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EventThe Citizen reveals housing irregularities in Transkei
The Citizen reported on details of Justice Tom van Reenen's report on alleged irregularities in the awarding of housing contracts in the Transkei. The report…
EventMoroccan explorer, Ibn Battuta is born
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Al Lawati Al Tanji Ibn Battuta was born into a Muslim family in Tangier, Morocco. At the age of 21 Battuta set out on a…
EventZulu army defeat British Army at the Isandlwana Mountain
On 22 January 1879, the British Army suffered its greatest defeat in Africa when 24,000 Zulu soldiers overran a British camp of 1 800 near Isandlwana Mountain…
ArticleThe Mau Mau Uprising
The Mau Mau uprising began in 1952 as a reaction to inequalities and injustices in British-controlled Kenya. The response of the colonial administration was a…
ArticleTransport in the air
Ancient stories tell of people's desire to fly like a bird. The Greek myth about Icarus and Daedalus is one of the most famous stories. According to the story,…
The War
The flag of the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State On 9 October 1899 the SAR issued an ultimatum to Britain and two days later, on 11 October the war was…
ArticleDebating Stellenbosch University’s Language Policy
In March 2015 students at the University of Cape Town (UCT), Western Cape, launched a student movement, namely #Rhodes Must Fall which focused on the…
PlaceVredehoek
Vredehoek is a hillside neighbourhood at the base of Devil’s Peak. The stairways here were built in the early twentieth Century to connect homes to streets and…
ArticlePolitical executions in South Africa by the apartheid government 1961 - 1989
On 9 June 1983, three members of the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), were executed at the gallows in Pretoria…
PlaceFraserburg
The division of Fraserburg was originally part of the district of Worcester and was proclaimed a separate division on 12 December 1853. In about January 1890…
EventSpringboks beat New Zealand in Rugby Wold Cup final match
History was made at Ellis Park Stadium on 24 June 1995, where the South African Rugby team (famously known as the Springboks) beat New Zealand in a mouth…
EventThe first indications of protest over Afrikaans in Soweto schools
The roots of the student uprising of 1976 can be traced in part to the cutbacks by the Apartheid government on education for Black students. The result was…
EventEgyptian and Israeli forces in fierce fights
From 6 to 26 October 1973 Israel and a coalition of Arab nations led by Egypt and Syria were involved in a bloody war in the Sinai desert and Golan Heights…
PlaceMjanyana Hospital
The village of Emjanyana was probably established in the mid-1970s, in Ngcobo Eastern Cape. In 1894 the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel on Foreign…
EventElsa, the lioness made famous by Joy Adamson’s book Born Free, dies in Kenya
Elsa the lioness was one of three orphaned lions whose mother was killed in self defence by George Adamson. Adamson was a wildlife conservationist based in…
EventThe Native Affairs Commission went once more to Ntabelanga for negotiations
In a last attempt at negotiations with the Israelites, the Native Affairs Commission (NAC) went once more to Ntabelanga near Queenstown, Eastern Cape. The…
EventNine members of the ANC are officially banned in Dakawa, Tanzania
On 28 December 1989, a document officially banning nine members of the African National Congress (ANC) was circulated at Dakawa in Tanzania. The nine members…
EventA wave of strikes hits Durban and spread countrywide
On 9 January 1973 around 2 000 workers in the Coronation Brick and Tile factory in Durban downed tools after the employers rejected their demand for a wage…
PlaceShell House, Johannesburg
The ANC’s iconic Shell House in downtown Johannesburg, where Nelson Mandela planned the Democratic takeover of the South African Government, has been sold to…
ArticleAfrican National Congress Timeline 1950-1959
After coming to power in 1948, the National Party-led government began implementing apartheid by passing a series of racist laws, notably the Population…
ArticleVlakplaas and the History of Apartheid's Death Squad
Vlakplaas is the name of an undercover counterinsurgency division of the apartheid police that operated in the 1980s. Vlakplaas is also referred to as C, C1…
ArchiveBiography of Florence Mkhize by Rachel Manak
Florence Mkhize was an active member and leader in some of the most prominent organizations that worked to end apartheid in South Africa, including the…
ArticleNelson Mandela Timeline 1990-1999
1990 2 February, President F. W. de Klerk makes a speech at the opening of Parliament, announcing the lifting of a 30-year ban on the ANC, the Pan African…
PlaceAngra das Voltas, Luderitz Bay- Namibia
Former name of Luderitz Bay. Portuguese for 'bay of tacks', this name was given in 1488 by the Portuguese mariner Bartholomeu Dias because contrary winds…
PlaceAgtersuurberg, Eastern Cape
Early name for the present Venterstad district, Eastern Cape. It was laid out in 1875 and attained Municipal status in 1895. Named after the owner of the land…
EventUnited Nations Charter is adopted
The United Nations Charter was adopted in San Francisco by the United Nations Conference on International Organisations. The preamble to the charter was based…
EventAdvocate Anton Lubowski secretary-general of the SWAPO is assassinated
Advocate Anton Lubowski (37), secretary-general of the South West African People's Organisation (Swapo), was shot dead at close range with an AK47 rifle…
EventBartholomew Dias, Portuguese discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope, drowns at sea
The first European known to set foot on South African soil was Bartholomew (or Bartolomeu) Dias. In December 1487 Dias sailed down the African coast, landing…
EventAnglo American announces switching of main listing to London
Anglo American Corporation, founded in 1917 by Sir Ernest Oppenheimer to exploit the gold fields of the East Rand, announced that it intended to transfer its…
EventA few days after deciding to establish a Dutch newspaper in South Africa, the name De Burger is chosen
On 24 May 1915, soon after it had been decided to establish a Dutch newspaper, the name of the newspaper, De Burger ("The Citizen"), was decided on. With…