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EventKing Goodwill Zwelithini is installed
On his return from exile to St Helena, King Goodwill Zwelithini was installed as the eight monarch of the Zulu nation. He took reigns over from Prince Israel…
Simon van der Stel is succeeded by his eldest son
Simon van der Stel, who became commander of the Cape on 12 October 1679 and was promoted to governor in 1691, was succeeded by his eldest son, Willem Adriaan…
EventDr. Rhoodie is arrested
Dr Eschel Rhoodie, former South African secretary of information, was initially tracked down by a journalist at Ecuador. Rhoodie had fled South Africa shortly…
ArticleHistory of slavery and early colonisation in South Africa
With colonialism, which began in South Africa in 1652, came the Slavery and Forced Labour Model. This was the original model of colonialism brought by the…
EventANC leader Wilton Mkwayi born
Wilton Z. Mkwayi, trade unionist, treason trialist and acting leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) was born in Middledrift in the Transkei. He was the eldest child…
EventSouth Africa is criticised for its foreign policy and deliberate interference in the SADC region
The third Annual Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and representatives of donor countries and…
PlaceFernkloof Nature Reserve, Caledon
Early in the nineteenth Century, Hermanus Pieters, used to walk ‘over the mountain’ from Caledon, year after year, to camp at the coast and enjoy the abundant…
ArchiveRadio Freedom: A History of South African Underground Radio by Chris A. Smith
At seven p.m. sharp, seven nights a week, during the darkest days of apartheid, an incendiary radio broadcast beamed out from Lusaka, Zambia. It began with the…
EventBusiness Day reports that minister of law and order, Adriaan Vlok, said that apartheid has become an albatross around the country's neck.
Business Day reports that minister of law and order, Adriaan Vlok, said that apartheid has become an albatross around the country's neck. 'If you ask a black…
EventFirst mines are proclaimed in Johannesburg
Though gold was discovered near Krugersdorp in July 1852 and mining activities started successively in various places on the Witwatersrand (meaning Ridge of…
EventPortuguese explorer Bartholomew Dias anchors at Walvis Bay
On 8 December 1487, Portuguese explorer and navigator Bartholomew Dias anchored in what is now known as Walvis Bay. Dias was on an expedition to discover a sea…
EventHezekiel Sepeng is born
The athlete Hezekiel Sepeng is born in Potchefstroom, North West (then Western Transvaal). The ‘Potchefstroom Express’, as he was known, was scouted in one of…
EventGifted writer and actor William Modisane is born
Journalist, short-story writer and actor William (Bloke) Modisane was born in Sophiatown, Johannesburg. Modisane left South Africa in 1959 and while in exile…
ArticleGandhi and the Passive Resistance Campaign 1907-1914
The passive resistance campaigns led by MK Gandhi in South Africa had huge consequences not only for the history of the country but also for world history in…
PlaceAmandel, a Railway Siding in the Eastern Cape
Railway Siding, 8 km West of Lady Grey, on the route between Aliwal North and Barkley East. The name is Afrikaans for 'almond'. The European almond was…
ArticlePass laws in South Africa 1800-1994
Slaves at the Cape were forced to carry passes. This made it easier for their owners and the local authorities to control their movements. The first time Pass…
Freedom for Namibia by Toivo Herman Ja Toivo (1968)
By 1968 the freedom struggle for Namibia was a two year old guerilla war against South African control of the region. That struggle was directed by the…
EventMagnus Malan and Constand Viljoen deny knowledge of mass graves
Former Minister of Defence Magnus Malan and General Constand Viljoen, former commander of the South African Defence Force (SADF), denied accusations on two…
EventThe 4th Pan-African Congress is held in New York City, USA
The 4th Pan-African Congress was held in New York City, USA. The congress was sponsored by the American based African-American women's organisation, Circle for…
PlaceAlbasini Dam, Limpopo
Dam at the foot of the Soutpansberg Mountain Range. Named after Joao Albasini who lived from 1813 to 1885. He was the first European Settler in the Lowveld and…
EventA police mob attacks big SWAPO rally
This day in history, an armed mob and riot police disrupted a rally organised by the South West African Political Organisation (SWAPO). The meeting was held in…
PlaceCote D’Ivoire or Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast is a West African State bordering Ghana in the East, Burkina Faso, Mali in the North, and Guinea and Liberia in the East. To the South lies, the…
EventSouth Africa, Cuba and Angola Sign formal peace agreement, allowing Namibian independence from South Africa
The agreement was the culmination of months of intense diplomatic efforts brokered by the United States. South African President P.W. Botha proclaimed, "A new…
Reclaiming Radical Traditions of Workers' Education by Linda Cooper and Sheri Hamilton
This paper was submitted to the 1973 Durban Strikes Celebrating 50 Years Conference South African trade unions have a long and rich history of inventing…
PlaceTrafalgar High School
In the time of Education and its opposition to the Apartheid system, (when many students and teachers were jailed or banned). The School was nominated to the…
ArchiveCelebrating 25 years of Democracy and Freedom
Hey Listen South Africans I’m talking about TaTa Nelson Mandela The real hero who fought for our freedom I can hear the echo of his voice from that cold…
PlaceBronberg Conservancy, Pretoria
The Bronberg Conservancy is located on the South East side of Pretoria, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is marked by its outstanding landscapes…
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…
EventN.P. van Wyk Louw is born
Renowned South African author, Nicolaas Petrus (N.P.) van Wyk Louw, Afrikaans poet, dramatist and essayist, was born in Sutherland, Karoo. He was second in…
EventFierce fighting erupts between pro-Patrice Lumumba troops and UN forces
Fierce fighting erupted between pro-Patrice Lumumba troops and United Nations (UN) forces in Congo. The fight came almost a year after parliamentary elections…