SAHO global search
7,054 records
EventIn Britain, Foreign Office Minister Lynda Chalker, meets Oliver Tambo, president of the ANC.
Oliver Tambo the then President of the African National Congress (ANC) was responsible for holding together the various anti-apartheid movements and was sent…
EventTanganyika formally ends all trade ties with South Africa
Tanganyika (now known as Tanzania) formally ended all direct and indirect trade relations with South Africa. Tanganyika became one of the first countries in…
EventMass arrests in Pondoland
Justice Minister Francios Christiaan Erasmus informed the National Assembly that 4 769 Africans, 2 Europeans and 2 others had been taken into custody during…
EventBlacks are making bonfires of their “passes” in Johannesburg
On 28 March 1960, Natives began making bonfires of their reference books in Johannesburg. Their action was the latest gesture of defiance against the pass laws…
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…
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…
EventEzrom Kgobokanyo Sebata Legae is born
Ezrom Kgobokanyo Sebata Legae, South African artist, was born in Vrededorp, Johannesburg. He studied at the Polly Street Art Center and Jubilee Art Centre…
EventThe S. A government seizes the passport of Bishop Desmond Tutu
Between 1976 and 1978 Desmond Tutu served as Bishop of the Anglican Church in Lesotho and as Secretary-General of the South African Council of Churches. On 16…
EventDe Klerk announces a referendum to test his political reforms
President F.W. de Klerk announced a referendum for 17 March to establish the opinion of White voters towards his political reforms. He introduced sweeping…
EventNotorious ‘SOWETO’ policeman dies
Brigadier Theuns Swanepoel ("Rooi Rus"), one of the most feared interrogators of the South African Security Police, dies in Roodepoort. Brigadier Swanepoel is…
EventMxenge murder accused Dirk Coetzee found guilty
Judge Pieter Combrinck finds Dirk Coetzee, Apartheid policeman and Vlakplaas assassination squad Commander together with Almond Nofomela and David…
EventMandela confirms Kerzner’s contribution to the ANC
President Nelson Mandela confirmed that hotel magnate and socialite Sol Kerzner did indeed make a contribution to the ANC electoral funds as alleged by Bantu…
EventPaul Adams becomes SA’s youngest Test Cricket player
South African cricket player, Paul "Gogga" Adams, became South Africa's youngest Test Cricket player, when he featured in his first test debut at the age of 18…
EventLocal elections receive go
An emergency session was convened by parliament on October 12, 1995, to approve legislation to permit local elections to be held on November 1. This step was…
EventFormer Tennis player, Kevin Curren, is born in Durban
In 1976, a year after passing matric (now Grade 10), Kevin Curren accepted a scholarship from the University of Texas, United States of America. He obtained a…
EventFirst flight in an airplane is undertaken
On the morning of 17 December 1903, brothers, Wilbur and Orville Wright succeeded in the world's first powered flight in a heavier-than-air machine under…
EventThirteen residents are gunned down in Mamelodi by South African police
Thirteen residents were gunned down in Mamelodi by South African police. This followed the declaration of a State of emergency on 25 July 1985 by President PW…
EventPLAN launches armed struggle against South Africa
On 26 August 1966, the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), the armed wing of SWAPO, fought in a battle against South African occupying forces at…
EventWhite sympathisers join evicted Black squatters in a protest
About 100 White sympathisers joined evicted Black squatters in a protest against the demolition of shanty dwellings outside Cape Town. This was the third day…
EventMoïse Kapenda Tshombe refuses to end the Katanga secession
Moïse Kapenda Tshombe, finally released from prison by Mobutu Sese Seko refused to end the Katanga secession. On 23 December 1961 he led the Congo province of…
EventZAR’s last Cruesot ‘Long Tom’ is dynamited
During the Second Anglo-Boer War, the fourth and last Creusot 'Long Tom' of the state artillery of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (South African Republic,…
EventKing Mswati III is born
Makhosetive Dlamini (King Mswati III) was born in Masundini Swaziland to King Sobhuza III and one of his younger wives Ntombi Tfwala. Mswati was Tfwala’s…
EventThe Security Council begins deliberations on the situation in South Africa
The United Nations Security Council began deliberations on the situation in South Africa, under an agenda item entitled: "The situation arising out of the…
Seedtime: Omar Badsha Retrospective
A major retrospective exhibition of Omar Badsha’s drawings, woodcuts and photographic essays from the mid-1960s to 2000s. His drawings are being shown for the…
EventThe Esso Oil Company closes its business in South Africa
Esso South Africa withdrew business from South Africa on 31 December 1986. The country was at the height of political conflict and violence that made it hard…
EventCouncil of Unions of South Africa (CUSA) is formed
The Council of Unions of South Africa (CUSA) was formed, with 9 affiliates. CUSA originated from the Urban Training Project and the Consultative Committee of…
EventThe World Health Organisation (WHO) declares Aids a worldwide epidemic
It is unknown when AIDS emerged. However, the first reported cases were in the early eighties. Then, the disease was widely known as a gay man’s disease…
EventPresident Nelson Mandela awards the Gold Order of Meritorious Service posthumously to Enoch Sontonga, composer of “Nkosi, Sekel
On 24 September 1996, Heritage Day, the grave of Enoch Sontonga who composed and wrote the first verse and chorus of Nkosi, Sekelel' iAfrika, was declared a…
EventSouth Africa’s TRC begins its formal hearings into Human Rights Violations
On 15 April 1996, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), under Chairman Archbishop Desmond Tutu, began its first formal hearings in East London City…
EventEmperor Haile Selassie reclaims his Ethiopian throne
After nearly five years in exile in Britain, Emperor Haile Selassie returned to Ethiopia to reclaim his throne with the help of the British. Selassie lost his…