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EventThe Separate Representation of Voters Amendment Act commences
The Separate Representation of Voters Amendment Act No 30 of 1956 came into effect, amending the 1951 Separate Representation of Voters Act No 46 of 1951 to…
The Industrial Conciliation Act of 1956 is passed
EventMartin Luther King is arrested for his role in a bus boycott
Reverend Martin Luther King leads a public bus boycott by Black people in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, for which he is arrested and spends six months in prison. …
EventThe Riotous Assemblies Act Commences
The Riotous Assemblies Act no 17 of 1956, prohibiting any outside gathering that the minister of justice saw as a threat to public peace, commenced. It…
EventSeparate Representation of Coloured Voters Act is passed
Following years of struggle in courts and abortive parliamentary attempts to pass the Separate Representation of Coloured Voters Bill, the act was passed after…
EventBruce Fordyce is born
Bruce Fordyce, legendary South African winner of the Comrades Marathon, was born in Hong Kong, then a city under English administration on the eastern side of…
EventDeputy President Phumzile Mlambo is born
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, deputy president of South Africa and wife of former public prosecutor Bulelani Ngcuka, was born in Claremont, Durban. She was appointed…
EventGana Makabeni dies
Gana Makabeni, trade union leader and member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC) in the 1940s, died in the Western…
EventSA artist Anthony Nkotsi is born
Anthony Molebatsi Nkotsi, South African artist and the head of the Printmaking Department in 1988 at the Johannesburg Art Foundation, was born in Johannesburg…
EventShaun Thomson*, world surfing title winner, is born in Durban
Shaun Thomson, an internationally recognized professional surfer, was born in Durban on 21 August 1955. He attended Clifton Preparatory School and Carmel…
EventNgoako Abel Ramathlodi is born
Ngoako Ramathlodi, former premier of the Northern Transvaal Province (now Limpopo) and current Africa National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee…
EventThe Freedom Charter is adopted in Kliptown
EventCongress of the People starts in Kliptown
The historic multi-racial convention called The Congress of the People started in Kliptown, near Johannesburg. The proposition for this form of gathering came…
EventSA artist, Dumisani Mabaso is born
Dumisani Abraham Mabaso, South African artist, was born in Soweto. From childhood until 1974 he received art education at the Young Women's Christian…
EventANC launches mass boycott of Bantu Education
African National Congress (ANC) launches mass boycott of Ba ntu Education. Bantu education referred to the administration of education for blacks under the…
EventSouth African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) is formed
The South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) was formed during an Inaugural Conference held on 4 and 5 March 1955 in the Trades Hall, Johannesburg. SACTU…
EventInaugural Conference of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU)
On 4 -5 March 1955 the Inaugural Conference of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) was held at the Trades Hall in Johannesburg. SACTU was until…
EventThe Star Condemns Forced Removals In Sophiatown
The Star newspaper condemns the forced removal of black residents from Sophiatown, near central Johannesburg, to Soweto, located on the outskirts of the city…
EventD.F. Malan retires as Prime Minister
EventThe Algerian War of Independence begins
On the 1 November 1954, small units of Algerians organized by Front de Liberation National (FLN) attacked government buildings. These attacks were fuelled by a…
EventBritain and Egypt sign the Suez Canal agreement.
The Suez Canal was opened in 1869. As the easiest link to both the Mediterranean and the Indian Oceans, the canal was of great strategic importance. Situated…
EventSisulu is served with two notifications
The then African National Congress (ANC) Secretary-General, Walter Sisulu, was served with two notifications in terms of the Suppression of Communism Act (Act…
EventANC President Albert Luthuli banned
In 1954 the Minister of Justice C.R. Swart issued African National Congress (ANC) President Chief Albert Luthuli with two banning orders. One prohibited him…
EventFormer National Public Prosecutor Bulelani Ngcuka is born
Bulelani Ngcuka, born in Middledrift, Eastern Cape on 2 May 1954, is a former African National Congress political activist and a lawyer. In 1998 he became…
EventWalter Sisulu acts against Sophiatown forced removals
African National Congress (ANC) member Walter Sisulu acted as speaker at a meeting of the organisation held in Sophiatown, Johannesburg. This was in defiance…
EventThomas Kgope is born
Thomas Kgope, talented SA artist, was born in Rustenburg, Transvaal. After Kgope showed interest in art, artist Norman Catherine, for whom he worked as…
EventSouth African poet Vincent Oliphant is born
Vincent Oliphant, acclaimed South African poet, mathematician and educationist was born in 1954 in Alicedale, a small town near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern…
EventGamal Abdel Nasser becomes premier of Egypt
Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser, an Arab nationalist, became premier of Egypt following a military coup. Under his leadership Egypt continued its participation in the…
EventSA artist Vincent Baloyi is born
South African Artist Vincent Baloyi was born in Newclare, Johannesburg. He joined the National Arts Society and the SAAA, taught art at the Open School (1981…
EventReservation of Separate Amenities Act No 49 commences
The National Party (NP) government developed the concept of allocation of resources such as general infrastructure, education and jobs and formalised this into…