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EventRailway line between Cape Town and Beira in Mozambique is completed
On 6 October 1902 the 3200km long railway line between Cape Town, South Africa and Beira in Mozambique was completed. The construction of the Beira Railway to…
PlaceRosmead
Middelburg Road was a Cape Government Railway station and was formally established on about 2 April 1883, when the Railway Line from Cradock was inaugurated…
PlaceFort Beaufort
Initially the division of Fort Beaufort fell under the district of Albany, and was proclaimed a separate division on 8 March 1848. At that stage its area also…
EventBill Flynn, popular SA actor dies in Johannesburg
On 11 July 2007, South African actor Bill Flynn, 58, passed away, allegedly due to a heart attack. Flynn was born on 13 December 1948, and was educated at…
EventBritish mission to subdue Sekhukhune is abandoned
A British mission to subdue Sekhukhune was abandoned after having failed with heavy loss of life on both sides. The attempt to subdue Sekhukhune came after the…
EventNelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu on Robben Island 5 August 1982
The twentieth anniversary of the arrest of Nelson Mandela, African National Congress (ANC) leader and first commander-in-chief of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), was…
EventTodd Tozama Matshikiza, musician, composer and writer, is born in Queenstown, Eastern Cape
Todd Tozama Matshikiza was born to a musical family in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape on 7 March 1921. He obtained music and teaching diplomas and took up a…
EventMolly Blackburn, political activist and civil rights campaigner is killed in a car accident
Molly Blackburn was a political activist who joined the Black Sash in 1955. She later left black Sash when she felt that the group was not very active. She…
EventJacobus Johannes (Jim) Fouché is born in Wepener in the OFS.
On the 6 June 1898 1989, Jacobus Johannes Fouche was born in the Orange Free State (OFS) of South Africa. Fouche was elected as the second Sstate President of…
PlaceOfficial residence, Commander of British forces in South Africa, Roberts Heights, Pretoria
This building was designed by Sir Herbert Baker and was completed in 1903 as the official residence of the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in South Africa…
EventSouth African tenor opera singer, Siphiwo Ntshebe dies
Siphiwo Ntshebe was born in Brighton, Port Elizabeth. He was a great opera singer, whose career ended abruptly when he died of meningitis on 25 May 2010…
Helen Zille and the myth of the White Saviour by Panashe Chigumadzi, (Sunday Times), 19 March 2017
Wilbur Smith, that great chronicler of the White Man's Burden in Africa, was arguably at his finest in his 1972 novel, The Sunbird. In it, he narrates the…
Women under indentured labour in colonial Natal, 1860-1911 by Jo Beall
From the book: Women and Gender in Southern Africa to 1945 edited by Cherryl Walker To Protector of Indian Immigrants, 27th June 1916. Dear Sir, …
History of Muslims in South Africa: 1960 - 1969 by Ebrahim Mahomed Mahida
From the book: History of Muslims in South Africa by Ebrahim Mahomed Mahida 1960 Muslim Population According to South African Government…
ArchiveThe New South African Revolution by Prithiraj Dullay, 03 April 2017
South Africa is poised on a knife edge. Anything can happen. Last week Pravin Gordhan the Minister of Finance and former head of the S African Revenue Service,…
May Day
On 1 May, South Africa will enjoy Worker's Day (effectively a May Day holiday). Worker's Day celebrates the role played by Trade Unions, the Communist Party…
EventFirst celebration of May Day in South Africa
On 1 May, South Africa will enjoy Worker's Day (effectively a May Day holiday). Worker's Day celebrates the role played by Trade Unions, the Communist Party…
EventInternational celebration of ‘May Day’
On 1 May, South Africa will enjoy Worker's Day (effectively a May Day holiday). Worker's Day celebrates the role played by Trade Unions, the Communist Party…
EventHistory of December 16
December 16 looms large in the history of South Africa; it is celebrated as the Day of Reconciliation. First celebrated as ‘Dingane’s Day,’ when the…
Book 4: Industrialisation, Rural Change and Nationalism - Introduction
From the book: Book 4: Industrialisation, Rural Change and Nationalism commissioned by The Department of Education Industrialisationand rural change were key…
EventThe Excelsior, biggest diamond till then, is found in the Jagersfontein mine, OFS
The Excelsior Diamond was discovered by a miner while loading a truck in on 30 june 1893. The diamond, which is described beingas being shaped like half a loaf…
EventAhmed Ben Bella, former president of Algeria, is released after fourteen years in prison
Former president of Algeria, Ahmed Ben Bella, was instrumental in Algeria’s fight for independence from France. He became the country’s premier in 1962 and was…
EventVerwoerdburg is renamed Centurion.
Verwoerdburg originates from Lyttelton Township that was marked out on the farm Droogegrond in 1904. The area was inhabited predominantly by Afrikaans speaking…
EventThe Ciskei homeland is established
The Ciskei was established under the Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 as an 'independent republic'. The creation of Ciskei was in line with apartheid policies of…
EventFerdi Barnard is found guilty of killing Webster
On 1 June 1998, Ferdi Bernard was convicted for the murder of anti-Apartheid activist, David Webster. Bernard shot Webster in 1989, in front his home. Bernard…
EventCommunity leader James Sofasonke Mpanza is born
James Sofasonke Mpanza (Sofasonke meaning We shall all die), community leader, founder of the Sofasonke Party and a champion for better housing for…
EventThe Rosebud, en route from Calcutta to London, is stranded at Diaz Beach, Mossel Bay
The Rosebud was a British three-masted wooden schooner, weighing 341 tons. It was built in 1876 by Carnegie Peterhead, and was commanded by Captain J. Collie…
EventA Pretoria biker is caught doing 284km/h on his Suzuki motorcycle on the R59
On 20 November 2005 at 6:42, a Pretoria biker made news when he was caught travelling at a speed of 284km/h on the R59 south near Kliprivier in Ekurhuleni…
EventPeter Clarence van Riet Lowe, archaeologist and civil engineer who built 109 bridges in SA, is born in Aliwal North, CC.
Clarence van Riet Lowe was born on 4 November 1894 in Aliwal North, Eastern Cape. A civil engineer by profession, Clarence was in charge of construction of…
Isisebenzi
Produced by the "Wages Commission", Isisebenzi was a newspaper for workers in Durban and Pietermaritzburg. It was published about once a month and dealt with…