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PlaceDitsong National Museum of Military History, Johannesburg
Lovers of military history are sure to enjoy a tour of the Ditsong National Museum of Military History. The museum, located on an 80ha site next to the…
EventPatrice Lumumba, Prime Minister of the Congo Republic, is assassinated
The first and only elected Prime Minister of the Congo Republic, Patrice Lumumba, was assassinated a few months after Congo gained formal independence from…
EventEarly jewellery, a set of shell beads estimated to be 75 000 years old, is discovered in South Africa
On 16 April 2004, a set of shell beads estimated to be 75 000 years old was discovered in the Blombos cave, overlooking the Indian Ocean, near Stilbaai. The…
ArchiveChimamanda Ngozi Adichie: A Reformist-Feminist by Charles Nwosu
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a stern, resilient, and unapologetic reformist-feminist. With her feminist approach, she is poised to break down gender-based…
Conservative Revolutionaries - Anti-Apartheid Activism at the University of Cape Town 1963-1973 by Robert Erbmann, Oxford University, 2005
Introduction The 1960s are often described as a unique period of activism, in which students were to find themselves at the cutting edge of social…
PlaceVersfeld Pass
This superb Pass is rich in South African folklore. John Versfeld was a resourceful farmer from Bo-Piketberg who built the original pass in 3 months, with only…
PlaceSeweweeks Poort, Swartberg
The Seweweeks Poort is probably the most beautiful 18 km stretch of gravel road anywhere in South Africa. With easy gradients, multiple river crossings, mind…
Nelson Mandela Timeline 1920-1929
1920 The Housing Act is passed. This Act made funds available for the government to house the poor. “The resultant estates were required to be racially…
Defining the term 'Bantu'
The following article is based on an essay from Kees van der Waal’s chapter in “Critical Essays on Afrikaans Places of Memory” The term ‘Bantu has gone…
The Dutch and the Khoisan
The Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) or Dutch East India Company came into being on 20 March 1602 and is seen as the first company that issued shares to…
ArticleMangosuthu Buthelezi: the Zulu nationalist who left his mark on South Africa’s history
Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi played a prominent role in South African politics for almost half a century. He was one of the last of a generation of black South…
ArticleMangosuthu Buthelezi was a man of immense political talent and contradictions
Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, who has died, was a history maker. He was born on 27 August 1928 into a tumultuous global century, and into the local conditions…
Article2016 in Review
In 2016 South Africa History Online celebrates 15 years of being a public open source heritage site. What a journey it has been. At the end of the first week…
ArticleNelson Mandela Timeline 1970-1979
1970 16 February, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and 21 others, who were detained under the Suppression of Communism Act, in May 1969, are acquitted. Three are…
Apartheid - The early 1980s
The early 1980s There was little change in the situation from the late 1970s to the early 1980s in South Africa. After the crisis of the early and mid-70s,…
ArticleThe Cape Coloured Corps and the First World War
In September 1915, the Union Government offered to raise an infantry battalion of Cape Coloured men for service in the First World War. A strict selection…
PlaceMarikana, Bojanala Platinum District Municipality
Marikana, formerly known as 'Rooikoppies', is a Town in the Rustenburg local Municipality, Bojanala Platinum District Municipality district in the North West…
PlaceStikland Cemetery
In a 1947, a letter to the Cape Town Clerk and the secretary of the Board of Trustees to the Cape Peninsula Cemeteries requested the establishment of a new…
ArticleApartheid Legislation 1850's-1970's
1856-1910 Masters and Servants Acts of 1856 These Acts, which had been passed between 1856 and 1904 in the four territories, remained in force after…
ArticleAfrica Timeline
100 000 BC Humans begin to migrate from Africa to other parts of the world 8500 BC – 6500 BC In the Sahara Desert region, the people develop the use…
ArchiveStaffrider Vol.2 No.4 Nov-Dec 1979
Contents and Contributors Stories: A Conversion by Michael Silum, It exists by Denis Beckett; Man Against Himself by Joel Matlou. Jazz and Rugby, Tough Games…
PlaceAddo Drift, Sunday's River in the Eastern Cape
Addo Drift was the first convenient natural crossing of the Sunday's River to be encountered inland from the sea, and was frequently used by visitors…
Biography: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia's 'Iron Lady' by Alistair Boddy-Evans updated 08 August 2016
Date of birth: 29 October 1938, Monrovia, Liberia. Ellen Johnson was born in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, amongst the descendants of original colonists…
ArticleNamibian Timeline
Introduction Since independence, English has been Namibia’s only official language. This was a controversial policy and remains contested. This timeline…
Umbrella Contemporary Dance Festival
In 1988 Vita Promotions, in conjunction with two individuals, both journalists, (Adrienne Sichel and Marilyn Jenkins) with a passionate interest in…
History of Muslims in South Africa: Bibliography by Ebrahim Mahomed Mahida
From the book: History of Muslims in South Africa by Ebrahim Mahomed Mahida References: 1. Mayson, J S, The Malays of Cape Town, Manchester, UK, Cave and…
ArticleKing Kong the Musical 1959 -1961
King Kong: An African Jazz, was the first all-Black South African musical which opened in 2 February 1959. The musical chronicles the rise and fall of…
ArticleRace and ethnicity in South Africa
Race and ethnicity have been and still is at the heart of South African history, politics, society and economy since the European colonisation. South Africa…
Nelson Mandela Timeline 1910-1919
1910 The establishment of the Union of South Africa consolidates white rule over the territories that came to be known as South Africa. The Union is founded…
PlaceIxopo, Kwa-Zulu Natal- Midlands
Ixopo, immortalized in Alan Paton’s: “Cry the Beloved Country” is the main centre of the Southern Midlands. Although originally named: ‘Stuartstown’, the…