designer Wopko Jensma was born in Middelburg, Eastern Province. Highly talented but suffe...
Port Natal is renamed Durban in honour of Sir Benjamin D’Urban, governor of the Cape Colony from 1834 - 1837
On 23 June 1835 Port Natal was renamed Durban in honour of Sir Benjamin D'Urban, governor of the Cape Colony from ...
Marikana Massacre - 16 August 2012
On 16 August 2012, the South African Police Service (SAPS) opened fire on a crowd of striking mineworkers at Marikana, i...
South Africa needs a national holiday on 16 November to acknowledge its indentured
SOUTH AFRICA NEEDS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY ON 16 NOVEMBER TO ACKNOWLEDGE ITS INDENTURED LABOUR HERITAGEBy Brij Mah...
São Tomé and Príncipe
Sao Tome and Principe is a country, of central Africa, located on the Equator in the Gulf of Guinea. It consists of two ...
South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO): An Organisational Timeline
1952The African National Congress’ (ANC) Defiance Campaign against the South African Apartheid Regime, which in the foll...
Vlakplaas and the History of Apartheid's Death Squad
Vlakplaas is the name of an undercover counterinsurgency division of the apartheid police that operated in the 1980s. Vl...
Photography and the Liberation Struggle in South Africa
Introduction We are not dealing with sets of statistics. We are talking about people of flesh and blood, who laugh...
One of the organisers of the 1956 Women's March Lilian Ngoyi
One of the organisers of the 1956 Women's March, Lilian Ngoyi
A young victim of the atrocities committed by Belgium in the Congo stands next to a missionary
A young victim of the atrocities committed by Belgium in the Congo stands next to a missionary.
Student Protests at Tshwane University of Technology - Timeline
As part of the governmental process for transformation of institutions through re-structuring and mergers in Post-Aparth...
Nokukhanya (Bhengu) Luthuli’s Life Timeline
1904, March 3 Nokukhanya born 1913 Began formal education at Ohlange Institute 1914 Death of Noku...
The second Anglo-Boer war, also known as the South African war, breaks out
A number of interrelated factors led to the Second Anglo-Boer War. These include the conflicting political ideologies of...
Fanakalo: the language of mining culture
Introduction Fanakalo is a bridging language of communication in multilingual and multinational settings on South Afr...
Riot police play a game of soccer with youths in Nyanga on 27 August 1976
Riot police play a game of soccer with youths in Nyanga on 27 August 1976. Photo by John Paisley
A certificate of slavery for an infant named Sophie
A certificate of slavery for an infant named Sophie, dated 1827 Cape of Good Hope.
The Early History of Rugby in South Africa
Prior to the passage of apartheid laws both Black and White South Africans played rugby, albeit separately. After the on...
Riot police attempt to block the way of workers leaving a May Day meeting at Khotso House
Riot police attempt to block the way of workers leaving a May Day meeting at Khotso House in Johannesburg in May 1985.&n...
A family sits outside the front door of their District Six home
A family sits outside the front door of their District Six home in Cape Town in the 1970s, prior to their forced removal...
Bisho Massacre 1992
At a time when the country was in mourning for those killed in the Boipatong Massacre of 17 June 1992, the Bisho Massacr...
Second Anglo-Boer War - 1899 - 1902
'South African War ( a.k.a. the Anglo-Boer War) remains the most terrible and destructive modern armed conflict in South...
The Women’s Charter
Adopted at the Founding Conference of the Federation of South African Women Johannesburg, 17 April 1954. The Charter ...
History of Women’s Struggle in South Africa
Women at the start of the 20th century It is only over the last three or four decades that women's role in the histor...
Rock Art
Most researchers who study rock art tend to focus on technical aspects, such as the material and techniques used. Their ...
Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW)
The Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW or FSAW) was launched on 17 April 1954 in Johannesburg as the first attemp...
South African Students Movement (SASM)
The South African Students Movement (SASM) an organisation of mainly high school students was formed to represent studen...
Africa: Colonialism, Arts, Protest & Independence
1884 Otto von Bismarck chairs the Berlin Conference to stem the scramble for Africa. Only Morocco, Ethiopia, and Liber...
Remembering the Battle of Adwa
The year 1896 signifies an important moment in African history. In that year, on 1 March 1896, a historic battle between...
Prehistory of the Cape Town area
Prehistory of Southern Africa The Dutch East India Company (VOC) established Cape Town as a refuelling station in 1652 ...
Kingdom of Kongo 1390–1914
The Kingdom of Kongo was a large kingdom in the western part of central Africa. The name comes from the fact that the fo...
Forced Removals in South Africa
Forced removals refer to the moving of people from their homes against their will. This may not always involve physical ...
Haile Selassi I, Emperor of Ethiopia, is born
Haile Selassi was born as Lij Tafari Makonnen in the village of Ejersa Gor, in the Harar province of Ethiopia. Heir...
Women and The Food and Canning Workers’ Union
The fruit-canning industry in South Africa can be traced to the late nineteenth century, when the first jam factories op...
Cuba and the struggle for democracy in South Africa
The revolution in Cuba, culminating in Fidel Castro’s seizure of power on 1 January 1959, was from the beginning based o...
Basotho Wars 1858 - 1868
The three Basotho Wars (1858-68) and the formation of Lesotho The conflict between the Basotho people and White settl...
Freedom Day: 27 April
Freedom Day on 27 April is an annual celebration of South Africa's first non-racial democratic elections of 1994. It is ...
The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM)
Enforced racial segregation in South Africa began with the arrival of the Dutch and English colonisers. Following its ...
Louis van Mauritius and the Slave Revolt of 1808
The unique nature of slavery in the Cape Colony hindered many attempts at wide-scale resistance on the part of Cape slav...
The Seriti Commission
Background Terry Crawford-Brown petitioned the Constitutional Court in 2011 to compel former president Jacob Zuma to ...
Pedi & Anglo-Pedi Wars 1876-1879
The largest North-Sotho language group in South Africa are the Bapedi group, who arrived in the northern province around...
Battle of Cuito Cuanavale 1988
Introduction The battle of Cuito Cuanavale and the Cuban intervention in Angola is one of the turning points in South...
A Short History of ESKOM, Part 1 (1923-2001)
This short history of Electrical Supply Commission (ESKOM) aims to provide an overview of the history of the power utili...
Indenture: A new system of slavery?
Was the system of indentured Indian labour "a new system of slavery"?as Hugh Tinker entitles his book? The answer would ...
Songhai, African Empire, 15-16th Century
Overview, West Africa and the rise of the Songhai Empire West Africa is home to many of Africa's oldest kingdoms. The...
South African Student Organisation (SASO)
The Origins and formation: The South African Student Organisation (SASO) was formed in 1968 after some members of th...
Natal Indian Congress (NIC)
The NIC (Natal Indian Congress) was the first of the Indian Congresses to be formed. It was established in 1894 by Mahat...
Sudan’s Revolution
In December 2018, protesters took to the streets in response to austerity measures[i] imposed by then Sudanese president...
South African Communist Party (SACP)
On 30 July 2011, the South African Communist Party (SACP) celebrated its 90th anniversary. Initially known as the Commun...
Indian South Africans
From bondage to freedom - The 160th anniversary of the arrival of Indian workers in South Africa The feature on...
The Wragg Commission (1885-1887)
Indian immigration into Natal brought with it strained relations and severe problems and conflicts between the White col...
ANC January 8th Statements
The ANC in exile issued its first January 8th statement in 1972, the founding date of the ANC. This statement outlined t...
1973 Durban Strikes
Introduction On 9 January 1973, workers at the Coronation Brick and Tile factory, outside Durban, came out on strike....
St James Church massacre
Azanian Peoples' Liberation Army (APLA - the armed wing of the Pan-Africanist Congress) operatives attack St. James Chur...
uMkhonto weSizwe (MK)
On 16 December, 1961, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) was launched as an armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). The...
The Roots of Apartheid in the Construction of Buchuberg Dam
At the start of the 20th century South Africa faced a poor white epidemic. The state justified Apartheid as an "anti-pov...
History of slavery and early colonisation in South Africa
With colonialism, which began in South Africa in 1652, came the Slavery and Forced Labour Model. This was the orig...
Indentured Indian labourers and their struggle for citizenship in South Africa by Dr Brij Maharaj
16 November 2023, marks the 163rd anniversary of the arrival in South Africa of indentured labourers from India. From th...
Bureau of State Security (BOSS)
The telling of the history of South African Intelligence Agencies is somewhat hamstrung by the fact that people from the...
Football in South Africa
On 15 May 2004 in Zurich, Switzerland, Joseph (Sepp) Blatter, president of FIFA, world soccer's governing body, made an ...
Reservation of Separate Amenities Act No 49 commences
The National Party (NP) government developed the concept of allocation of resources such as general infrastructure, educ...
The Table Mountain cableway, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Cape Town, is inaugurated
On 4 October 1929 the Table Mountain cableway, one of the world’s biggest tourist attractions in Cape Town, was inaugura...
Mangosuthu Buthelezi: the Zulu nationalist who left his mark on South Africa’s history
Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi played a prominent role in South African politics for almost half a century. He wa...
Mangosuthu Buthelezi was a man of immense political talent and contradictions
Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, who has died, was a history maker. He was born on 27 August 1928 into a tumultuous glo...
History of Women in Prisons during Apartheid
This article was written by Justin Lawler and forms part of the SAHO and Southern Methodist University partnership proj...
The 1913 Women’s anti-pass campaign in the Orange Free State
When the Union of South Africa was established in 1910, there was already a foundation for pass system. However, over ti...
The Nelson Mandela Presidency - 1994 to 1999
In 1991, Nelson Mandela was elected the president of the African National Congress (ANC), and his friend and colleague, ...
Black Sash
The Women's Defence of the Constitution League In 1955 a small group of white middle-class women who were predominant...
The History of May Day in South Africa
The struggle for a shorter workday, a demand of major political significance for the working class dates back to the 180...
Dr Chris Barnard performs the world’s first human heart transplant
On 3 December 1967, South African doctor, Dr Christiaan (Chris) Barnard, performed the world's first human to human hear...
SA President P.W Botha meets with leaders of independent homelands
The leaders of the four 'independent' homelands, namely; Bophuthatswana, Ciskei, Transkei, and Venda, attended a five-na...
Helen Suzman is born
Politician and Anti-Apartheid activist, Helen Suzman, was born in Germiston, South Africa. During her 36 years in Parlia...
ANC stalwart and Rivonia Trialist, Govan Mbeki, is released from Robben Island Prison
On 5 November 1987, Govan Mbeki, member of African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee and Umkhonto we ...
Death in detention of Ahmed Timol
Ahmed Timol was the first political detainee to be killed at the notorious John Vorster square, by the security police o...
Death in detention of Imam Haron
Imam Haron was a vocal community leader that spoke out and supported the struggles against the apartheid regime. He was ...
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of President Nelson Mandela, is born
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of President Nelson Mandela, is born in Bizana, Pondoland. Madikizela-Mandela was...
State of emergency declared after Sharpeville Massacre
This was the first such declaration of a State of Emergency by the Apartheid state. During these periods, the government...
Natal Indian Congress is formed
The Natal Indian Congress (NIC) is formed by Mahatma Gandhi in order to fight discrimination against Indian traders in N...
Steven Biko is arrested.
Stephen Bantu Biko was the first president of South African Student Organisation (SASO), a black student’s organization ...
Ruth First is assassinated in Mozambique
Ruth First, journalist, academic, anti-apartheid activist and member of the South African Communist Party, was brutally ...
Nelson Mandela marries Graça Machel on his 80th birthday
Nelson Mandela first married in 1944. He and his wife Evelyn had 2 children and divorced in 1957. A year later, he marri...
Congress of the People and the Freedom Charter
As the struggle for freedom reached a new intensity in the early fifties, the ANC saw the need for a clear statement on ...
Nelson Mandela meets President P.W. Botha to begin negotiating the end of apartheid
On 5 July 1989, African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela met with President P.W. Botha at Tuynhuis. At the time, ...
ANC leader Nelson Mandela meets Boutros Boutros
African National Congress (ANC) President Nelson Mandela met with the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Boutros Bout...
Three British mercenaries are sentenced to death for their part in the Angolan civil war
In January 1976, a group of 100 mercenaries crossed over from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire) to Angol...
NIC calls for Passive Resistance against Ghetto Act
Natal Indian Congress (NIC) led by Dr. G. M. Naicker, met in an emergency session in Durban and decided on a hartal on 1...
Towards a people’s culture - Art and Resistance under Apartheid
Art in the state of siege The Sharpeville Massacre was one of the most important turning points in the history of Sou...
Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa’s first democratic President
After South Africa's first national democratic elections in April 1994, Nelson Mandela was sworn in as South Africa's fi...
Amy Mollison sets a new world record when she flies from England to Cape Town in 3 days 6 hours and 26 minutes
Amy Mollison (Nee Johnson) was an English Aviator who set numerous flying records during the 1930’s. She married fellow ...
Mandela and the South African Communist Party
Mandela and MK The late 1950s saw the first hints of an armed struggle occurring in certain parts of South Africa. Va...
Hugh Masekela, South African musician, is born
On 4 April 1939 Hugh Ramopolo Masekela, South African musician, was born in Witbank, South Africa. Masekela grew up play...
Pass laws are suspended in South Africa
The South African Commissioner of Police announced that the pass laws, applicable to the African population, were suspen...
An Analysis of the Imprisonment and Detainment Treatment of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela by Monica McCausland
Introduction Reflecting on her past years of impri...
The turbulent 1950s - Women as defiant activists
In the 1950s the government's increasingly repressive policies began to pose a direct threat to all people of colour, an...
Suppression of Communism Act 44 of 1950 severely limits what the media could report
Suppression of Communism Act 44 of 1950: One of the most infamous of all security laws during the apartheid era, it seve...
Woolf Joel is killed due to his refusal to kidnap President Paul Kruger
On 14 March 1898, 34 year old Woolf Joel, Barney Barnato's nephew, was shot and killed by Baron Von Veltheim because he ...
Nelson Mandela Awards 1960s - 2000s
Awards 1960s 1964 Elected Honorary President of the Students' Union, University College, London. 1965 ...
Inaugural Conference of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU)
On 4 -5 March 1955 the Inaugural Conference of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) was held at the Trades...
Britain returns the Cape to the Netherlands and the flag of the Batavian Republic is hoisted on the Castle
In terms of the Treaty of Amiens, signed in 1802 (between England and France), the British officially returned the Cape ...
Marks Maponyane, former Bafana Bafana striker, is born in Meadowlands, Soweto
Marks Maponyane is a former football player and businessman born in Meadowlands, Soweto on 16 February 1962. Maponyane p...
Kwame Nkrumah is released from jail
Kwame Nkrumah was arrested for leading a disturbing ‘positive action’ campaign in Ghana against British rule in 1950. He...
Sophiatown residents are forcefully moved to Soweto
It was in the early hours on 9 February 1955 when around 2 000 policemen, armed with guns, knobkerries and rifles, force...
Political Organisations are unbanned in Transkei
The Transkei leader, Gen. Bantu Holomisa, announced the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC), the Pan Africa...
Macmillan’s 'winds of change’ speech in Parliament
Harold Macmillan, British Conservative prime minister, delivered his 'winds of change' speech, condemning apartheid, to ...
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State (The Zondo Commission)
In 2016, former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela released a report, State of Capture, after an investigation into i...
President P. W. Botha offers Nelson Mandela conditional release from prison
On 31 January 1985 State President P. W. Botha offers Nelson Mandela, leader of the banned African National Congress (AN...
Clayton Sithole, the last political activist to die in Apartheid police detention
Clayton Sithole was the last political activist to die in detention. He died in John Vorster Square police station just ...
Jazz musician Victor Ntoni dies at the Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg
On 28 January 2013 Victor Mhleli Ntoni died of heart attack, after he was admitted to hospital on Thursday due...
CODESA’s starting date set
Delegates from twenty groups agreed after preparatory talks in Johannesburg on a date for the start of substantive negot...
Three Delmas trialist released
Three of the 22 Delmas Treason trialists were released after Judge K van Dijkhorst delivered his judgment. The judge rel...
South Africa signs agreement with Switzerland to support the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP)
The legacy of apartheid is characterized by great political and socio-economic inequality. In order to address this, the...
SA author, Nadine Gordimer, is born
South African author and winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature, Nadine Gordimer, was born in Springs, Transvaal ...
The first Indian people, 197 men, 89 women and 54 children, arrive in Natal
The first Indian people in South Africa are reported to have arrived on board the Truro from Madras to work in the sugar...
Political activist, Professor ZK Matthews is born
Zachariah Keodirelang Matthews, was born in Kimberley in 1901, the son of Peter Motsielwa and Martha Mooketsi Matthews, ...
Violence erupts during Defiance Campaign
The first violence during the Defiance Campaign erupted in New Brighton, near Port Elizabeth. According to reports the r...
ANC leader, Walter Sisulu is arrested for not being in possession of a reference book.
African National Congress (ANC) leader, Walter Sisulu was arrested on a charge that he did not own a reference book. Sub...
Albert Luthuli is elected as an ANC President
The African National Congress (ANC) was founded as the SANCC in 1912. John Dube was its first president, and the well kn...
The Trojan Horse Massacre
In Athlone, Cape Town, Western Province (now Western Cape), the area bordered by Klipfontein Road, Belgravia Road, Thorn...
Archbishop Mpilo Desmond Tutu, chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is born in Klerksdorp, Transvaal
Archbishop Mpilo Desmond Tutu, chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is born in Klerksdorp, Transvaal Arc...
Parliament convenes to consider the resignation of President Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki resigned as president of the Republic South Africa on Sunday 21 September 2008. Parliament convened...
Mandela and de Klerk agree to restart talks
Mandela and de Klerk agree that they would go back to constitutional negotiations, after the ANC had suspended talks aft...
South African Prime Minister, John Vorster resigns
South African Prime Minister since 1966, John Vorster, shocked the nation by announcing his resignation from office, at ...
A teachers training college in South Africa opened in Wellington
A teacher training college in South Africa opened on 26 January 1896, in Wellington, in the Western Cape, South Africa. ...
Thirteen residents of Mofolo die in IFP attack
Thirteen people were killed and eighteen injured in an attack on Soweto residents after an Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) r...
Yusuf Dadoo, political activist, is born
On 5 September 1909, a tireless fighter for national and social liberation, Dr. Yusuf Mohamed Dadoo was born in Krugersd...
South Africa’s Diverse Culture Artistic and Linguistic Heritage
Introduction South Africa, called by some people the 'Rainbow Nation', a title that captures its diversity and 11 of...
South Africa’s Academic and Cultural Boycott
Introduction In 1948 with the election of the National Party and the enforcement of an Apartheid State, it took time ...
Gen. J.B.M. Hertzog is forced to resign as premier after his motion of neutrality in World War II is defeated in parliament
The choice to join the Allied Forces in World War Two was a contentious one on behalf of the South African government. T...
Smuts becomes Prime Minister
General Jan Christian Smuts started his first term as prime minister of the Union of South Africa after the de...
Zimbabwe announces it has severed diplomatic relations with South Africa, but will maintain a trade mission in Johannesburg.
Zimbabwe announced it had severed diplomatic relations with South Africa, but would maintain a trade mission in Johannes...
Lady Mary Bailey, the first pilot to complete the London to Cape flight and back solo, dies in Cape Town
Lady Mary Bailey, wife of a South African mining magnate, was the first person to fly solo from London to Cape Town and ...
The Motsuenyane Commission finds the African National Congress (ANC) guilty of abuse in its camps
Human rights abuses were common in South Africa during the apartheid era and the liberation struggle was ...
The Black Sash: A History of Transformation
This article was written by Ashley Schumacher and forms part of the SAHO and Southern Methodist University partnership ...
Womens Rights
It was not until the introduction of the Bill of Rights that all women in this country received formal recognition as eq...
Police increase their presence in Soweto
Following the 16 June 1976 Soweto protest and the killing and injuring of student protesters by the indiscriminate use o...
Dr. Essop Goolam Pahad, former Minister in the Presidency of the Republic of South Africa is born
Dr. Essop Goolam Pahad, former Minister in the Presidency of the Republic of South Africa was born in Schweizer-Reneke, ...
Soweto students march against government’s language policy
It all began as a peaceful protest march, but ended with violence, tears, blood and death of a 13 year old boy, Hector P...
Soweto students begin protest against the compulsory use of Afrikaans
Pupils at Naledi High School vented their anger by burning out a police car and damaging three other vehicles. The first...
ANC co-founder and journalist Pixley Seme dies
Pixley ka Isaka Seme died in Johannesburg on 7 June 1951. He was a political activist, journalist, lawyer and a co-found...
Nearly 200 People are killed in the Bulhoek massacre in the Eastern Cape
In 1921, in a battle lasting less than 30 minutes between police and Israelites, followers of prophet Enoch Mgijima, mor...
Joe Slovo is born
Joe Slovo, the former South African Communist Party (SACP) and African National Congress (ANC) leader and Minister of Ho...
South African police close the investigation into the death of Steve Biko
When Steve Biko was found dead on a cold cement floor in a Pretoria prison, police claimed that he died of hunger strike...
Lord Alfred Milner, British Colonial Secretary, and architect of the Union of South Africa dies
Lord Alfred Milner, a career diplomat in the British Foreign Office in the late 19th century and early 20th century died...
Academic and ANC politician Z.K. Matthews dies
On 12 May 1968, South African academic, African National Congress (ANC) politician, and Botswana's first ambassador to t...
South Africa’s first democratic elections
Following a series of tense negotiations and years of liberation struggle, the first democratic election was held in Sou...
Abyssinian fortress of Dessie is captured by South African troops during World War II
The Abyssinian fortress of Dessie, located between Addis Ababa and Amba Alagi, was captured by General Alan Cunningham's...
O. R. Tambo leaves South Africa for exile
Oliver Reginald Tambo left South Africa shortly after the Sharpeville massacre, on the instruction of the African Nation...
SA musician Todd Matshikiza dies
South African artist, composer and writer, Todd Tozama Matshikiza, died at the age of 47 in Lusaka, Zambia after a sudde...
The University of South Africa is officially opened, replacing the University of the Cape of Good Hope.
South Africa’s biggest University, the University of South Africa (Unisa) was officially opened on 2 March 1918. I...
The Cape Agulhas lighthouse begins operating
Contrary to popular belief, Cape Agulhas and not Cape Point is the southernmost tip of Africa. The seas around Cape Agul...
Togo and South Africa establish diplomatic relations following a visit by Nelson Mandela
After a visit, that only lasted a few hours, by then President Nelson Mandela in 1996, Togo and South Africa set the pla...
The Sebokeng Massacre of mourners leaves more than 30 dead and 40 more injured
On the night of 12 January, 1991, more than 30 people were killed while attending an all-night vigil held in a tent in S...
ANC celebrates its 79th anniversary in Durban
The African National Congress (ANC) celebrated its 79th anniversary in Durban on 8 January 1991 for the first time as a ...
A wave of strikes hits Durban and spread countrywide
On 9 January 1973 around 2 000 workers in the Coronation Brick and Tile factory in Durban downed tools after the employe...
Anti apartheid activist Dr. Richard Turner is assassinated
A passionate lecturer pioneering the teaching of radical political philosophy, Dr. Richard Turner was assassinated. Turn...
King Mwanga of Uganda signs a contract with the British East Africa Company
Danieri Basammula-Ekkere Mwanga II, Mukasa beter known as King Mwanga II, was Kabaka of the kingdom of Bungada after the...
Former Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat is born
On 25 December 1918, Anwar al-Sadat was born at Tala District. al-Sadat was a graduate of the Royal Military Academy in ...
Libya becomes independent
Libya declared its independence as a constitutional and hereditary monarchy under King Idris I. It was the first c...
Four black newspapers are banned by the SA government
Four black newspapers, Post Transvaal, Saturday Post, Sunday Post and the Sowetan, were banned, technically on the same ...
SA signs diplomatic relations with Vietnam
With the processes of the dismantling of the apartheid system and preparations for democratic rule under way, the Republ...
Madagascar adopts its second constitution
Madagascar came under the colonial French Protectorate in 1890. By the late 1940's, the Malagasy had started to demand i...
Egyptian and US Archaeologists discover a 5000 years old fleet of ships near the Nile
On 20 December 1991 (21 December according to other sources) Egyptian and American Archaeologists discovered a 5000 year...
Ugandan premier Apollo Milton Obote is shot
Milton Obote became Ugandan President twice. He led Uganda to Independence from Britain in 1962, becoming Prime Minister...
United Nations appoints Kofi Annan as secretary
A Ghanaian citizen, Kofi Annan, was appointed as secretary-general of the United Nations (UN) to replace the outgoing Bo...
History of December 16
December 16 looms large in the history of South Africa; it is celebrated as the Day of Reconciliation. First celebrated ...
Donald James Wood journalist and Anti apartheid activists is born
Donald James Woods was born in Elliotdale, Transkei on 15 December 1933. He was educated at Christian Brothers College i...
The Anglo-Boer War 1 (Transvaal War of Independence) begins
Three years prior to this date, the British had annexed the Transvaal under Shepstone. Following this was a period of pa...
Sir Bartle Frere, the new British High Commissioner delivers an ultimatum to Cetshwayo the Zulu king to disband his army’
The newly appointed British High Commissioner for Southern Africa delivers to Cetshwayo the Zulu king to disband his arm...
Noble South Africans win Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is considered by many to be a symbol of international recognition over the prize winners struggle ...
Eli Weinberg arrives in South Africa from Latvia
Eli Weinberg arrives in South Africa from Latvia. Eli Weinberg (1908-1981), a member of the South African Communist Part...
Chris Hani is elected SACP Secretary
Former UMkhonto we Sizwe commander, Chris Hani, was elected as secretary-general of the South African Communist Party (S...
The Erasmus Commission’s report implicates Rhoodie, Mulder and van den Bergh in SA’s infamous ‘Information Scandal’
The Information Scandal that broke out in 1978 is widely regarded as the single event that heralded the end of B. J. Vos...
Clarence Mlami Makwetu is born
Clarence Mlami Makwetu, former president of the Pan Africanist Congress, is born in Hoyita, in the Cofimvaba district of...
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela passed away
The 5th of December marks the anniversary of the death of revolutionary anti-Apartheid liberation leader, Nelson Rolihla...
Ahmed Timol born on the 3rd Nov 1941
Ahmed Timol was a resistance fighter, who was part of the broad liberation struggle against the apartheid regime. He was...
Conclusive Battle of Ndondakusuka takes place
The Battle of Tugela, which was also known as the Battle of Ndondakusuka, was fought between Zulu factions of Cetewayo, ...
Slavery abolished in the Cape
On 1 December 1834, slavery came to an end in the Cape Colony. The move to abolish slavery in the Colony came a year aft...
Trade unionist Clements Kadalie dies in East London
Trade unionist, Lameck Koniwaka Kadali Muwamba, known by his adopted name, Clements Kadalie, was born in April 1896, nea...
Liberation struggle activists, Gwala and Mothopeng are released from Robben Island
Two members of the banned liberation movements, Harry Gwala, a member of the African National Congress (ANC) and Zephani...
The Transvaal Indian Congress takes a stand on Fietas removals
The Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) passed a resolution on the Johannesburg area "Fietas", (the name by which Pageview a...
Cyril Ramaphosa is born
Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa's former political and trade union activist was born in Johannesburg. He was one of the ch...
The General Assembly of the League of Nations meets in Geneva for the first time
On 15 November 1920, the General Assembly of the League of the Nationsmet in Geneva, Switzerland for the first time. The...
UN report accuses Katangan President and Congo President of conspiracy to murder Patrice Lumumba
On 14 November 1961 Katangan President, Moise Tshombe, and Congo President, Joseph Kasavubu, were accused of conspiracy ...
Dr. J. S. Moroka dies
Dr. James Sebe Moroka, medical doctor, politician, and great-grandson of Chief Moroka I of the Barolong Boo Moroka in Th...
Seretse Khama is asked to renounce chieftaincy
Seretse Khama was the chief of the Bama-Ngwato tribe, Bechuanaland (now Botswana). Khama's problems with the British sta...
Political activist Molly Blackburn is born
Political activist and civil rights campaigner Molly Blackburn, widely respected by Blacks, was born in Port Elizabeth. ...
Armistice day 11th Nov 1918
At 11am on the 11th November 1918 a truce came into effect between Germany and the Entente forces. This was supposed to ...
Mohandas K. Gandhi is arrested as he leads a march of Indian miners in South Africa
On his journey to South Africa in 1893, Mohandas Gandhi had first -hand experience of the discrimination faced by people...
Dr. Chris Barnard, medical practitioner who performed the first heart transplant, is born
Dr. Chris Barnard is born Christiaan Neethling Barnard, medical practioner who performed the first heart transplant, was...
Selassie becomes emperor
Ras (Duke) Tafari was crowned as Emperor Haile Selassie in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, after the death of Empress Zaudito. Af...
ANC President Oliver Tambo meets with Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow
The African National Congress (ANC) leader, Oliver Tambo met Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Communist Party...
The Algerian War of Independence begins
On the 1 November 1954, small units of Algerians organized by Front de Liberation National (FLN) attacked government bui...
Political Activist and Advocate, Dumisa Ntsebeza, is born
Born in the Eastern Cape, Dumisa Ntsebeza, like many young South Africans in the 70’s was involved in the struggle. He w...
SA judge jails former state assassin Eugene de Kock for more than 200 years
During the Apartheid regime, Eugene de Kock was a colonel in the South African Police force. He acted as the commander o...
Gandhi leads a march from Newcastle into the Transvaal to defy the Immigrants Regulation Act of 1913
Hundreds of men, women and children led by Mahatma Gandhi marched from Newcastle, Natal Colony (now KwaZulu Natal)  ...
Chief Mqikela dies
The Paramount Chief Mqikela, eldest son of Chief Faku and first chief of East Pondoland, died in Qawukeni, near Palmerto...
Transkei announces plans to unban ANC and PAC
During the celebration day of independence not recognised by the international community, the President of the Transkei ...
Nigerian political campaigner, women’s rights activist and traditional aristocrat, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti is born
Funmilayo Ransome Kuti was born Francis Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas on 25 October 1900 in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Kuti founde...
The UN decides not to support the request of the Union of South Africa concerning the treatment of Indians in SA
During the second part of the first session of the United Nations General Assembly, the General Committee decided not to...
Zeph Mothopeng, President of the PAC dies
Zephania (Zeph) Mothopeng, President of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) since 1984 dies in Johannesburg at the age of ...
The South African Astronomical Observatory celebrates 200 years of its existence
On 20 October 1820, the Royal Observatory Cape of Good Hope, which became known as the South African Astronomical Observ...
The New Zealand Mounted Rifles leave Wellington for the South African War
The first contingent of New Zealand Mounted Rifles (NZMR) departed from Wellington aboard the SS WAIWERA ship bound for ...
Black Wednesday, the banning of 19 Black Consciousness Movement Organisations
Black Wednesday 19th Oct 1977 reminds us of the importance of real independence of the media as a fundamental cornerston...
The siege of Mafeking starts
During the first week of Anglo-Boer War 2, Boer forces besieged the small town of Mafeking (now Mafikeng) in the Norther...
The Rev. Allan Hendrickse steps down as a leader of the Labour Party
The Rev. Allan Hendrickse, former minister in President P.W. Botha's cabinet, stepped down after fourteen years as leade...
Germany declares South West Africa a German protectorate
Deutsch-Südwestafrika (German South West Africa), established its capitol at Otjimbingwe in 1885, then at Windhuk in 189...
Ladybrand Four story told at the TRC
In December 1986, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) cadres Joyce ‘Betty Boom’ Koekanyetswe, Nomasonto Mashiya and Tax Sejaname were ...
SA artist Anthony Nkotsi is born
Anthony Molebatsi Nkotsi, South African artist and the head of the Printmaking Department in 1988 at the Johannesburg Ar...
Kader Asmal, political activist and future Member of Parliament, is born
Kader Asmal political activist, human rights lawyer, former Minister of Education (1999-2004) and of Water Affairs and F...
World Teachers Day - “Build the future: invest in teachers now!”
The UNESCO World Teachers' Day 2009 was inaugurated by UNESCO and Education International at the International Conferenc...
Lesotho celebrates independence from Britain
Lesotho is one of the smallest countries in the world, with just over 30 000 km2 of land. It has a population of a...
Pixley Seme, lawyer, journalist and co-founder of SANNC is born
On 1 October 1881, Pixley ka Isaka Seme was born at the Inanda mission station in Natal (now kwaZulu Natal). Seme w...
’Viva Frelimo’ rallies, organised by the BPC and SASO, take place even though they were banned by Government
The achievement of independence in Mozambique inspired the South African Black Consciousness Movement organisations, the...
Botswana gains independence from Britain
Previously known as Bechuanaland, Botswana gained independence from Britain on 30 September 1966 under the leadership of...
Earthquake shakes up Tulbagh
At about 10:04pm on 29 September 1969, the Boland farming towns of Tulbagh, Wolseley and Ceres experienced the most dest...
Britain proclaims Natal a British colonial territory
British forces under Governor Sir George Napier took over Natal and proclaimed it a British Colony. A year later the col...
First celebration of National Heritage Day
Heritage Day is one of the newly created South African public holidays. It is a day in which all are encouraged to...
Goldstone Commission investigate the Bisho Massacre
At the request of President F. W. de Klerk, the commission of inquiry, headed by Judge Richard Goldstone, started the in...
British establish first ‘refugee’ camps during the South African War
The first 2 'refugee' camps were established in Pretoria and Bloemfontein during South African War (Second Anglo-Boer Wa...
COSATU conference prohibited and organisers restricted
The government prohibited an anti-apartheid conference organised by COSATU in Cape Town, which aimed to include delegate...
German South West Africa is put under South African administration
After the completion of World War One's Treaty of Versailles, German South West Africa was declared a mandate of the new...
The UN Special Committee on Apartheid reports on SA
The final report of the United Nations Special Committee on Apartheid, released on this date, gave a detailed review of ...
Poor Whites and their Political Weapon: Constructing the Kakamas Dam
The term “poor whites” was coined during the 19th century, as the mineral revolution and development of mines forced sma...
Spanish Flu strikes South Africa
The first cases of an unusually severe and deadly strain of influenza, popularly called Spanish Flu or 'Great Flu', were...
The World Health Organisation (WHO) declares Aids a worldwide epidemic
It is unknown when AIDS emerged. However, the first reported cases were in the early eighties. Then, the disease w...
SASO founder and Black Consciousness leader, Steve Biko dies in detention
Bantu Steven Biko, leader of the South African Students' Organisation (SASO) and pioneer of the Black Consciousness...
South African artist Gerard Sekoto is born
Jan Gerard Sekoto was born on 9 September 1913 in Botshabelo, a mission station established by the German missionar...
Gandhi leads Satyagraha Passive Resistance Campaign
Born in 1869 at Porbandar, Gujarat, India, the internationally prominent Indian campaigner, Mohandas Gandhi, led the 190...
Indian Rights Campaigner Bhawani Sannyassi Dayal is born
Bhawani Sannyassi Dayal, a journalist and campaigner for Indian rights, was born in Johannesburg as son of Jariam Singh,...
The Bisho Massacre occurs
As many as 80,000 protesters gathered outside of Bisho, the capital city of Ciskei, and demanded an end to the military ...
SA Prime Minister H. F. Verwoerd stabbed to death
Parliamentarian Service Officer Dimitri Tsafendas stabs main architect of apartheid Prime Minister H.F. Verwoed to death...
Former premier of Mpumalanga, Afrikaans poet and lawyer, Mathews Phosa is born
Nakedi Mathews Phosa, former premier of Mpumalanga (1994-1999), Afrikaans poet and lawyer was born in Mbombela Town...
First Fietas Festival to celebrate the legacy of the community
The ex-residents and those who remember aim to reclaim their heritage, to restore themselves and the vital legacy of a c...
Eli Weinberg, trade unionist and photographer, is born
On 28 August 1908 Eli Weinberg was born in Libau, Latvia. Weinberg was a trade unionist and communist party member. He c...
Haile Selassie, deposed Ethiopian emperor, dies
Haile Selassie was born Lij Tafari Makonnen, in the village of Ejersa Gor, in the Harar Province of Ethiopia. Heir to a ...
Kenneth David Kaunda wins Zambian elections
Kenneth David Kaunda wins Zambian elections and will become the first president of an independent republic on 24 October...
Geraldine Fraser is born
Geraldine Fraser was born on 24 August 1960, in Lansdowne, Cape Town, the daughter of a teacher and factory worker. She ...
The 4th Pan-African Congress is held in New York City, USA
The 4th Pan-African Congress was held in New York City, USA. The congress was sponsored by the American based African-Am...
UDF is launched
The South African anti-apartheid umbrella organization, United Democratic Front (UDF) was launched at Rocklands Communit...
SA tenor Johan Botha is born
Internationally known singer Johan Botha was born in Rustenburg, Transvaal (now North West Province). He attended his fi...
Police open fire, killing 34 striking mine-workers at Marikana
Police opened fire killing 34 striking mine-workers at Marikana, North West Province. As a result, 78 people were left w...
Gertrude Shope, former president of the ANC Women’s League, is born
Gertrude Shope was born in Johannesburg, but grew up in Zimbabwe. She was trained as a teacher and went on to teach in N...
Cetshwayo, travels to London to request that he should be restored as a king of the Zulu Kingdom
On 14 August 1882 Cetewayo (Cetshwayo), king of Zululand, visited Queen Victoria of Britain. Prior to his visit to Brita...
Inaugural Women’s Legacy Dialogue
The Inaugural Women’s Legacy Dialogue took place on 13 August 2010 in the Sandton Sun Hotel, Johannesburg. The even...
Nelson Mandela is arrested
Nelson Mandela, African National Congress (ANC) leader and first commander-in-chief of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), was captu...
Beginning of the Waterberg Battle in the Herero Revolt
The German colonisation of Namibia, then German South West Africa, took place in 1884. The Herero, a pastoral and nomadi...
20 000 Women march to the Union Buildings in protest of pass laws
In one of the largest demonstrations staged in this country's history, 20 000 women of all races marched to Pretoria's U...
The launch of the Progressive Women’s Movement of SA
On 8 August 2006, hundreds of women gathered in Bloemfontein to launch a new national women’s movement, a non-profit org...
Anti-apartheid activist, Norman Levy is born
Norman Levy and his twin brother, Leon Levy were born in Johannesburg to Mary and Mark Levy, immigrants from Lithuania. ...
The UN Security Council to lay down rules which would allow UN forces to enter Congo
On 6 August 1960, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Mr. Dag Hammarskjöld, asked the UN Security Council to lay ...
Josiah Thugwane wins gold at Olympics
Josiah Thugwane became the first Black South African athlete to win an Olympic gold medal award by winning the marathon ...
Ghana demands independence from Britain
In 1821, the British Government took control of the British trading forts. In 1844, Fanti chiefs on the Gold Coast (as G...
Manifesto of the Communist Party of South Africa by SACP, 30 July 1921, Cape Town
CPSA is founded
The founding conference of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) took place in Cape Town from 30 July to 1 August 1...
Fatima Meer is banned for a second time
Federation of South African Women (FSAW or FEDSAW) President and the first person to be banned under the 1976 Inter...
Death of Anton Muziwakhe Lembede
Anton (Anthony) Muziwakhe Lembede who was a teacher, lawyer, politician, and principal architect of Africanism in S...
World War I begins
19th century Europe had a complex system of political and military alliances in place. The assassination of Austrian Arc...
Emily Hobhouse receives a reply to her request to be included in the Ladies Commission
On 26 July 1901 Emily Hobhouse wrote a second letter to St John Rodrick asking for reasons for the War Department's refu...
John Harris and the Johannesburg station bomb
A time bomb placed in the Johannesburg railway station exploded during the evening rush hours. The explosion resulted in...
Chief Albert Luthuli, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of the ANC, is killed in Groutville
On 21 July 1967, Chief Albert Luthuli died after he was struck by a train on a railway bridge close to the home that he ...
The League of Nations hands over German colonies
The League of Nations, an international body which preceded the United Nations, agreed to hand over three former German ...
Senior UDF leaders released from detention for being part of the Mandela Birthday celebrations committee
On 19 July 1988, Zollie Malinga, Bulenani Ngcuka, Omar Badsha, Jonathan Shapiro, Rehana Rossour, Veronica Simmers, Salee...
Mandela is awarded the Joliot Curie Gold Medal for Peace
The paper 'Leader' announced that African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela has been awarded the Joliot Curi...
Legendary artist Johnny Clegg dies
On 16 July 2019, Jonny Clegg died at the age 66 years at his home in Johannesburg, Gauteng after he was diagnosed with p...
Battle of Delville Wood starts
South Africa entered WWI on 8 September 1914, on the side of the Allied Forces. On 15 July 1916, the S.A. Infantry Briga...
Wole Soyinka is born
The Nigerian, novelist, playwright and poet, Wole Soyinka, was born at Abeokuta, near Ibadan in western Nigeria. Soyinka...
ANC President Albert Luthuli banned
In 1954 the Minister of Justice C.R. Swart issued African National Congress (ANC) President Chief Albert Luthuli with tw...
Police arrest members of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) High Command at Lilliesleaf Farm
South African police raided the African National Congress (ANC) underground headquarters, the Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia...
Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu is born
Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, a soldier of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), wh...
Date set for start of Passive Resistance Campaign
In July 1939 at a meeting of 6,000 Indians, held at the Indian Sports Ground in Johannesburg under the chairmanship...
The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act commences
On July 1949,the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, Act No 55 of 1949 that prohibited marriage or a sexual relationship...
SA President Nelson Mandela to step down
On 7 July 1996, in a television broadcast President Nelson Mandela confirmed the rumours that he would not stand for re-...
Novelist and historian Bessie Head is born
Novelist, short story writer and social historian Bessie Amelia Head was born in Pietermaritzburg. Being the daughter of...
The Battle of Ulundi begins
The Battle of Ulundi was the decisive battle during the Anglo-Zulu War. It took place on the 4th July 1879 and marked th...
Liberian President, Samuel Kanyon Doe publically offers to resign
Liberian President, Samuel Kanyon Doe offered to resign in response to rebel incursions in his country. Doe was eventual...
Patrice Emery Lumumba, first Prime Minister of an independent Congo, is born
A member of the Tetela ethnic group, Patrice Emery Lumumba was born in the Katakokombe region of the Kasai Province of B...
Seretse Khama is born
Sir Seretse Khama was born on 1 July 1921 in Serowe in the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland, now known as Bots...
Union leader, Moses Mayekiso is reported to be under arrest on his return from Sweden.
Moses Mayekiso was the General Secretary of the Metal and Allied Workers Union (MAWU) and became a membe...
Djibouti, France’s last colony, gains independence
Djibouti is a very small country located on the horn of Africa. It is so small that it has an estimated population of le...
SACTU launches a national potato boycott.
The potato boycott began in protest against slave-like labour conditions for Black workers on potato farms. In areas lik...
Congress of the People starts in Kliptown
The historic multi-racial convention called The Congress of the People started in Kliptown, near Johannesburg. The propo...
Nyanga school Principal’s office burnt
On 24 June 1976 the Principal's office in Hlengisi Primary, Nyanga, outside Cape Town is burnt down. The broader context...
Afrikaner women march to the union buildings in protest of SA’s involvement in WW2
About 10 000 Afrikaner women, led by Mrs H.C. Steyn, wife of former President M.T. Steyn, marched to the Union Buildings...
The SA government presents a promotion of Constitutional Development Bill
The South African government presented a promotion of Constitutional Development Bill which proposed an advisory and con...
General Secretary of the ANC, journalist and writer, Solomon Plaatje dies
Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje was a South African writer, linguist, translator and political leader. Plaatje died of pneumon...
Thabo Mbeki, former President of SA, is born in Idutywa, Transkei
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki was born in Idutywa in Transkei on June 18 1942. Both his parents were activists. His father,...
Rivonia trial sentence is delivered
At the conclusion of the Rivonia trial eight of the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment in the Pretoria Supreme ...
Rioting and destruction in Cato Manor and Durban continues
Apartheid government efforts to remove Black people from Cato Manor close to the Durban city center to Kwa Mashu, a newl...
General C.R. de Wet was found guilty of treason for leading the Afrikaner rebellion of 1914
General Christiaan Rudolph de Wet was a Boer soldier and statesman, regarded by Afrikaner nationalists as one of their g...
Thami Mnyele, SA artist and member of MK, is killed in Gaborone
Thamsaqa 'Thami' ka Mnyele was a talented graphic artist and a political activist. Due to his political activities, Mnye...
Dr. Dadoo and Naicker lead Passive Resisters
Led by Dr G.M. Naicker and Dr. Y.M. Dadoo, Indians observed complete hartal, that is, a day of mourning or protest on wh...
Resolute Treurnicht rejects waiving language policy
Despite the indications of African unrest at Soweto schools being noticed by government authorities on 4 June, who repor...
Disaster strikes as Portuguese ship São João sinks
The Portuguese ship São João went down near the mouth of the Mzimvubu River (at the present Port St. Johns) with 600 peo...
Military service becomes compulsory for White South African men.
The Defense Amendment Bill, designed to make military service compulsory for White young men, was passed on 9 June 1967 ...
Cape Supreme Court sets aside 1973 Ciskei election of Lennox Sebe on the grounds of irregularities
The Cape Supreme Court, sitting in Port Elizabeth, sets aside the 1973 election of Lennox Sebe and three other members o...
Senator Robert Kennedy visits SA
In June 1966, during the darkest years of Apartheid, United States (US) Senator Robert Kennedy made a historic visit to ...
Burundi gains independence from Belgium
Burundi, a country located east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) gained its independence on 01 July 1962.  ...
Dinuzulu refuses British instructions to take up arms against Boers
King Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo of the Zulu Kingdom in northern Natal, which is now part of the Kwazulu-Natal province, refuse...
523 people die in the Black concentration camps of the Second Anglo Boer War
On 11 October 1899 war was officially declared between Britain and the Boers. In March 1901 Lord Kitchener, the commande...
Hamilton Naki, a laboratory assistant to cardiac surgeon Christian Barnard, dies
Hamilton Naki was a gardener who later became a laboratory assistant without any formal training. He first worked for Ro...
Ebola virus kills 153 people in Zaire
Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (EBF) also known as Ebola virus a virus that kills its host by attacking the lining of the...
Apartheid becomes official policy
On 26 May 1948, the Herenigde Nasionale Party (Reunified National Party) took power from Jan Smuts' United Party (UP) by...
The Organisation of African Unity is formed and Africa Day is declared
On 25 May, 1963, the first African organisation after independence, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was formed i...
The first regional committee of the UDF is established in Natal
Anti-apartheid organisations united under the umbrella of the United Democratic Front. One of the first steps in creatin...
The United Nations adopts a resolution establishing an eleven member United Nations Council for South West Africa
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing an eleven member United Nations Council for South ...
Winnie Mandela is banished to Brandfort
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, wife of imprisoned ANC leader, Nelson Mandela, was banished to the dusty Afrikaner dominated ...
Walter Sisulu celebrates 90th birthday
Walter Sisulu celebrates his 90th birthday. One of the godfathers of the fight for equality in South Africa, he has foug...
The Vereeniging peace conference begins
After the Second Anglo-Boer War (South African War), which had started on 11 October 1899, there were attempts to ...
A booby-trapped TV kills Tsitsi Chiliza, wife of an ANC official in Harare, Zimbabwe
On 14 may 1987, a Zimbabwean citizen, Tsitsi Chiliza, who was married to an ANC member was killed in a bomb hidden insid...
The Native Affairs Commission went once more to Ntabelanga for negotiations
In a last attempt at negotiations with the Israelites, the Native Affairs Commission (NAC) went once more to Ntabelanga ...
Brenda Fassie, South African singer and diva, dies in her sleep at Sunninghill Hospital
Brenda Nokuzola Fassie was born in 1964 in Langa, a township near Cape Town. She was named after the American country si...
South Africa’s new constitution is approved
The adoption of the South African Constitution on 8 May 1996 was one of the turning points in the history of the struggl...
Zulu assault at Holkrantz
On 6 March 1902 in the district of Vryheid, a Zulu Chief, Sikobobo, attacked a Boer regiment after the latter had ...
Emperor Haile Selassie reclaims his Ethiopian throne
After nearly five years in exile in Britain, Emperor Haile Selassie returned to Ethiopia to reclaim his throne with the ...
World Press Freedom Day
According to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), the objective of World Press Fre...
The Congo Free State is established by King Leopold of Belgium
On 2 May 1885, the Congo Free State was established by King Leopold II of Belgium. Congo was a large region in central A...
International celebration of ‘May Day’
On 1 May, South Africa will enjoy Worker's Day (effectively a May Day holiday). Worker's Day celebrates the role played ...
Protests against Afrikaans language in Black schools
Afrikaans as a medium for education was deeply unpopular since Afrikaans was regarded by some as the language of the opp...
League of Nations is formed
The League of Nations was established after World War I, during the Treaty of Versailles. The intention of this organiza...
Journalists’ first visit to Robben Island
The South African government for the first time allowed 20 local journalists, five correspondents of international news ...
ANC leader, Oliver Tambo, dies after a long illness
On 24 April 1993, former President of the African National Congress (ANC),Oliver “OR” Tambo died in Johannesburg after a...
Mugabe announces the merging of ZANU and ZAPU
Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) leader, Robert Mugabe announced that Rhodesia's political organisations, ZANU and...
Over a thousand people are detained under state of emergency following the Sharpeville massacre
On 22 April 1960, about 1,575 people were detained under South Africa's state of emergency that was declared by the Sout...
Alfred Milner becomes High Commissioner and Governor of the Cape Province
Sir Alfred Milner became High Commissioner for South Africa and Governor of the Cape Province in 1897. His efforts to ga...
Bambatha Rebellion
The Bambatha Rebellion took place near Greytown in KwaZulu-Natal. The first signs of discontent started at the end of 19...
Ken Oosterbroek is killed
Ken Oosterbroek, the Chief Photographer of The Star, was killed in bloody pre-election fighting in Thokoza township on t...
The Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) is founded
In an attempt to organise a broad-based and inter-racial women's organisation, the Federation of South African Women (FS...
Early jewellery, a set of shell beads estimated to be 75 000 years old, is discovered in South Africa
On 16 April 2004, a set of shell beads estimated to be 75 000 years old was discovered in the Blombos cave, overlooking ...
Jacob Zuma, Former President of South Africa and of the ANC, is born.
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma was born on the 12 April 1942, at Inkandla, in KwaZulu Natal. At the age of 17, he joined the ...
Nelson Mandela admits to the torture of dissident guerrillas
Nelson Mandela admits that members of the ANC had tortured dissident guerrillas, but says the officials involved have be...
Nigeria imposes sanctions on South Africa, and implements a total trade boycott
On 11 April 1961, Nigeria imposed a trade boycott on South Africa, due to objections against South Africa's apartheid po...
World Health Day
On 7 April each year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) celebrates World Health Day. This date commemorates the format...
Emily Hobhouse is born
On 9 April 1860, Emily Hobhouse was born in Liskeard, Cornwall. Hobhouse was a humanitarian and pacifist who vehemently ...
Infant hominid discovered at Cradle of Humankind
Professor Lee Berger and his son Matthew Berger (9 years) stumbled across a new species of hominid, Australopithecus sed...
First Tramway Company in Cape Town commences operations, with a horse
Public transport in South Africa commenced in Cape Town in May 1801, when a weekly coach service from Cape Town to Simon...
Political activist and lawyer A. P. Mda is born
Political activist, teacher and lawyer, co-founder of the African National Youth League (ANCYL) and its president in 194...
Tafari Makonnen proclaimed Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia
Born in 1891 (some sources say 1894), Tafari Makonnen, or Haile Selassie, as he was later known, was born the son of Ras...
Herero people defeat German Forces
German forces under Major Von Glasenapp are defeated by Herero people near Okaharui, German West Africa (now Namibia). H...
Indian people march in Durban to protest against the Ghetto Act
A 6 000 strong march supporting the South African Indian Congress resolution for Passive Resistance against the Asiatic ...
The Battle of Kambula takes place
On 29 March 1879, the Anglo-Zulu War Battle of Kambula took place. The battle involved the British Number 4 Column, led ...
Eleven protesters are killed in Sebokeng
The police opened fire on a crowd of Sebokeng township residents who sought to march on the local offices of the ruling ...
British Parliament passes the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act
On this date, The British Parliament passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. The Act outlawed all slave trade withi...
South African Communist Party leader Abram Fischer is sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of communism
During the 1940s, Bram Fischer served on the Johannesburg District Committee and the Central Committee of the Communist ...
South African author and feminist Olive Schreiner is born
South African author Olive Emilie Albertina Schreiner is born to Gottlob and Rebecca (Rebekah) Schreiner. During her you...
Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah calls on world leaders to impose “total economic and political sanctions” on South Africa
Pan-Africanist and first president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, was a leader who strived for a united Africa. Nkrumah was on...
The Pondoland Revolts
The Pondoland revolt in the Eastern Cape refered to the action taken by iKongo to reject tribal authorities and self-gov...
The second elections to the Coloured Persons’ Representative Council result in the Labour Party holding the majority seats
The second election to the Coloured Persons' R epresentative Council resulted in an absolute majority for the anti-...
Government admits responsibility for Mdluli’s death
The South African government admitted responsibility for the death of the African National Congress (ANC) member, Joseph...
German action in Herero Revolt is condemned in the Reichstag
August Bebel, representing the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the German Reichstag (Parliament), condemned the ...
James Sebe Moroka is born
Dr James Sebe Moroka, medical doctor, landowner and politician who was elected president-general of the African National...
The Rand Revolt strikers’ stronghold at Fordsburg Square falls to the government
The Rand Rebellion of 1922 was an armed uprising, also referred to as the Rand Revolt or Red Revolt, which occurred duri...
ANC members meet with Adriaan Vlok and Gen. Magnus Malan
An African National Congress (ANC) delegation headed by Walter Sisulu, met with two government officials, Minister of La...
Portuguese navigator Bartholomew Dias erects the first stone cross on the South African coast
Portuguese navigator Bartholomew Dias erects his first padrÁƒo, or stone cross, at Kwaaihoek near the mouth of the Bushm...
King Moshoeshoe dies
King Moshoeshoe, founder and first paramount chief of the Basotho nation died and was buried on Thaba Bosigo.
Journalist Percy Qoboza is released from detention
Percy Qoboza, editor of the banned newspaper, The World, was released from detention, together with nine other Black lea...
COSATU withdraws from parliamentary session on budget
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) walked out of a parliamentary budget session on the grounds that its...
First celebration of International Women’s Day
The first International Women's Day was launched in several European countries in March 1911. It was celebrated on 19 Ma...
Gen. De la Rey captures Lord Methuen
Anglo-Boer War 2: Gen. Jacobus "Koos" De la Rey defeated and captured Gen. Lord Methuen in the Battle of Tweebosch (or D...
Armistice negotiations are concluded during the First Anglo-Boer War
Paving the way for the end of Anglo-Boer War 1 (Transvaal War of Independence or First Transvaal War), a provision...
South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) is formed
The South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) was formed during an Inaugural Conference held on 4 and 5 March 1955 ...
Ladysmith Black Mambazo win a Grammy
Ladysmith Black Mambazo, with lead vocalist Joseph Tshabalala, became the first South African group to win a Grammy awar...
Robert Sobukwe, first PAC president, dies
Founder and first president of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (54), passed away in the Kimb...
The Birkenhead runs aground with 638 passengers
An English troop carrier, the Birkenhead, under Captain Robert Salmond, stranded on a reef opposite Danger Point, the so...
General Sir Redvers Henry Buller’s troops relieve British forces at Ladysmith
General Sir Redvers Henry Buller's troops relieved British forces at Ladysmith near Durban, KwaZulu Natal. The Bri...
The Women’s National Coalition Conference starts
The inter-racial Women's National Coalition (WNC) Conference (25-27 February 1994), started in the World Trade Centre, K...
Helen Suzman condemns the Immorality Act in Parliament
On 23 February 1962, a member of Progressive Party Helen Suzman condemned the Immorality Act, saying that the law w...
Edenburg is founded
The church village Edenburg in the Orange Free State was established when the farm Rietfontein was purchased to build a ...
Abdullah Abdurahman, medical doctor and Cape community leader, dies in Cape Town
Dr Abdullah Abdurahman, medical doctor and Cape community leader, died on this day at the age of 69. Founder and leader ...
Nelson Mandela was issued with his first passport after being released from prison
Nelson Mandela was issued with his first South African passport on 19 February 1990, 8 days after he was released from p...
President Jacob Zuma steps down as President of South Africa
On the 14 February 2018, President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma announced his resignation with immediate effect, follo...
Nongqawuse’s unfulfilled prophecy
A period of hardship set in for the AmaXhosa after their defeat in the Eighth Frontier War (also called Eighth War of Di...
South African cricketer, AB de Villiers is born
Abraham Benjamin de Villiers is a South African cricketer of note. In 2011, he succeeded Graeme Smith and bec...
Samora Machel pledges solidarity with the people of South Africa
President Samora Machel of Mozambique pledged solidarity with the South African people, in reaction to the massacre on 3...
Neil Aggett is buried in Johannesburg
Neil Aggett, former organiser of the Food and Canning Workers Union and African Food and Canning Workers Union, was buri...
Forced Removals commence from District Six
The memory of District Six, also known as Kanaladorp (kanala is a Malay word meaning ‘help one another’), is m...
F.W. de Klerk announces Nelson Mandela will be freed on 11 February
The announcement by President F. W. de Klerk in parliament on 10 February 1990, that Nelson Mandela would be releas...
Members of Bambathas homestead are pursued by policemen for refusing to pay the ‘hut tax’
Natal in the early years of the 20th century became the site of conflict between Colonial Administrators and autonomous ...
Neil Aggett dies in detention
Neil Aggett, Transvaal organiser for the Food and Canning Workers Union and African Food and Canning Workers Union...
President F.W. de Klerk promises repeal of apartheid laws
The circumstances that led to the repealing and ultimate dismantling of the Apartheid structure was similar to those tha...
F.W. de Klerk announces the release of Nelson Mandela and unbans political parties
The announcement by President F.W. de Klerk to release Nelson Mandela and unban the African National Congress (ANC), Pan...
The Harms Commission officially restricts investigations into South African security force
The terms of reference of the Harms Commission, which was to inquire into alleged murders and unlawful acts of the secur...
Women Draw up a Petition against Pass Laws
Black women in what was then the Orange Free State protested when they were included in Pass legislation previously rese...
Robert Mugabe returns to Rhodesia after being in exile for five years
On 27 January 1980, the Rhodesian nationalist leader Robert Mugabe returned to Rhodesia after being in exile for fi...
Mass arrests in Pondoland
Justice Minister Francios Christiaan Erasmus informed the National Assembly that 4 769 Africans, 2 Europeans and 2 other...
Battle of Dogali: Ethiopian army defeat the invading Italians
The battle of Dogali was a skirmish that was part of a larger conflict between the Italians and the Ethiopians. At ...
Egypt is placed under martial law in response to widespread riots against the British
From 1951 to 1952 Egypt was ravaged by violence and anti-British protest. In October 1951 the Egyptian Parliament approv...
Western Cape High Court suspends pebble bed modular reactor at Koeberg
The Western Cape High Court set aside Western Cape provincial Department of Environmental Affair's decision to permit th...
Durban mass meeting endorses Smuts and Gandhi agreement
An Indian mass meeting in Durban unanimously endorsed the agreement between General J.C. Smuts and Mahatma Gandhi r...
General Idi Amin overthrows Ugandan President Milton Obote
On 25 January 1971, General Idi Amin Dada led a military coup that overthrew Ugandan President, Milton Obote while he wa...
Nine policemen are killed in Cato Manor riots in Durban, shortly before the infamous Sharpville Massacre
On 24 January 1960, nine policemen were killed by an angry mob at Cato Manor in Durban. The incident happened after a ra...
The founding member of United Democratic Front and struggle activist Johnny Issel dies
On 23 January 2011, John James Issel also known as Johnny died at the age of 64, after he had suffered renal failure at ...
Carte Blanche is denied permission to quote Oliver Tambo
On 30 January 1987 the Minister of Law and Order issued a message to the newspapers denying Carte Blanche, an investigat...
Britain imposes an embargo on Rhodesian trade
Britain imposed an embargo on Rhodesian trade. The ban came just two months after Southern Rhodesia (now known as Zimbab...
Bafana Bafana wins against Algeria
The SA soccer team, Bafana Bafana, won their Africa Cup of Nations Quarterfinal match against Algeria 2 - 1 at the FNB S...
Piet Retief’s Great Trek manifesto is completed
Piet Retief completes the manifesto that sets out the reasons why the Voortrekkers are leaving the Cape Colony. It is pu...
More than a dozen people are killed, including seven children, in Kwamakhutha Massacre
From 1976 to 1996, political violence in KwaZulu Natal led to 11 700 deaths and the displacement of up to 500 000 people...
The first hearing looking into the mysterious death of Samora Machel begins
The Margo Commission, set up by the South African government to probe the mysterious death of Mozambican president Samor...
Notorious Pirate, Captain William Kidd, is reportedly sighted off the coast of Cape Town
Perhaps one of the most notorious pirates in history, Captain William Kidd, was thought to have become familiar with the...
Parliament opens with the debate of no confidence on Government
South African Parliament opened with the debate of 'no confidence' in government, which was introduced by the Leader of ...
Maria Mary Burton, former national president of the Black Sash, is born
Maria Burton was born on 19 January 1940 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She moved to South Africa in 1961, and upon witness...
South Africa approves the Constitution of the African Civil Aviation Commission
The South African government approved the Constitution of the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) on 17 January 19...
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, becomes the first woman to be Head of State in Africa
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became the first elected woman as Head of State in Africa. Johnson-Sirleaf’s historic inaugur...
Sir John Herschel, British astronomer, arrives in Cape Town
Sir John Frederick William Herschel was a British astronomer, mathematician, chemist and photographer. In 1833, he embar...
Robert Mugabe assures the SADC that the 9-10 March election in Zimbabwe would be free and fair
On 14 January 2002, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe assured members the 14-member Southern Africa Development Co...
First United Nations General Assembly opens
The United Nations Organisation (UNO) succeeded The League of Nations which was founded just after the end of World War ...
Industrial and Commercial Workers Union is founded under Clements Kadalie
The Industrial and Commercial Union later renamed the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) was founded by Cleme...
ANC celebrates 90th anniversary
On 6 January 2002, the African National Congress (ANC) celebrated its 90th Anniversary at a rally in Kings Park Stadium,...
The Proteas become the first South African team in history to win a Test cricket series in Australia
The current South African national cricket team, The Proteas, is one of the most successful national teams in the countr...
The Labour Party (LP) adopts a resolution to represent the Coloured community
At its annual conference held in Eshowe, Natal, the Labour Party (LP) adopted a resolution stating that it seeks to repr...
Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of independent Ghana escapes 5th assassination attempt
On 2 January 1964, Kwame Nkrumah, first Ghanaian President survived fifth assassination attempt. Shortly thereafter, he ...
Mlungisi Sisulu dies.
On 3 January 2008 Mlungisi Sisulu, the grandson of Walter Sisulu died in London from Cerebral Malaria. Sisulu, better kn...
Léopold Sédar Senghor resigns after twenty years as Senegalese president.
Léopold Sédar Senghor was a poet and writer who later became president of Senegal. He was educated in Paris where ...
The Defence Special Tribunal Act becomes effective
The Defence Special Tribunal Act, No 81 of 1998, providing for the expeditious adjudication of disputes concerning milit...
Jameson Raid starts
Leander Starr Jameson led a group of about six hundred men of the Mashonaland Mounted Police from Bechuanaland (now Bots...
Bantu Holomisa deposes Stella Sigcau as President of the Transkei
On 30 December 1987, Major General Bantu Holomisa, commander of the Transkei Defence Force (TDF), a staunch African Nati...
Nine members of the ANC are officially banned in Dakawa, Tanzania
On 28 December 1989, a document officially banning nine members of the African National Congress (ANC) was circulated at...
The ship São José is wrecked
The Portuguese battleship São José Paquete Africa (also, São José-Paquete de Africa) was grounded in Camps Bay, Cap...
The possessions of Piet Retief are auctioned
Piet Retief's visit to Dingane's kraal in October 1837 was the beginning of an eventful relationship between the Zulu an...
The Bondelswarts surrender to the German forces
Germany's occupation of Namibia was accomplished through military conquest of the numerous groups in the region, with th...
Trial of nine BPC and SASO leaders ends
The lengthy trial of nine student leaders from the Black People's Convention (BPC) and the South African Students' Organ...
Arthur Elias Letele, medical doctor and prominent ANC leader who went into exile in Basutoland, dies
Arthur Elias Letele was born in Lesotho in 1916, but grew up in Ladybrand in the Free State. After completing secondary ...
Anglo-Boer War 2 - Kitchener proposes establishment of concentration camps
The arrival of Lord Kitchener and Lord Roberts, with the latter taking up the role of Supreme Commander of British force...
The 41st annual conference of the ANC in Queenstown gets underway
The 41 annual conference of the African National Congress (ANC) in Queenstown, Eastern Cape, continues. Amongst the ANC ...
Tanganyika becomes a member of the UN
On 14 December 1961, Tanganyika became a member of the United Nations(UN) and two years later, in 1963 it merged with th...
The Slagtersnek rebels are tried in the Uithenhage landdros court
Frederik Bezuidenhout owned a farm east of the Cape Colony. After reports surfaced that he was allegedly mistreating one...
Olive Schreiner, noted SA author, dies in Wynberg, Cape Town
Olive Schreiner was a writer, social theorist and a feminist whose world views were very advanced for her time. Her book...
Tanzania gains independence
During the fourteenth century, Tanzania's location on the East African coast made it easily accessible to Arab trad...
Bishop Desmond Tutu leaves for the USA to meet with American President Ronald Reagan
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is known around the world for his vigorous stand against injustice. More particularly, he is ren...
World Aids Day is internationally observed for the first time
Following the January 1988 meeting of Health Ministers in London, a decision was taken that 1 December would annually be...
King Leopold II of Belgium hands over the administration of the Congo to the Belgian parliament
From the beginning of colonialism in the 1880s following the 'scramble for Africa', the Congo had been regarded as Leopo...
John Thomas Baines, South African painter, traveller and writer, is born
John Thomas Baines was born in England on 27 November 1820. Apprenticed to a coach painter at a young age, he left for S...
Last remaining SA troops have been withdrawn from Namibia
The Citizen reported that the remaining 1 500 South African troops in South West Africa (Namibia) had been withdrawn dur...
Angola becomes independent of Portuguese colonial rule
Angola becomes independent after 14 years of armed resistance to Portuguese colonial rule. The three major movements fig...
Rhodesian Prime Minister, Ian Douglas Smith, declares a state of emergency
On 5 November 1965 Rhodesian( now Zimbabwe) Prime Minister,Ian Douglas Smith, declared a state of emergency. This was pr...
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange is established
The Johannesburg's Stock Exchange (JSE) is established in Johannesburg to facilitate the explosion of trade sparked by t...
Vuyisile Mini, Trade unionist and uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) activist is hanged
Vuyisile Mini a trade unionist and uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) activist was hanged for his role in the MK and anti-apartheid ...
Abortion legislation is passed
The South African National Assembly passes the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy (CTOP) Act. The law allows women to te...
Former ANC President, Oliver ‘OR’ Tambo, is born
On 27 October 1917, Oliver Tambo, who would become African National Congress (ANC) President, was born at Bizana, Transk...
IFP declares attacks on UDF as self-defence
Mr Velaphi Ndlovu, an IFP parliamentarian in the Kwazulu homeland claims that attacks by Inkatha Freedom Party ...
Government bans 20 Black leaders
In 1973 massive strikes occurred throughout South Africa, culminating in September 1973 at the Western Deep Levels mine ...
Equatorial Guinea gains Independence from Spain
The colonial history of Equatorial Guinea dates back to 1471 when Portuguese explorers descended on the country. On thei...
The South African Military History Society is established
The South African Military History Society (SAMHS) was formed following an appeal by Commandant-General H.B. Klopper to ...
Explorer and navigator Vasco da Gama completes his voyage round the Cape of Good Hope to India
Vasco Da Gama was of noble birth and was the son of an explorer, however little else is known about his early life. Da G...
WWI: battalion consisting of ‘Cape Coloured men’, called the Cape Corps, is established
On 20 September 1915 a new battalion consisting of Cape Coloured men, called the Cape Corps was established with the vie...
Winnie Mandela released from banning order and house arrest
Winnie Mandela was released from banning order and house arrest on this date. Surprisingly, for a brief period Winnie's ...
Advocate Anton Lubowski secretary-general of the SWAPO is assassinated
Advocate Anton Lubowski (37), secretary-general of the South West African People's Organisation (Swapo), was shot dead a...
SA signs Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA
Shortly after the signing of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1991, the South African government entered into a Com...
Thousands are killed after terrorists crashed hijacked airliners into the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington
On 11 September 2001 thousands were killed after terrorists crashed hijacked airliners into the World Trade Centre in Ne...
South Africa mourns the passing of Beyers Naudé, apartheid struggle stalwart and Afrikaner cleric
Beyers Naudé, or Oom Bey, as he was affectionately known, passed away at 3:30 am on Tuesday morning 7 September 2004 at ...
Hilda Bernstein passes away
South Africa reacted with shock at the passing away of veteran political activist, artist and writer Hilda Bernstei...
Artist William Cornwallis Harris starts his expedition from Cape Town to the Western Transvaal and the Magaliesburg Mountain
Born in Kent on 2 April 1807, William Cornwallis Harris was a military engineer working for the East India Company. He l...
Oldest part of Johannesburg, Marshalltown, is planned
On 27 September 1886, Henry Brown Marshall asked Kidger Tucker to draw up a plan for a new residential area for Johannes...
Pieter-Dirk Uys, SA activist, satirist, playwright and novelist, is born in Cape Town
Pieter Dirk Uys was born in Cape Town in 1945. He studied drama at UCT from 1965 to 1965 before going to study at the Lo...
PLAN launches armed struggle against South Africa
On 26 August 1966, the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), the armed wing of SWAPO, fought in a battle against S...
Marianne Kriel was born on this day
Marianne Kriel was born in Bellville on 30 August 1971.[i] She attended Bellville High School, and completed a Bachelor ...
Pass Laws and Sharpeville Massacre
Pass laws in South Africa were met with fierce resistance during the 20th century. But earlier forms of passes, had in f...
Continue Your Journey Through SA History
Read more stories of resilience, transformation, and the ongoing struggle for social justice across South Africa.