Long before the inception of apartheid "Coloured" people in South Africa occupied this precarious position between White and Black South Africans. This position was intensified during apartheid by the creation of a separate identity, reinforced by the various apartheid laws that strived to keep racial groups apart. Some of these laws included the Mixed Marriages Act, the Immorality Act and the Group Areas Act. Though not aimed exclusively at "Coloureds", this legislation served to entrench a separate identity even further. The culmination of this was the Separate Representation of Voters Act, in which "Coloureds" were placed on a separate voters' role and were restricted to voting two White parliamentarians into office. Despite the great opposition it was met with, the apartheid government took it a step further and created a separate Department of "Coloured" Affairs in 1958. On 23 October, this department was established with I.D. Du Plessis as its head. "Coloured" South Africans, along the black and Indian population, waged a long battle to have their political rights recognized. By the 1980s, a Tricameral Parliament was created, in which "Coloureds" were granted the right to vote, but still in separate houses of representation. It was only with the dismantling of apartheid that the CAD was dissolved and that "Coloureds" along with all other South Africans were granted the right to political representation.

Location: back to this day in history search archive The Drakensberg is the highest mountain range in South Africa, with Thabana Ntlenyana the highest peak in the country at 3,482 mt. The Drakensberg also consists of various parts, including the Amphitheatre and pinnacle rocks such as the Devil's Tooth. Until 1950, the Devil's Tooth was considered unclimbable, but on 11 August 1950 E. Scholes, D. Bell and P. Campbell formed a 'summit team' and completed the first successful summiting of the Devil's Tooth, still considered on of the 'Berg's toughest rock challenges.

In 1950 the apartheid government introduced the Unlawful Organisations Act and the Suppression of Communism Act. In March 1950 the African National Congress (Transvaal), the Communist Party of South Africa, the Indian Congress and the African People Organisation organised a "Freedom of Speech Convention" in Johannesburg. The Convention was called to protest the Suppression of Communism bill and a ban imposed on Dr. Dadoo and Sam Khan prohibiting them from speaking in certain cities. 500 delegates attended the Convention and 10.000 people attended the rally afterwards. At the convention it was decided that a series of protests marches and meetings would be held across the country culminating in a national "stay at home" on the 1st May. The ANC youth league viewed the call for the stay at home on 1st of May as undermining their own plan to for a general strike on 1st May and actively set about disrupting meetings held by the Convention organizers.In response to the 1st May call to "Stay at Home", the government banned all meetings and sent police reinforcements to Johannesburg. However, the protest went on and on 1 May the police attacked gatherings of protesters. For the first time since the 1921 Bulhoek Massacre the police opened fire on the protesters killing 18 and wounding 30 people. The Suppression of Communism Act was to be approved in Parliament shortly after, and the CPSA was forced to dissolve. The then ANC President, Dr J.S Moroka, called an emergency meeting of the ANC's National Executive Committee. The Committee decided that, for the first time in the Party's history the ANC would call for a day of mourning and a general strike on 26 June 1950 in protest of the 1 May killings and the Suppression of Communism Act. This call was supported by the African People's Organisation and the South African Indian Congress. Since this nation-wide protest, June 26 has been observed annually by the African National Congress and allied organisations as South Africa Freedom Day. Since the 1950 protests, many of the campaigns of the liberation movement have been launched on this day. The historic Defiance Campaign against unjust laws in which 8,000 people went to jail was inaugurated on 26 June 1952. It was this campaign that led to the consideration of apartheid by the United Nations General Assembly. The Congress of the People, with nearly 3 000 representatives from the ANC and Indian, Coloured and White organizations, was also held on 26 June in 1955 and adopted the "Freedom Charter" which represents the aspirations and demands of the people of South Africa. Subsequently all the members of the Congress Alliance adopted the Freedom Charter in their national Conferences as their official program. That historic document declared that "South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white" and that "no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people." Since 1994 Freedom Day has been celebrated on 27 April, in commemoration of the first democratic elections held in South Africa in 1994.

James M. Thaele, radical politician, journalist, teacher and co-founder of the African National Congress (ANC) branch in Cape Town, died in Cape Town. He was born in Basutoland (Lesotho) in 1888. Thaele lost his ANC Western Cape leadership position to A.V. Coto in the 1938 provincial election.

A week long strike by African mineworkers, led by John Beaver (JB) Marks, leader of the African Mineworkers' Union, started on this day. The strike was initiated by the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), which was active in distributing pamphlets and other material related to the strike. About 60 000 miners went on strike. Government suppressed the strike by force. According to official figures, nine were killed and 1 248 injured. Fifty-one persons, mainly Communists, were later charged in connection with the strike. They included three Indians, Dr Yusuf Dadoo, J.N. Singh and M.J. Vania. Police also arrested members of the District Committee of the Communist Party in Johannesburg. They were subsequently convicted and given sentences ranging from R30 (or three months) to R100 (or six months). The miners' strike had profound repercussions, which are felt until this day. The intense persecution of workers' organisations, which began during the strike, when trade union and political offices and homes of officials were raided throughout the country, only ceased with the new democratic dispensation in 1994. The most profound result of the strike, however, was the impact it had on the political thinking within the national liberation movement; almost immediately it shifted significantly from a policy of concession to more dynamic and militant forms of struggle. Click here to read our feature on the African Mineworkers' strike.

Speaking at a prayer meeting in New Delhi, Mahatma Karamchand Gandhi called on the South African government to stop the hooliganism by Whites. The authorities warned the Passive Resisters to vacate the Volksrust camp. The Attorney-General for Natal, W. J. McKenzie, appealed to the Europeans not to interfere. Violence against the Resisters stopped only on 24 June when the Smuts government took action after wide protests.

At the annual conference of the African National Congress (ANC) held in Bloemfontein, the document the African's Claim in South Africa, presented by the Atlantic Charter committee which was appointed by ANC president Dr A.B. Xuma, was unanimously adopted. The committee was mandated to study the Atlantic Charter and draft the Bill of Rights.

About 10 000 Afrikaner women, led by Mrs H.C. Steyn, wife of former President M.T. Steyn, marched to the Union Buildings to protest about the South African involvement in World War 2 on the side of Britain. Mrs H.E.C. Armstrong, one of the organisers, wrote a letter to Prime Minister J.C. Smuts, in which she set out the reasons for the protest. A further 3 968 women sent telegrams to Smuts, while 3 829 signed petitions, which were handed to him. They were all united in their request that South Africa should withdraw from the war. The first Afrikaner women march took place on 4 August 1915, to request the release of Gen. C.R. de Wet, an Anglo-Boer War 2 hero.

Major Allister Mackintosh Miller secured a government subsidy and introduced the first official commercial air service in South Africa under the name of Union Airways Company (Pty). On this date the first flight between Maitland and Port Elizabeth left with five bags of mail. The company, with headquarters in Port Elizabeth, flew a regular service to and from Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. Its main object was to fly mail to connect with mail-boats. Passenger services were introduced in 1934, especially between Durban and Johannesburg. The service was limited to these two cities at first because of financial constraints. References: Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 1, p. 612. Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau.

On this day in history, the first issue of the weekly periodical TIME appeared on newsstands. The first issue was 32 pages and featured a charcoal sketch of Congressman Joseph Gurney Cannon on the cover. It was the United States' first, modern news magazine. Today, the worldwide news weekly, founded by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden, is printed in several languages. It is one of the most popular magazines in history, with readership topping 4 million, which includes many South African readers. TIME magazine has covered many South African stories, see below for a few TIME covers that documented our history. Source: TIME, South Africa [online]. Available at: time.com [accessed 25 February 2009] Those were the days, 2 March [online]. Available at: 440.coml [accessed 25 February 2009]