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EventViolence erupts on the eve of Soweto uprising anniversary
On the Eve of the Soweto Uprising, Soweto, 15 June 1976By this day in 1976, the plan was already set. Days earlier, students had formed an Action Committee and…
EventNew SA Constitution takes effect
On 4 February 1997, the new Constitution of the Republic of South Africa came into force. The country’s Constitution has been hailed as one of the most…
EventTogo and South Africa establish diplomatic relations following a visit by Nelson Mandela
After a visit, that only lasted a few hours, by then President Nelson Mandela in 1996, Togo and South Africa set the platform to establish diplomatic relations…
PlaceGeorge, Garden Route- Western Province
Principal Town of the Magisterial District and Division of George, on the Garden Route- 439 km from Cape Town, 1252 km from Durban and 1213 km from…
Address by President Nelson Mandela at the Johannesburg opening of the Anne Frank Exhibition at the Museum Africa Johannesburg, 15 August 1994
(And the Address by Dr Martin Simon, Executive Board Member of the Anne Frank House on presentation of Anne Frank Award to President Nelson Mandela)…
ArticleAmersfoort Legacy - History of education in South Africa
The opening moment of education in South Africa coincides with the foundation of the colonial experience at the Cape in 1652. Six years after the Dutch East…
ArticleMiriam Makeba: Activist on Two Fronts by Connor Kirkpatrick
Miriam Makeba: Activist on Two Fronts Abstract: Miriam Makeba is a Grammy award-winning singer. She is from Johannesburg and dedicated her life to…
ArchivePetrus Mashishi
Petrus Mashishi, President of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) from its founding in 1987 until 2009, was both a man of his times and a giant…
Chapter 4 - Poor, yet generous Lesotho
From the book: Le Rona Re Batho (An account of the 1982 Maseru Massacre) by Phyllis Naidoo, South Africa, 1992 Exiles who sought political asylum from the…
EventGhana demands independence from Britain
In 1821, the British Government took control of the British trading forts. In 1844, Fanti chiefs on the Gold Coast (as Ghana was then known) signed an…
EventAngola becomes independent of Portuguese colonial rule
Angola becomes independent after 14 years of armed resistance to Portuguese colonial rule. The three major movements fighting the war, the Movimiento Popular…
EventSoweto Town council asks SADF troops to stay
In June 1986, there were many necklacing incidents in Soweto, Johannesburg with people being brutally killed. The Soweto Civic Association demanded that the…
EventThe University of Port Elizabeth is founded
The University of Port Elizabeth (UPE), came into being on 31 January 1964 with the adoption by Parliament of Act 1 of 1964. The first academic year commenced…
EventPik Botha is born
Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of President F.W. de Klerk was born in Rustenburg, Transvaal (now North West…
EventMoses Mabhida dies in Maputo
Moses Mbeki Mncane (Baba) Mabhida, trade unionist, politician, Umkhonto weSizwe commander and Secretary-General of the SA Communist Party, died of a heart…
Chapter 2 - Historical Background
The new constitution was negotiated between May 1994 and October 1996 in the country's first democratically elected convention, the Constitutional Assembly…
Event90-Days Act comences
The General Laws Amendment Act of 1964 (passed in 1963) or the 90-Day Act, commences on this day. It is dubbed the 90-Day Act as it provides for any person to…
EventGerman torpedoes sink the SS Mendoza close to Durban
Torpedoes deployed by the U-178 a German submarine sank the SS Mendoza a ship bound for Durban on the Indian Ocean. The SS Mendoza was an ex-Vichy French ship…
EventMother Teresa is buried
Mother Teresa, the nun who captured the world's attention and accolades with her selfless devotion to the poor, was buried on 13 September 1997 in Culcutta,…
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…
Book 2: The Impact and Limitations of Colonialism - Bibliography
From the book: Book 2: The Impact and Limitations of Colonialism commissioned by The Department of Education Bradford, Helen, Women, Gender and Colonialism:…
ArchiveInterview with Duma Nokwe
Oral interview with Duma Nokwe (1927-1978) who was Secretary-General of the ANC from 1958 to 1969. Born to working class parents in Evaton, he studied at St…
EventSouth African swimmer, Penny Heyns, wins a gold Medal at Atlanta Olympics
Penelope Penny Heyns was born on 8 November 1974 in Springs, Gauteng Province. Heyns began swimming at a young age and displayed great skills. Her swimming was…
EventThe World Health Organisation confirms that Ebola virus killed thirteen villagers in Gabon.
Thirteen people died of an unknown disease in a remote village in Gabon during the month of February 1996. On 19 February 1996, the World Health Organisation…
EventNyanga school Principal’s office burnt
On 24 June 1976 the Principal's office in Hlengisi Primary, Nyanga, outside Cape Town is burnt down. The broader context of this is that on 16 June 1976 school…
Afrikaans community 1820-1899
The first white inhabitantsBetween 1820 and 1826, Afrikaner trekboer (migratory farmer) J.N. Brits trekked from the Cape Colony, crossed the Orange River and…
ArticleBlack Community Programmes (BCP)
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, after the banning of the ANC and PAC, the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) resuscitated the anti-apartheid struggle in…
ArticleA history of Kwaito music
This genre of music started emerging in the 1990s. It is a mixture of a number of different rhythms from marabi of the 1920s, kwela of the 1950s, mbaqanga…
ArticleThe New Group
This was a group or collective of young South African artists who, upon their return from study in Europe in 1937 began to question and oppose the conservative…
References and links: Transport through time
Books Berens, P., J. Gurney & Rob SiebÁ¶rger. (1996). Making History Standard 2. Johannesburg: Heinemann. Marneweck, L., R. SiebÁ¶rger & L. Torr. (1995)…