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1,025 records
EventF.W. de Klerk clamps down on KwaZulu
In a move that was long overdue, President F.W. de Klerk imposed a state of emergency in KwaZulu-Natal, coinciding with a report by the South African Human…
EventScores of people, including a Chief, are killed in Lari, Kenya, following an attack by Mau Mau freedom fighters
On 26 March 1953, close to 100 people were killed and scores of others injured at Lari in Kiambu region, Kenya, when Mau Mau freedom fighters attacked the area…
ArticleDesmond Mpilo Tutu Timeline
19317 October, Desmond Mpilo Tutu is born in Klerksdorp, in the then Transvaal province of South Africa.1961Desmond Tutu is ordained as a minister in the…
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 MK Umkhonto…
PlaceMLR-cannon, Middle North Battery, Simonstown
The gun was designed in 1865 as a broadside gun for ironclad ships and harbour seafront defence. A total of 190 were made. The gun was last fired in 1903…
EventSouth Africa celebrates the first National Women’s Day
In one of the largest demonstrations staged in this country's history, 20 000 women of all races marched to Pretoria's Union Buildings on 9 August 1956, to…
ArticleIndian Passive Resistance in South Africa: 1946 - 1948
1946 Passive Resistance CampaignIntroduction ↵An acute labour shortage forced White settlers in Natal to plead to the Indian Government to send its citizens to…
The Story of PR Pather, the grand old man of Indian politics in South Africa: Bibliography
From the book: The Story of PR Pather, the grand old man of Indian politics in South Africa - by Riashnee Pather Bibliography Primary Sources Interviews …
Address by President Jacob Zuma at the celebration of 60th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter, Kliptown, Johannesburg, 26 June 2015
Director of the programmeDeputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and all ANC Officials,ANC NEC members,Vice-President of COSATU and theLeadership of the ANC, SACP,…
EventPercy Qoboza, editor of the Post, states that it is difficult to see how a credible newspaper for Blacks can be created in South Africa
Percy Qoboza was a journalist and outspoken critic of the apartheid regime. He initially studied in the field of theology, but became involved in journalism…
EventNelson 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, Mandela was still imprisoned at Victor…
PlaceCity Hall, Cape Town
This is a large Edwardian building in the centre of Cape Town city. It was built in 1905, on the Grand parade, West of the Castle of Good Hope. Messrs Henry…
General South African History Timeline: 1970s
1970 11 June, It is announced that Security Police have arrested the leader of the Soweto Students’ Representative Council (SSRC), Dan S. Montsitsi in…
PlaceApartheid Museum, Johannesburg
View of the Apartheid Museum. Image SourceThe Apartheid Museum opened in 2001 and is acknowledged as the pre-eminent Museum in the World dealing with 20th…
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 Africa (CPSA), the…
Chapter 5 - The Freedom Charter
From: Lessons of the 1950s By Richard Monroe, March-May 1984Chapter 5 - The Freedom CharterThe Freedom Charter, a programme which still embraces many of the…
ArticleIndian South Africans timeline 1900-1909
Indian South Africans timeline 1900-1909 1900 The East London Mayor's Minute for 1899-1900 states that 1,000 refugees from war in the Transvaal and the…
ArticleMahatma Karamchand Gandhi Timeline 1910-1919
1910 - 1919 1910 January 1, Indian Opinion reduced in size for financial reasons. January 6, Rev. Charles Phillips and J C. Gibson had an interview with…
67. The Xuma-Naicker-Dadoo Pact, 1947
From the book: A Documentary History of Indian South Africans edited by Surendra Bhana and Bridglal Pachai The new leadership had long been urging closer…
Biography of Mandla Langa by Carol Sale
Mandla Langa was born in apartheid South Africa in 1950. His family, friends, and his own life were made in and developed by this program that killed,…
ArticleThe Women’s Charter
Adopted at the Founding Conference of the Federation of South African WomenJohannesburg, 17 April 1954. The Charter expressed the philosophy and aims of the…
ArchiveBiography of Dorothy Nyembe by Thomas Boatman
An Unmistakable Figure In late December 1931, Dorothy Nomzansi Nyembe was born and she would become one of the premier freedom fighters in the…
EventAs part of a defiance campaign against the apartheid Government, SA is hit by a nationwide wave of protests
On 6 September 1989, the majority of South Africans witnessed the election of a national government in which it had no say; this was to be the last all-white…
”Policy of the Congress Youth League.” Article by A. M. Lembede, in May 1946
The history of modern times is the history of nationalism. Nationalism has been tested in the people's struggles and the fires of battle and found to be the…
SAHO Timeline and Milestones
table, th, td { border:1px solid black; border-collapse: collapse; } DATE EVENT 2019 Aug 2019 …
ArticleBlack Consciousness Movement Timeline 1903-2009
1903 William Edward Durghardt Du Bois publishes The Souls of Black Folk rejecting the notion that Black people need western values be to accepted as citizens…
Article‘Liberated’ Slaves? by Joline Young
While the abolition of the slave trade by Britain in 1808 was haled as a victory by abolitionists like Granville Scott and William Wilberforce,[i] for the…
Biography of Hugh Masekela by Fardin Rahman
Hugh Masekela is recognized as one of the most famous and influential musicians of all time from South Africa due to his role in spreading awareness about his…
ArchiveAppendix 1: Time Line of South African history by Denis Goldberg
In pre-colonial times South Africa was occupied by Khoisan people in the west and Bantu speaking people in the east. 1652 Jan van Riebeeck landed at the Cape…
Turning Adwa into a global heritage site of Pan-African struggle by Mammo Muchie (Pambazuka News), 02 March 2016
March 1 marks the 120th anniversary of the Battle of Adwa, a decisive victory of Ethiopia over Italian colonialism. This great victory has been a source of…