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EventA.G. Visser, SA physician and poet, dies in Heidelberg, Transvaal
Andries Gerhardus Visser was born on 1 March 1878 on the farm Zaaifontein, in the district of Fraserburg, South Africa. Visser attended the Huguenot Memorial…
EventUDF members challenge the government to arrest them on charges of high treason
Boesak and his colleagues were addressing a protest meeting on the night of 27 February 1985. The meeting was attended by more than 5000 people at the Durban…
EventArchbishop Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Archbishop Mpilo Desmond Tutu, world renowned preacher and strident voice against apartheid, first Black Secretary General of the South African Council of…
EventCar bomb explodes outside Air Force headquarters
On the afternoon of 20 May 1983, two African National Congress (ANC) cadres, Freddie Shangwe and Ezekial Maseko, drove to Church Street in Pretoria and parked…
EventThe apartheid government agrees to eliminate racial segregation in theatres but not in cinemas
In 1950, the two major pieces of legislation designed to create the new 'apartheid (apart) city' were enacted, namely the Population Registration Act and the…
EventDr. Margaret Roach ‘Killie’ Campbell, collector of Africana, dies in Durban
Margaret Roach "Killie" Campbell was born in Mount Edgecombe, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) on 9 September 1881. She was educated at St. Anne's Diocesan College in…
EventPresident F. W. de Klerk rings in cabinet changes
In what was widely regarded as move to prepare the ground for the country's first multiracial elections, President F.W. de Klerk reshuffled the cabinet. This…
EventA military coup deposes the Lesotho Government
On 15 January 1986, General Justin Lekhanya, the Head of the Lesotho Army, ousted Lesotho prime minister Chief Leabua Jonathan in a military coup. Jonathan had…
EventSusanna Kok, SA medical missionary whose work led to the effective diagnosis and treatment of leprosy, dies
Susanna Helena Kok was born in 1911 in the Free State. She studied medicine at the Universities of Cape Town and the Witwatersrand and became a missionary…
EventThe Azanian People’s Liberation Army (APLA) disbands
The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA) was the underground military wing of the Pan African Congress (PAC). APLA was formed in the 1960s, after the…
EventThe first Comrades Marathon takes place
The first Comrades Marathon was run by Vic Clapham, ex World War One veteran and other 34 runners, who initiated it as a reunion. Clapham wanted to remember…
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…
EventFrederick Lugard, British colonial administrator, occupies Kano, West Africa
Frederick Lugard was the British colonial administrator of West Africa from 1895. He was one of the foremost practitioners of the colonial system of indirect…
EventSir Percy Fitzpatrick, author of ‘Jock of the Bushveld’, is born
On 24 July 1862, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick was born in King Williams Town. He was the eldest son of James Coleman Fitzpatrick and Jenny Fitzgerald, both of whom…
EventFirst postage stamp in Africa is issued in the Cape Colony
On 1 September 1853, the first adhesive postage stamp in Africa was issued in the Cape of Good Hope, a British colony at the time. The triangular shaped stamp…
EventDr Wilson Carswell, medical adviser to the government’s Aids unit, says about 100 000 South Africans are infected with HIV
On 21 May 1991 the medical adviser to the government, Dr Wilson Carswell made the shocking announcement that 100 000 South Africans are infected with the Human…
PlaceOld Court House, Victoria Embankment, Durban
The building was designed by architect Stanley Hudson and was erected in 1911 as the Old Court House, and is the oldest public building in the central business…
EventEdgar Wallace (56), author and newspaper editor in South Africa, dies in Hollywood.
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was born in London in 1875. His mother, unmarried and struggling to make a living, gave him up for adoption when he was nine…
Freedom In Our Life Time - List of Photographs
From the book: Freedom In Our Life Time by Anton Muziwakhe Lembede Anton Lembede's primary school class, Umbumbulu, 192.7 (Bemadette Sibeko) Inset of…
ArticleThe caring nature of Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu
Nontsikelelo Albertina has been described countless times as a caring and service-oriented individual who spent her life lifting up those around her, whether…
English Settlement in South Africa
British presence in the Cape between the 1600s and 1795 was largely confined to the shores of the Cape and Table Bay as a halfway stop by the East India…
ArticleTreks & Land conflicts timeline 1602-1966
1602 20 March, The Dutch East India Company (VOC) comes into being. 1652 Jan van Riebeeck, a representative of the Dutch East India Company (VOC),…
EventJustice Ludorf convicts thirty men accused of conspiring to overthrow the SWA administration
The presiding judge in the Pretoria terrorist trial, Justice Ludorf convicted the thirty men accused of conspiring to overthrow the South West Africa…
Working Life - Factories, Township and Popular Culture 1886 - 1940 - ‘Locations’ For Labour
From the book: Working Life - Factories, Township and Popular Culture 1886 - 1940 by Luli Callinicos Topic We have seen how altered conditions gave rise to a…
PlaceRainbow Restaurant and Jazz Club, Durban
The Rainbow Restaurant opened its doors for trade on Thursday 17 December 1981. It was the first such establishment of its kind in KwaZulu Natal, located in a…
A Brief History of Niger - Part 1 by US Department of State
Early Humans: Considerable evidence indicates that about 600,000 years ago, humans inhabited what has since become the desolate Sahara of northern Niger. Long…
ArchiveClass Consciousness and Migrant Workers by David Hemson (University of Warwick)
New introduction to thesis 2019 by David Hemson Hemson, David (1979) Class consciousness and migrant workers: dock workers of Durban. PhD thesis, University…
From Protest to Challenge: Documents of African Politics in South Africa 1882-1964 Volume 2
Introduction Most of the world is living under the system of Society called Capitalism. The essence of Capitalism is the ownership of land, mines, factories,…
ArticleNelson Mandela Timeline 1960-1969
1960 21 March, In a peaceful anti pass march led by the PAC at Sharpeville, the police open fire on the unarmed and peaceful crowd, killing 69 and wounding…
EventGovernment tables the third Constitution of the Republic of South Africa before the House of Assembly
In 1983 the South African government passed the third Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The Conservative Party opposed the Constitution, while the…