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EventUSA drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki
The Second World War broke out with the German invasion of Poland in 1939. By 1941, the Japanese had launched a military strike on the United States by…
EventSimon Petros Matseke, prominent in African social and political life, dies in Pretoria
Peter Matseke was born in 1878 in Pretoria. When the Anglo-Boer War broke out, he was drafted as driver for Boer Commandos. Through that experience, he learnt…
EventMinister announces compulsory education for Black children
The minister of (Black) education and training, Dr Ferdinand Hartzenberg, announced that compulsory education for Black children would be introduced in stages,…
EventDr 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 heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital,…
EventEnforcement of military conscription for all white males in SA
The Union Defence Force was created in 1912 and served as the South African Army. It was renamed as the South African Defence Force (SADF) by the passing of…
EventGeneral Louis Botha wins elections
On 15 September 1910, General Louis Botha and Hertzog's South African Party (SAP) won the majority number of seats in the House Assembly forming the first…
EventBambatha Rebellion
The Bambatha Rebellion took place near Greytown in KwaZulu-Natal. The first signs of discontent started at the end of 1905, when government introduced a new £1…
EventGeneral De la Rey protests British mistreatment of women and children
The Anglo-Boer War broke out in 1899 and was the result of the British annexation of the Transvaal, soon after gold had been discovered in the region in 1886…
EventKitchener succeeds Roberts as Commander-in-Chief
On Lord Roberts' return to England in November 1900 Lord Kitchener succeeded him as Commander-in-Chief of the British forces during the second Anglo Boer War …
EventC James reports that South Africa is a poor market for produce
In 1900, C James, an official of the British colonial administration, went on a voyage to South Africa to evaluate the market for produce. He undertook this…
EventMorgan Tsvangirai becomes Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 11 February 2009 as part of what was known as The Unity Government, in partnership with Robert…
EventThe British successfully thwart the Zulu attack at Rorke’s Drift
During the Anglo-Zulu war Lord Chelmsford, commander of the British forces, took over the buildings of the Swedish Mission at Rorke's Drift, near Isandlwana…
EventKing Moshoeshoe II is reinstated as King of Lesotho
On 25 January 1995, King Moshoeshoe II was formally reinstated as King of Lesotho. Moshoeshoe had a turbulent reign over Lesotho as he was twice dethroned,…
EventThe Native Land Act is passed
The Natives Land Act (No. 27 of 1913) was passed to allocate only about 7% of arable land to Africans and leave the more fertile land for whites. This law…
Centenary of the 1913 Land Act By Colin Bundy, 18 April 2013
Why consider the history of a hundred-year old law? Surely the Marikana massacre and farm-workers' strikes are more urgent? In fact, there are direct links…
ArchiveAll That Glitters - Bridging two worlds by Emilia Potenza
From the book: All That Glitters by Emilia PotenzaAn industrial revolution was affecting the lives of everybody living in Southern Africa. By the 1920s, one or…
2012 ANC National Policy Conference: Opening Address by President Jacob Zuma, Midrand, 26 June 2012
National Chairperson, Deputy President Comrade Kgalema Motlanthe, ANC Officials and Members of the National Executive Committee, ANC leadership of all…
Extract from a speech made in the House of Assembly on 4 February 1974 in reply to a motion of no confidence in the Government by the Leader of the Opposition
The beginning of 1974 was characterised by confusion and uncertainly in international relations. There was the Watergate scandal in which President Nixon of…
Chapter 2 - The Soweto Uprising of June 1976: A Turning Points Event
By 10:30 on 16 June 1976, thousands of students had gathered in Orlando West to begin a protest march against the imposition of the Afrikaans language as the…
Book 5: People, Places and Apartheid - Chapter 2 - The Soweto Uprising of June 1976: A Turning Points Event by Phil Bonner
From the book: Book 5: People, Places and Apartheid commissioned by The Department of Education By 10:30 on 16 June 1976, thousands of students had gathered…
The Treason Trial: Foreword by Chief Albert Luthuli to a book by Helen Joseph, 1963
`What are Kingdoms without Justice but large robber bands?` St. Augustine Mrs. Helen Joseph has made an important contribution to the literature of the…
PlaceHeritage Route of King Shaka
Memorial Complex- Shakas two half brothers; Dingane and Mhlangana and his body servant, Mbopa assassinated King Shaka on the 22 September 1828. A memorial…
Document 99 - Edwin T. Mofutsanyana, “All-African Convention: Masses Must Support It”, South African Worker, 9 January 1937
From: South Africa's Radical Tradition, a documentary history, Volume One 1907 - 1950, by Allison Drew The All-African Convention came into being as an answer…
PlaceMapungubwe Cultural Landscape, Joining South Africa with Zimbabwe and Botswana
Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape is an open, expansive Savannah Landscape at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers. Mapungubwe developed into the…
PlaceZululand District Municipality
Known as: 'The Kingdom of the Zulu'. KwaZulu-Natal is a: "melting pot of African, European and Indian cultures". Known as the Kingdom of the Zulu! This…
PlaceSignal Hill
The Settlement at the Cape of Good Hope was founded by the Dutch in 1652 and the signal guns were originally part of the regular artillery at the Imhoff…
Some Personal Recollections of the Free Nelson Mandela Campaign by Mike Terry
I would have been fourteen years old when Nelson Mandela was first arrested for leaving South Africa ‘illegally`. Although a regular reader of the Manchester…
Re-emergence of resistance, 1980-89
By the early 1980s, the Congress movement was becoming established as the most effective force in the fight against apartheid throughout the country. With the…
ArticleNelson Mandela Timeline 1930-1939
1930 White women get the vote. This means in effect that the weight of the black vote is decreased from 3.1% to 1.4%. The first restrictions against the…
ArticleThe Crackdown on the Black Consciousness Movement in 1973
The period after the Sharpeville Massacre and the banning of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan African Congress (PAC), especially after the…