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EventDesmond Tutu is elected Archbishop
The Most Rev. Desmond Mpilo Tutu was elected Bishop of Cape Town, thereby becoming Archbishop of South Africa, heading the Anglican Church of South Africa. He…
EventSouth Africa and Lesotho establish a consultative committee to resolve border disputes
South Africa and Lesotho decided to establish a consultative committee to resolve misunderstandings arising from the movement of people across their common…
EventA UN report estimates the number of people who have HIV/AIDS in Africa at 50,000
A United Nations report estimates the number of people who have HIV/AIDS in Africa at 50,000. The report came five years after the Centre for Disease Control…
EventSeveral leading members of trade unions affiliated to the UDF are arrested
In an attempt to prevent further unrest, the apartheid government arrested several leading members of trade unions affiliated to the United Democratic Front …
EventA memorandum containing a proposed constitutional dispensation is delivered to the CPRC
A memorandum containing complete details of a proposed constitutional dispensation was delivered to the Coloured Persons' Representative Council (CPRC)by the…
EventNelson Mandela announces his separation from his wife, Winnie Mandela.
Just two years after coming out from prison, Nelson Mandela announced his intention to separate from his wife of 34 years, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Mandela…
ArchiveBiography of Dulcie September by Claire Albin
Dulcie September was a fierce and ambitious anti-apartheid activist in South Africa. Her work with various resistance groups throughout her life, particularly…
EventScientists uncover possible reason for SS Waratah’s disappearance 100 years later
The SS Waratah was a luxury steamer, en route from Cape Town to Durban, South Africa, on 26 July 1909. The ship, built in Scotland, was meant to serve as a…
EventJosiah Mutabuzi Isaya Kibira is the first African to be elected president of the LWF
At the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Assembly held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Josiah Mutabuzi Isaya Kibira became the first African to be elected…
EventBruce Fordyce is born
Bruce Fordyce, legendary South African winner of the Comrades Marathon, was born in Hong Kong, then a city under English administration on the eastern side of…
EventSouth African poet Vincent Oliphant is born
Vincent Oliphant, acclaimed South African poet, mathematician and educationist was born in 1954 in Alicedale, a small town near Port Elizabeth in the Eastern…
EventFormer premier of Mpumalanga, Afrikaans poet and lawyer, Mathews Phosa is born
Nakedi Mathews Phosa, former premier of Mpumalanga (1994-1999), Afrikaans poet and lawyer was born in Mbombela Township in Nelspruit. Phosa was an African…
EventThe South African government finally approves the introduction of 99-year leasehold rights for blacks in the townships of Nyanga, Langa and Gugulethu
On 21 February 1985, the South African government finally approved the introduction of 99-year leasehold rights for blacks in the townships of Nyanga, Langa…
EventThe S. A government seizes the passport of Bishop Desmond Tutu
Between 1976 and 1978 Desmond Tutu served as Bishop of the Anglican Church in Lesotho and as Secretary-General of the South African Council of Churches. On 16…
EventZola Budd breaks a world record
In a low key event in Crystal Palace, England, South African born athlete Zola Budd broke the 5 000 metres world record set by Ingrid Kristiansens of Norway by…
EventMxenge murder accused Dirk Coetzee found guilty
Judge Pieter Combrinck finds Dirk Coetzee, Apartheid policeman and Vlakplaas assassination squad Commander together with Almond Nofomela and David…
EventSouth African Aerial Transports services are inaugurated
Air services were inaugurated in South Africa with the amalgamation of a London-based company, the South African Aerial Navigation Company and the SA-based…
EventThirteen residents are gunned down in Mamelodi by South African police
Thirteen residents were gunned down in Mamelodi by South African police. This followed the declaration of a State of emergency on 25 July 1985 by President PW…
EventKing Mswati III is born
Makhosetive Dlamini (King Mswati III) was born in Masundini Swaziland to King Sobhuza III and one of his younger wives Ntombi Tfwala. Mswati was Tfwala’s…
EventUp to 100 ANC members are reported to have been detained in Swaziland
Around 100 African National Congress (ANC) members were reported to have been detained in Swaziland. The arrests were confirmed by the Swaziland Police…
PlaceZorgvliet, Sir George Grey Street, Oranjezicht
The property was granted to Matthys Coeymans in 1669 and its homestead was subsequently erected in a Cape Dutch style. During the 19th century a number of…
Fosatu Worker News
Fosatu Worker News was first published in 1979 with the formation of the Federation of South African Trade Unions and was distributed amongst all union members…
ArchiveFrank Talk
Frank Talk, first published in March 1984, as the official publication of the Natal Region of AZAPO, the Azanian Peoples Organisation, was later published by…
South Africa in the 1900s (1900-1917)
Introduction More than two and a half centuries prior to the birth of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, Jan Van Riebeeck and his expedition of Dutch Calvinist…
EventZimbabawean Independence Day
Zimbabwe Independence Day On this day in 1980, Southern-Rhodesia gained independence from the British, taking the name Zimbabwe. The day marked the end of…
PlaceEswatini (formerly Swaziland)
The Swazi nation, as we know it today, originally came from Mozambique. Their Nguni ancestors probably moved there before the sixteenth Century as part of the…
Professor Terence Ranger: An Obituary by Trevor Grundy
Trevor Grundy writes on the life of the historian and political activist At a dinner party in Salisbury (Harare) in the late1950s when white rule in Rhodesia…
BiographyJudge Jan Hendrik Steyn
Jan Hendrik Steyn was born in Cape Town, Western Cape on 4 March 1928. His mother, Zerilda Steyn, was a pioneer of social welfare in South Africa, founding the…
BiographyChief Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli
Chief Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli, Africa’s first Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 1960, was President-General of the African National Congress (ANC) from December…
ArticleCommemoration, remembering and memorialising June 16 Soweto uprising
Since the early 1990s, June 16, now known as Youth Day, has been remembered, commemorated, and memorialised as public history. There have been different ways…