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EventKing Leopold II of Belgium hands over the administration of the Congo to the Belgian parliament
From the beginning of colonialism in the 1880s following the 'scramble for Africa', the Congo had been regarded as Leopold II's personal fiefdom. Leopold's…
EventThe railway line between Cape Town and George is opened.
On 25 September 1907, the railway line connecting George to Cape Town was opened. This railway connection was a significant infrastructural development, as it…
EventHester Elizabeth Cornelius is born
Hester Elizabeth Cornelius, national organiser and branch secretary of the Garment Workers' Union (GWU), was born in Lichtenburg, Transvaal. Hester played an…
EventAsiatic Law Amendment Act is passed in Transvaal parliament leading to increased Indian protest under MK Gandhi
In 1906, the Transvaal government promulgated a new Act which enforced registration of the colony's Indian population. At a mass protest meeting held in…
EventThe Bondelswarts surrender to the German forces
Germany's occupation of Namibia was accomplished through military conquest of the numerous groups in the region, with the Khoikhoi being among the last to be…
EventAnna Neethling Pohl, South African actress and author, is born
Anna Neethling Pohl the South African actress and author was born in Graaf Reinet in the Eastern Cape on 24 December 1906. At the age of five she joined…
EventSelf government is granted to the Transvaal
The Transvaal Colony, former Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) or Transvaal Republic, was granted self-government status by Britain, according to the terms of…
EventArchibald Campbell Mzoliza Jordan is born
The Xhosa writer and linguist, Archibald Campbell Mzoliza Jordan, was born at Mbokothwana Mission, Tsolo district, Transkei. After several years as teacher and…
EventGandhi leads Satyagraha Passive Resistance Campaign
Born in 1869 at Porbandar, Gujarat, India, the internationally prominent Indian campaigner, Mohandas Gandhi, led the 1906 Satyagraha Passive Resistance…
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…
EventChief of the Zondi, Bambata is killed
In the Mpanza valley in the Umvoti district, a minor chief of the Zondi, Bambatha ka Mancinza Zondi (also spelt Bambada, Bhambada), flatly refused to collect…
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…
EventBambata Rebellion: The Natal government offers a reward of £500 for the capture of Bambata
One of the roots of the Bambata/Bambatha Rebellion can be traced to the sustained pressure by colonial authorities on traditional societies in order to force…
EventElectrically powered units replaced Johannesburg's horse-drawn trams
The rapid expansion of Johannesburg after the end of the Second Anglo Boer War increased to over twice it's the area to what existed before the war. This…
EventTwo policemen are killed in poll tax resistance
Two policemen were killed by a group of Zulus near Richmond, Natal, following local resistance to the collection of poll tax, which became payable on 1 January…
EventMembers of Bambathas homestead are pursued by policemen for refusing to pay the ‘hut tax’
Natal in the early years of the 20th century became the site of conflict between Colonial Administrators and autonomous African chiefdoms. The death of…
EventFirst edition of Sunday Times is published
The first edition of the first Sunday newspaper in South Africa, the Sunday Times, appeared with New Zealander George Herbert Kingswell as editor.
EventWalter Battiss is born in Somerset East
Walter Battiss is born in Somerset East to an English Methodist family in 1906. He became one of South Africa's first and most important abstract painters. He…
EventDr Benedict Wallet Vilakazi born
Dr Benedict Vilakazi, poet and writer, is born in Groutville, KwaZulu Natal, home to Nobel Peace Prize winner, Chief Albert Luthuli. He was the first Black…
EventHansi Pauline Pollak, welfare worker and social activist, is born
Hansi Pauline Pollak was born in Johannesburg in 1905. She served as an officer in command of the Women Army Auxiliary Services during the World War II. In…
EventHendrik Witbooi, Chief of the Nama, dies
Hendrik Witbooi was born into a prominent Nama family in 1830. He was educated at a Lutheran Mission and was fluent in a number of European languages, as well…
EventThe mayor of Cape Town, Hyman Lieberman, opens the Great Synagogue in the Gardens, Cape Town
Cape Town has a substantial Jewish community, the majority of who are descendents of Lithuanian immigrants. By 1863, the Jewish congregation in Cape Town had…
EventAlbert Einstein introduces his theory of relativity
In 1905, Albert Einstein had four papers published in the Annalen der Physik, the leading German physics journal. These are the papers that history has come to…
EventBishop Zulu is born
Alphaeus Hamilton Zulu, Anglican bishop of Zululand and Swaziland was born in Nquthu, Natal. He was the only son of Johannes and Miriam Kolo Zulu and was a…
EventNkosi Sikelel’iAfrica composer, Enoch Sontonga dies
Enoch Mankayi Sontonga, writer and composer of the National Anthem Nkosi Sikelel' IAfrica (God Bless Africa) died at the age of thirty-two. He wrote Nkosi…
EventWorld’s largest diamond at the time, the Cullinan, is found in South Africa
On 26 January 1905 miner Frederick Wells extracted a large diamond from the Cullinan mine, a few kilometres outside Pretoria in South Africa's mineral-rich…
EventBeginning of the Waterberg Battle in the Herero Revolt
The German colonisation of Namibia, then German South West Africa, took place in 1884. The Herero, a pastoral and nomadic group, had begun to move into Namibia…
EventPresident Paul Kruger (78), dies of heart failure in Clarens, Switzerland
Paul Kruger (Stephanus Johannes Paulus) was born on 10 October 1825 in the Steynsburg district. When the Great Trek started in 1836, he joined the trek party…
EventArrival of Chinese labourers in South Africa
A labour shortage at the gold mines on the Rand resulted in the importation of Chinese labour in 1904. This situation, in part, was the result of the Anglo…
EventGerman Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha lands in Swakopmund, South West Africa
The scorched earth campaign conducted by Germany against the Herero people in South West Africa (now known as Namibia) is considered among the first genocides…