Politics & Society
126 records
ArticleSharpeville Massacre, 21 March 1960
At the annual conference of the African National Congress (ANC) held in Durban on 16 December 1959, the President General of the ANC, Chief…
Article1960 - 1994: Armed Struggle and Popular Resistance
1984-1990:- The people armedIntroductionNumerous factors characterised the intensification of the freedom struggle against the National…
ArticleNon-European Unity Movement (NEUM)
This article was written by Baruch Hirson A Short history of the Non-European Unity – An insider's view Where is the Non-European Unity…
ArticleSouth African Communist Party (SACP)
On 30 July 2011, the South African Communist Party (SACP) celebrated its 90th anniversary. Initially known as the Communist Party of South…
ArticleIndian South Africans
From bondage to freedom - The 160th anniversary of the arrival of Indian workers in South Africa The feature on Indian South Africans…
ArticleDefiance Campaign 1952
The post-1948 period saw the African National Congress (ANC) abandoning its traditional reliance on tactics of moderation such as petitions…
ArticleAfrican nationalism and working-class & popular protests, 1910-1924
General Louis Botha headed the first government of the new Union of South Africa, with General Jan Smuts as his deputy. Their South African…
ArticleAfrican National Congress (ANC)
The African National Congress (ANC) is South Africa's governing party and has been in power since the transition to democracy in April 1994…
ArticleuMkhonto weSizwe (MK)
On 16 December, 1961, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) was launched as an armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). The formation of the…
ArticleThe South African Communist Party and May Day – Some Key Moments
May Day celebrated on 1 May annually, is a celebration of workers and their work. It has a long history, being a day of commemoration and…
ArticlePass Laws in South Africa
The Pass Laws was a system used to control the movement of Black, Indian and Coloured people in South Africa. The pass said which areas a…
The International Socialist League (ISL)
The International Socialist League (ISL) was formed in September 1915. It was created by a progressive faction of the South African Labour…
ArticleSS Mendi
The sinking of the SS Mendi was caused by the reckless action of the captain of the SS Darro. It remains the greatest wartime maritime…
ArticleStaffrider magazine (1978-1993)
Introduction Staffrider was a South African literary and arts magazine published by Ravan Press in Johannesburg from 1978 to 1993. It…
ArticleA 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 understand what apartheid…
ArticleStrong and Unnoticed: The Women of the UDF by Reid Arnold
Abstract The UDF was an umbrella organization that was founded to unify the hundreds of Anti-Apartheid movements occurring in the 1980s…
ArticleA history of prison labour in South Africa
Prison labour has a particularly debatable history in South Africa. Historically, South Africa operated on the understanding that prisons…
ArticleConstitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, was drawn up by the Parliament elected in 1994 in the first non-racial elections…
ArticleResponses in South Africa to the outbreak of WWI: The Afrikaner Response and the 1914 Rebellion
When the First World War broke out in August 1914, the British Government called upon the dominions in the British Empire to come to its…
ArticleThe Influenza epidemic
In March 1918 an international influenza pandemic broke out, that led to the deaths of 50 million people worldwide. The pandemic spread…
ArticleThe Establishment of the Afrikaner Broederbond in May 1918.
In May 1918 a group of fourteen railway clerks, clergymen and policemen formed an organization, Jong Suid-Afrika (Young South Africa). A…
ArticlePondoland
Introduction. Pondoland is the traditional area of the Pondo people, one of the Xhosa speaking peoples. Pondoland area is situated on the…
ArticleForced removals on Highveld and "black spots", 1912-1991
In the early 1960s the Apartheid government moved swiftly to dislodge numerous Black communities on the Transvaal Highveld occupying land…
ArticleThe Langa March, 30 March 1960
On 30 March 1960, Philip Kgosana led a Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) march of between 30.000-50.000 protestors from Langa and Nyanga to the…
ArticleThe Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM)
World opposition to Apartheid Enforced racial segregation in South Africa began with the arrival of the Dutch and English colonisers. …
ArticlePan Africanist Congress timeline 1959-2011
In 1959 the Africanists broke away from the ANC and formed the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). The histories of these two organisations are…
ArticleMessage of the National Executive Committee of the ANC, delivered by Mr. Tambo, at the funeral of Dr. Yusuf M. Dadoo
1 September 1983, London We are gathered here to pay homage to an outstanding leader of the African liberatory struggle, a comrade and…
ArticleThe Homelands
The Bantustans or homelands, established by the Apartheid Government, were areas to which the majority of the Blacks population was moved…
ArticleYusuf Dadoo Centenary Celebrations
2009 marked 100 years since Yusuf Dadoo was born in Krugersdorp, West Rand on 5 September. Today, he like many activists of the South…
Apartheid - A Crime Against Humanity: The Unfolding of Total Strategy 1948-1989
The content of this article was taken from the book A Crime Against Humanity - Analysing the Repression of the Apartheid State edited by…