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EventCyclone Favio, a powerful tropical storm, strikes Mozambique
On 22 February 2007, a category 4 cyclone named Favio struck the central province of Inhambane in Mozambique. Although the cyclone was concentrated in…
Zindzi Mandela is born
Zindziswa (Zindzi) Nobutho Mandela, second daughter of African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela and his second wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was…
EventANC leader, James Arthur Calata, dies
African National Congress (ANC) leader and Anglican clergyman, James Arthur Calata, dies in Cradock, Eastern Cape. He joined the ANC in 1930 and rose to become…
EventThe Herstigte Nasionale Party is established
The Herstigte Nasionale Party (HNP) (Reconstituted National Party) was established as a right wing splinter group of the South African National Party (NP). The…
EventCelebration of Nigeria’s Day of Independence cancelled due to air disaster
Nigeria's thirty-second independence anniversary celebration was called off at the last minute by General Ibrahim Babangida's military government as result of…
EventAlan Paton, author of “Cry, the Beloved Country” and founder member of the Liberal Party, dies
Alan Paton is one of South Africa's most celebrated authors. His most renowned novel 'Cry, the Beloved Country', which was published in 1948 is still in print…
EventFirst formal school opens at the Cape
Jan van Riebeeck, commander at the Cape, wrote in his diary that a school for slaves has been started. Sick-comforter Pieter van der Stael was the first…
EventCardoso’s murderers convicted in Mozambique
Six men accused of killing Mozambican investigative journalist Carlos Cardoso, were convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. One of the suspects,…
EventMandela reshuffles the cabinet
Following a decision by the finance minister, Chris Liebenberg, to relinquish his cabinet post for private reasons, president Nelson Mandela announced changes…
EventSouth African Police announce arrest of serial killer
The South African Police in Pretoria announced the arrest of Moses Sithole, named the country's most wanted man at the time. Sithole, thirty-one years of age…
EventThe mayor of Cape Town, Hyman Lieberman, opens the Great Synagogue in the Gardens, Cape Town
Cape Town has a substantial Jewish community, the majority of who are descendents of Lithuanian immigrants. By 1863, the Jewish congregation in Cape Town had…
EventThe Great Comet of 1901
On 24 April 1901 a comet that became known as 'The Great Comet of 1901' or 'Viscara' was visible to the naked eye over most of South Africa. The comet was…
EventPieter Jacobs Marais reports discovery of gold
Pieter Jacobs Marais reports his discovery of alluvial gold in the Jukskei River on B.J. Liebenberg's farm, Bultfontein, in 1853. The site was just north of…
EventDrum Magazine calls for the release of all political prisoners
The popular Drum Magazine called on South African Prime Minister B.J. Vorster to follow the example of Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith and to release all…
EventConscientious objector Ivan Toms is sentenced to 21 months imprisonment for refusing to serve in the SADF
Dr Ivan Toms was a physician who worked in the informal settlement of Crossroads in Cape Town. In 1983, he witnessed the South African Defence Force (SADF)…
EventSA cricketer, Herschelle Gibbs is born
Herschelle Herman Gibbs was born in Green Point, Cape Town, Western Cape. In school he played soccer and rugby, but chose cricket as his sport of choice. He is…
EventA teachers training college in South Africa opened in Wellington
A teacher training college in South Africa opened on 26 January 1896, in Wellington, in the Western Cape, South Africa. It was a settlement of the 1688 French…
EventFeminist writer and activist, Diana E. H. Russell is born
Diana E.H. Russell was born in Cape Town on 6 November 1938. Her mother was British and her father South African. After completing her bachelors degree at the…
EventThe Groote Kerk pulpit, sculpted by Anton Anreith, is inaugurated in Cape Town
The Groote Kerk is the oldest Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa. It is located at Church Square in Adderly Street, Cape Town. Its architecture boasts a…
EventRev. Robert Selby Taylor, Bishop of Grahamstown, is elected Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Province of South Africa.
Rev. Robert Selby Taylor was born in the United Kingdom in 1909. His parents later sent him to New Zealand in the hope of broadening his experience. Taylor…
EventTryna du Toit, Afrikaans novelist, is born in De Aar, Karoo
Catherina Charlotte Kotzenberg was born in De Aar on 13 January 1910. She started writing books at the age of thirty and chose to write under the pseudonym,…
Chapter 6 - Reform, Repression and Mass Resistance
The uprising of 1976-77 marked a watershed in political relations between the apartheid state and the dominated social groups. Henceforth, a combination of…
EventAnglo-Boer War 2: Lord Methuen, British general, destroys the village of Schweizer-Reneke
Paul Sanford Methuen (b. 1845 d.1932) was the 3rd Baron Methuen and a soldier all his life. Before arriving in South Africa in 1899, he had served in the Ango…
ArticleThe Women’s Charter
Adopted at the Founding Conference of the Federation of South African WomenJohannesburg, 17 April 1954. The Charter expressed the philosophy and aims of the…
Passive resistance in South Africa by Oliver Tambo, 2 June 1966
Oppressed people in South Africa have always associated the history of the United States with the great name of Abraham Lincoln. There was an issue involving…
Chapter 5 - Preparing to negotiate
It took nearly two years of formal talks to remove the obstacles in the path of multi-party negotiations. However, it was not until nearly ten months after…
EventJudge Essa Moosa passes away
Essa Moosa was born in District Six, Cape Town on 8 February 1936.[i] He was a judge in the Supreme Court of South Africa. Moosa was a former human rights…
PlaceShri Jagannath Puri Temple, Tongaat
The property, with the Historic Indian temple thereon, being the remainder of Lot 79, Tongaat Township, situated in the Township of Tongaat, Province of Natal,…
EventMurder trial of “Sharpeville Six” opens
The trial of Reginald Sefatsa, Reid Mokoena, Moses Diniso, Theresa Ramashamole, Duma Khumalo and Francis Mokhesi, better known as the "Sharpeville Six" opened…
ArchiveBiography of Flora Nwapa by Emily Coolidge
Flora Nwapa - remembered today as Africa’s “literary foremother” - was born on [1]January 13, 1931 in Oguta, located in eastern Nigeria. She was the eldest of…