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EventJohannes Kerkorrel, Afrikaans singer and songwriter, is born in Johannesburg
Johannes Kerkorrel, talented Afrikaner musician and groundbreaking songwriter born in Johannesburg, on 27 March 1960. He started singing in the late 1980s…
EventDigging for gold is officially authorised and fortune hunters flock to the Witwatersrand
Digging for gold in the Witwatersrand (now city of Johannesburg and surroundings) was authorised in September 1886 and further accelerated the influx of people…
EventThe Transkei Constitution Act is enacted
The enactment of the Transkei Constitution Act (No 48 of 1963), which came into effect on 30 May 1963, gave partial self-government to the Transkei within the…
PlaceDurban Main Post Office
This Victorian styled building was originally erected in 1885 as Durban's first town hall, which was designed by Phillip Dudgeon in 1882. It was the first…
The Neglected Tradition
In 1987 when I was first approached by Christopher Till of the Johannesburg Art Gallery to curate an exhibition of art by 'black South Africans, I spent much…
Chapter 5 - The Freedom Charter
From: Lessons of the 1950s By Richard Monroe, March-May 1984Chapter 5 - The Freedom CharterThe Freedom Charter, a programme which still embraces many of the…
14. Suicide among indentured labourers
From the book: A Documentary History of Indian South Africans edited by Surendra Bhana and Bridglal Pachai By far the largest number of Indians (152 184 in…
Chapter 6 - The Birth of SACTU
From: Lessons of the 1950s By Richard Monroe, March-May 1984 Chapter 6 - The Birth of SACTU The formation of a trade union federation based on the African…
14. Suicide among indentured
By far the largest number of Indians (152 184 in all by 1911) who came to South Africa were indentured. Among the many problems that faced them, and apparently…
ArchiveRoseinnes Daniel Phahle by Allison Drew
Born on 21 March 1936, Roseinnes Phahle grew up in Alexandra Township. From 1950 to 1952 he boarded at St Peter’s School (now St. Martin’s) in Rosettenville,…
When your position can't be sustained, create a scarecrow - The Menace of Post-Apartheid South Africa by Thabo Mbeki, 18 January 2016
It is obvious that when the ANC became a ruling party in 1994 we could not foresee and prepare for all the challenges the organisation would face in terms of…
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…
Debate in the House of Assembly during the second reading of the Immorality Amendment Bill on 23 February 1962
The Prime Minister took part in this debate in his capacity as Minister of Justice. Though harrassed by numerous interjections. Adv. Vorster explained the…
PlaceCape Agulhas, Western Cape
Cape Agulhas is some 32 km South of Bredarsdorp. The name is Portuguese for 'needle' and is said to have been given because the compass needle was seen to…
PlaceCypress Tea Gardens, Hermanus
Mystery and romance surround the original building. In those days it consisted of two stone and clay fisherman's cottages built in 1875 in the vernacular style…
PlaceCity Hall, Pretoria
Click on image to enlarge Pretoria is commonly known as Jaccaranda City, because of the purple flowered bush that flurishes there! It has recently changed its…
EventMilitary service becomes compulsory for White South African men.
The Defense Amendment Bill, designed to make military service compulsory for White young men, was passed on 9 June 1967 - with the support of the opposition…
EventSouth Africa closes its borders with Lesotho
On 1 January 1986 the South African Government closed its borders with Lesotho, cutting off fundamental food and fuel supplies. The relationship of the South…
EventChief of the Zondi, Bambata is killed
In the Mpanza valley in the Umvoti district, a minor chief of the Zondi, Bambatha ka Mancinza Zondi (also spelt Bambada, Bhambada), flatly refused to collect…
EventHaitian leader General Raoul Cedras resigns in favour of exiled President Jean
Haiti's recorded history began with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492. The island was named Hispaniola and became the territory of the Spanish crown…
PlaceElephant House, Ridge Road, Durban
The Elephant House, located on Ridge road on Durban's berea, was built in the early 1850's on the highest natural point on the Berea Ridge overlooking what is…
PlaceBoksburg, the Witwatersrand
The Town of Boksburg was founded in 1887 as the Administrative Centre of the East Rand. It is the second oldest Town on the Witwatersrand. Boksburg was an…
Another Victory for Trade Unionism: The 1918 Cape Town Musicians’ Strike
Nineteen-eighteen was a significant year for Cape Town (and South Africa generally). The influenza epidemic with many thousands of deaths and the end of the…
Chapter 4 - Another Victory for Trade Unionism: The 1918 Cape Town Musicians’ Strike
From: Labour Struggles in South Africa The Forgotten Pages 1903 - 1921 by Evangelos A. Mantzaris Nineteen-eighteen was a significant year for Cape Town (and…
PlaceSA Army College, Roberts Heights, Pretoria
The main building of the SA Army College was designed in a so-called block-house style and its cornerstone was laid by Lord Kitchener on 12 June 1902. It…
Chapter 19. The Dutch Reformed Churches - Garment Workers in Action by E. S. Sachs
Before the rise of Nazism, the ministers of the Dutch Reformed churches did not interfere with the trade unions, but from 1934 is the three Dutch Reformed…
ArchiveConcentration camps in the South African War? Here are the real facts by Fransjohan Pretorius, (The Conversation), February 18, 2019
One of the Boer concentration camps. Photographical Collection Anglo-Boer War Museum, Bloemfontein SA Image source More than a century after 48 000 people…
Extract from a speech made in the House of Assembly on 4 February 1974 in reply to a motion of no confidence in the Government by the Leader of the Opposition
The beginning of 1974 was characterised by confusion and uncertainly in international relations. There was the Watergate scandal in which President Nixon of…
Document 65 - Minutes of the meeting of the Workers’ Party of South Africa. Johannesburg Branch held at 90 President Street, Johannesburg, Friday, 24 July 1936 at 8 p.m.
From: South Africa's Radical Tradition, a documentary history, Volume One 1907 - 1950, by Allison Drew Document 65 - Minutes of the meeting of the Workers'…
EventFlorence Nightingale, British nurse in the Crimean War, is born
Florence Nightingale was born on 12 May 1820 in Florence, Italy. From an early age, she felt it was her calling to become a nurse, but mainly due to class and…