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EventThe UN General Assembly adopts resolution 1881, requesting South Africa to release all political prisoners
With the inception of apartheid in 1948, numerous repressive laws limited the freedom and movement of black South Africans. External resistance to the policy…
EventThe Rivonia Trialists are charged with sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the state
On this day in 1963, the Rivonia trialists were charged with sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the South African government. This after a raid by…
EventThe UN Special Committee on Apartheid reports on SA
The final report of the United Nations Special Committee on Apartheid, released on this date, gave a detailed review of developments in South Africa's racial…
EventDr Abrahams to be returned to Bechuanaland
The South African prime minister, Dr H.F. Verwoerd, announced in a statement before the Supreme Court in Cape Town, that Dr. Kenneth Abrahams would be returned…
EventW. E. B. Du Bois (95), writer, scholar, intellectual, Pan
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was a giant among African American activists. He was a key founder of the NAACP, the largest and oldest civil rights…
EventANC activists bribe warder and escape from prison
Four political detainees, Harold Wolpe, a listed Communist arrested on the Bechuanaland border, Arthur Goldreich, caught in the Rivonia raid, Moosa Moolla,…
EventFour political detainees escape from Pretoria Central prison in one of the most dramatic escapes in SA history
Four political detainees: Harold Wolpe, a listed Communist arrested on the Bechuanaland border; Arthur Goldreich, caught in the Rivonia raid; Moosie Moolla,…
EventNuclear Test Ban Treaty signed
Representatives of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain sign a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons in…
EventThe Alabama, American raider of the Southern States during the American Civil War, arrives in Saldana Bay for provisions
On 29 July 1863, The Alabama, an American raider belonging to the Southern States during the American Civil War arrived in Saldana Bay, on the west coast of…
EventUN Special Committee releases its report
The United Nations Special Committee on Apartheid, which was set up by the General Assembly under resolution 1761 (XVll), released its second interim report…
EventIndia intensifies struggle against apartheid
The government of India announced that it was cutting India's last remaining link with South Africa by refusing landing and passage facilities to South African…
EventPolice arrest members of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) High Command at Lilliesleaf Farm
South African police raided the African National Congress (ANC) underground headquarters, the Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia, just outside Johannesburg. Apparently…
EventRobert McBride is born
The African National Congress (ANC) member and current chief of Ekurhuleni Metro Police, Robert McBride, was born in Addington Hospital, Durban. McBride led…
EventPaarl Riots report submitted
On 25 June 1963 Mr. Justice H. Snyman submitted to parliament a final report on the 1962 Paarl Riots. The report analysed the main causes of the riots, and…
EventColdest day in Pretoria
The Coldest day in Pretoria in recent history was on 12 June 1963. The temperatures plummeted to a minimum of -3, 6 and a maximum of 7, 5 degrees Centigrade…
EventJomo Kenyatta is elected Prime Minister of Kenya
Jomo Kenyatta was elected Kenya’s first Prime Minister, in 1963, following that country’s independence from Britain. In 1964 he became the first President of…
EventThe first detainees are held under the apartheid regime’s 90-day Law
When the apartheid government introduced the General Law Amendment Act, the South African Security Police, or Special Branch, were given the authority to…
EventSA artist Sfiso Mkame is born
Justice Sfiso Mkame , South African artist, was born in Durban. As a child he drew on sand walls. He received formal art training at the Open School and the…
EventGeneral Law Amendment Act No 37 is approved
This Act was an amendment to Section 17, the ninety-day detention law. This meant that any commissioned police officer was empowered to detain, without warrant…
EventThe United Arab Republic is proclaimed by Egypt, Iraq, and Syria
Many attempts were made by the Arab countries to form a United Arab Republic. The first two countries to engage in this initiative were Syria and Egypt on 22…
EventWalter Sisulu convicted of inciting protest
Former secretary-general of the African National Congress (ANC), Walter Sisulu, was convicted of having incited a stay-at-home of African workers in protest of…
EventPoqo members kill a White family
In an attempt to destabilise the country and cause an uprising against the Apartheid government, members of Poqo, the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania's…
EventThe South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee is founded
On the 13 January 1963, the South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee (SAN-ROC) was founded by Dennis Brutus. The committee was specifically established to…
EventKwame Nkrumah orders release of political prisoners
President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana (formerly Gold Coast), a leading exponent of Pan-Africanism, ordered the release of the last of his political prisoners,…
EventPoqo members arrested
Armed Poqo members were intercepted by the police while on their way to assassinate Chief Kaiser Matanzima. An armed clash between the police and Poqo members,…
EventViolence erupts in Paarl
Violence erupted when Poqo members from Mbekweni, Paarl, met and resolved to attack the White town of Paarl. Over 200 men armed with axes, pangas, sticks,…
EventMinister reports 23 acts of sabotage in RSA
Location: back to this day in history search archive Two years after the formation of Poqo and a year after the formation of Mkhonto we Sizwe (MK),…
EventHelen Joseph is put under house arrest
Former political activist, Helen Joseph, fell victim to the Draconian apartheid legislations. She became the first person to be put under house arrest under…
EventUganda gains independence
The East African country Uganda gained independence from Great Britain as a parliamentary democratic monarchy with traditional kingdoms Ankole, Buganda,…
EventSolomon Popoli Linda, singer and composer, dies
On 8 October 1962, Solomon Linda, the singer and composer of Mbube, which became the pop hit as 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', died without receiving royalties for…