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BiographyRenfrew Leslie Christie
At the age of 17, Renfrew Leslie Christie found himself in the South African Army. He was on guard at Lenz ammunition dump (east of Johannesburg), when he saw…
BiographyJoseph Fansio Mati
Joseph Faniso Mati was born on a farm near Adelaide, Eastern Cape and grew up in Port Elizabeth. During high school, teachers encouraged students to attend…
ArticleSophiatown timeline 1899-1955
1899Herman Tobiansky purchases land from the Johannesburg Municipality to develop as a residential area.1912Sophiatown has the first of its inhabitants. These…
PlaceMaitland Road
… in 1902 but included into the Cape Town municipal area in 1913. The name commemorates Sir Peregrine Maitland, who was …
ArticleA History of the Bulhoek Massacre
In 1912 Enoch Mgjimia, a lay preacher and independent evangelist, broke away from the Wesleyan Methodist Church and joined the Church of God and Saints of…
PlaceBezuidenhout Valley, Johannesburg
A Suburb of Johannesburg about 5 km East of City Hall, South of Observatory Ridge and North of Kensington Ridge. Takes its name from the Farm purchased in…
ArticleThembisile Chris Hani Timeline 1942 - 2003
1942 28 June, Martin Tembisile, who later becomes known as Chris Hani, is born in the village of Sabalele in Cofimvaba (then named St Marks) region, Transkei…
PlaceBonnievale, Langeberg Municipality-Cape Town
Bonnievale is a quiet Town in the Breede Valley of the Western Cape. Bonnievale is surrounded by the Langeberg Mountains. What makes Bonnievale so unique is…
Nelson Mandela Family Tree
The Mandela family tree drafted by Nelson Mandela and K.D. Matanzima. From the book Higher Than Hope - 'Rolihlahla we love you' by Fatima Meer. Click here for…
Chapter 15. The African Worker-A Policeman and Pair Of Handcuffs Always Waiting - Garment Workers in Action by E. S. Sachs
… gaol only by selling his labour to some white master. In 1913, the Native Land Act was passed, which divided the …
EventAfrikaans becomes the official language of the Union of South Africa
When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, it consisted of the Transvaal, the Orange Free State, Natal and the Cape Province. Dutch and English were…
ArticleSouth African major mass killings timeline 1900-2012
… while on wage protest at Marikana, North West Province. 1913 A strike of 9000 African miners takes place at …
PlaceUniversity of the Free State, Main building, Bloemfontein
The cornerstone of the building was laid on 19 December 1907 by Sir Hamilton Gould-Adams, and was officially opened on 16 October 1909. The North and South…
BiographyWinnie Madikizela-Mandela
Early YearsNomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela was born, the fifth of nine children, in the village of Mbongweni, Bizana, in the Transkei on 26 September 1936…
ArticleProvincial histories
In this topic we will look at the heritage and identity of South Africa’s different provinces, including each one’s government and symbols. We will also look…
EventSA cartoonist, Daniel Cornelis Boonzaaier is born
South African cartoonist Daniël Cornelis Boonzaaier was born at Patatsrivier in the Cape Province in 1865. Boonzaaier became famous for his caricatures and…
EventA national congress, under auspices of the Dutch Reformed Church, meets to discuss the ‘poor White problem’
The 'poor White problem' or the Armblankevraagstuk as it was referred to in Afrikaans, was a significant political issue in South Africa in the late 19th…
BiographyYvonne Mokgoro
Justice Yvonne Mokgoro was a judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa from its inception in 1994 until the end of her 15 year term in 2009 She was…
BiographyThamsanqa “Thami” Mnyele
"For me as craftsman, the act of creating art should complement the act of creating shelter for my family or liberating the country for me people. This is…
BiographyPeter McKenzie Brown
Peter Brown was born in Durban on 24 December 1924 to a wealthy family. While the Peter was seven, his father was killed during a polo game. Despite this,…
BiographyMimi Coertse
Mimi Coertse was South Africa's first operatic prima donna."Prima donna", in its true sense, properly indicates the chief female vocalist in an opera company…
BiographyDullah Mohamed Omar
Dullah Mohamed Omar was born in Observatory, Cape Town on 26 May 1934 and grew up in District Six. He attended the Kipling Street Muslim primary school in Salt…
ArticleDecember 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 the Day of Reconciliation between Blacks…
Chapter Two - The year with the ICU: 1921 - 1926
… failure of white workers to maintain their militancy (in 1913, 1914, 1922) of the previous two decades, and the …
EventAbolition of Racially Based Land Measures Act is adopted
… Commission on Land Allocation. The Act also repealed the 1913 and 1936 land acts. The white paper on land reform was …
EventFirst Women Anti-Pass Campaign starts
… The June 1913 anti-pass campaign was probably the first recorded …
ArticleIndian South Africans timeline 1900-1909
… to the Transvaal. The Immigrants Regulation Act (No. 22 of 1913) is passed in the Cape Colony and makes all future …
BiographyRay Harmel (nee Adler)
Ray (or Taube, her Yiddish name) Harmel was born in Lithuania in 1905. Strongly influenced by some of her six brothers, she joined the-then illegal Lithuanian…
BiographyMono Badela
The biography below is from a tribute to Badela written by Prof Guy Berger, the head of the department of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University …
BiographyJohn Jack Curtis
John (Jack) Curtis was born on 31 August 1912 in Geelong, Australia, the third of nine children. He left school at 14 to start work and help provide for the…