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The War
The flag of the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State On 9 October 1899 the SAR issued an ultimatum to Britain and two days later, on 11 October the war was…
ArticleFootball in South Africa Timeline 1862-2012
1862 The first documented football matches in South Africa are played in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth (between White civil servants and soldiers). 1879 …
ArticleKhoisan herder society in the Later Stone Age
What is herding? Herder societies are also known as pastoral societies and were also nomadic, like hunter-gatherers. They kept domesticated animals and…
Article1913 Satyagraha Campaign Resumes
Introduction A provisional settlement was reached in 1911. But in the letter of 12 September 1913 reproduced below, A.M. Cachalia, chairman of the British…
ArticleA History of the Bulhoek Massacre
In 1912 Enoch Mgjimia, a lay preacher and independent evangelist, broke away from the Wesleyan Methodist Church and joined the Church of God and Saints of…
Passage to Natal - The Journey
Travelling conditions on the ships transporting workers from India were deplorable. The voyages were long, with the danger of disease breaking out, ever…
ArticleA History of the Springbok Legion
The Springbok Legion (SL) was a leading organisation formed in 1941 to fight for the rights of soldiers during World War II and in the post-war period. Over…
ArticleBecoming human in southern Africa
Human settlement in South Africa Modern humans have been inhabiting South Africa for more than 100 000 years. As a matter of fact, the Cradle of Humankind, or…
The Sweet Workers’ Union
The Sweet Workers’ Union (SWU) originated as an offshoot of the short-lived Women Workers’ Union, founded by Fanny Klenerman in the mid-1920s, when that…
'The People Accept the Challenge of the Nationalists' Statement issued by the National Executive of the A.N.C., April 6, 1963
THE PEOPLE ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE OF THE NATIONALISTS. OUR POLITICAL LINE OF ACTION. Our mass political line of action is inspired by our historic National…
ArticleSPEAK Magazine (1982 - 1994)
This article was written by Carly Spagnola and forms part of the SAHO and Southern Methodist University partnership project Since the beginning of the…
ArticleAnglo-Zulu Wars 1879-1896
The destruction of the Zulu kingdom 1879 -1896 In the 1870s settler and colonial determination to bring Blacks under firm political control had undermined the…
ArticleRand Rebellion 1922
The Rand Rebellion of 1922 was an armed uprising that is also referred to as the Rand Revolt or Red Revolt. It occurred during a period of economic depression…
ArticleThe Padavatan Six and the 1917 Natal Floods
On 28 October 1917 more than 400 market gardeners from the Springfield Flats (Tintown) area in Durban, Natal (now Kwazulu-Natal) drowned when the banks of the…
ArticleSan hunter-gatherer society in the Later Stone Age
Lived off the environment The earliest hunter-gatherers in southern Africa were the San people. They mostly survived by hunting Gemsbok and other antelope…
ArticleThe Bambatha Rebellion begins
The first sign of open resistance against payment of the tax came when a magistrate called A.W. Leslie went to collect taxes from the Hlongwa and Cele clans in…
ArticleNguni Stick Fighting
Introduction This article looks at the history of an indigenous Nguni sport known as Stick Fighting, which was popular in the Nguni ethnic group (Zulu). It…
ArticleNdebele architecture and settlement patterns
Glossary of Ndebele building terms APOKORWAN - Eaves overhang AMAKAPA - Roof AMAKAPA IBALELO - Timber roof rafter AMAOBA - Enclosed room located in the…
Prejudice, Politics and Patriarchy: The Social Decline and Changing Identity of David Lurie in J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace by Charley-Ann Pearson
Prejudice, Politics and Patriarchy: The Social Decline and Changing Identity of David Lurie in J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace Charley-Ann Pearson Politics and…
ArticleThe Zulu kingdom and the colony of Natal
The need for a controlled labour force: Indentured Labourers There is an indentured labour gallery on the SAHO site, webteam please select an image from there…
ArticleA Culture of Survival
It was a struggle to survive in the city. Workers' wages did not keep pace with the cost of subsistence, and most black families lived below the bread line. …
ArticleZulu
The four major ethnic divisions among Black South Africans are the Nguni, Sotho, Shangaan-Tsonga and Venda. The Nguni represent nearly two thirds of South…
ArticleBattle of Blood River 1838
In the early hours of the morning of 16 December 1838, a battle was fought between the Voortrekkers, under the leadership of Andries Pretorius, and the AmaZulu…
Nelson Mandela Timeline 1800-2014
The Nelson Mandela timeline tracks the history of the first democratically elected president of South Africa through his childhood in rural Transkei, the…
Pedi
[baPedi – People and sePedi – Language] The four major ethnic divisions among Black South Africans are the Nguni, Sotho-Tswana, Shangaan-Tsonga and Venda…
ArticleThe South African War 1899-1902
On 9 October 1899 the SAR issued an ultimatum to Britain and two days later, on 11 October the war was officially declared between Britain and the Boers. The…
ArticleRight to Organise Timeline 1500-1994
1500-1800 This period is marked by the advent and growth of the Atlantic Slave Trade affecting West Africa, Central and East Africa. On the Southern African…
ArticleHistory of Women’s Struggle in South Africa
Women at the start of the 20th century It is only over the last three or four decades that women's role in the history of South Africa has, belatedly, been…
ArticleHIV/Aids Origins
When? The first recognised cases of AIDS occurred in the USA in the early 1980s (see timeline) and the origin of Aids and HIV has puzzled scientists ever…
People Against Gangsterism and Drugs
People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) came into being in 1996 when communities on the Cape Flats, Cape Town decided to form an anti-crime organisation…