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ArticleFirst Anglo Boer War
Causes of the War The First Anglo-Boer is also known as the First Transvaal War of Independence because the conflict arose between the British colonizers…
ArticleBlack Consciousness and student revolt in the Cape
After the government crackdown on political organizations in the early 1960s, new organizations emerged to fill the political vacuum. A movement based on the…
ArticleBlack Consciousness Movement Timeline 1903-2009
1903 William Edward Durghardt Du Bois publishes The Souls of Black Folk rejecting the notion that Black people need western values be to accepted as citizens…
ArticleKasturba Gandhi timeline 1869 - 1944
1869 April, Kasturba Kapadia is born in Porbandar, in present-day Gujarat. 1876 Kasturba Kapadia and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi are betrothed by their…
ArticleGeneral South African History Timeline: 1960s
1960 1 January, Minister of Bantu Education assumes control of University College of Fort Hare.African students are prohibited from attending formerly "open…
ArticlePoqo in the Western Cape and Transkei in the early 1960s
The formation of the Pan Africanist Congress’ (PAC) Africanist Task Force (ATF) preceded the formation of party’s military wing Poqo in February 1960. After…
Article2016 in Review
In 2016 South Africa History Online celebrates 15 years of being a public open source heritage site. What a journey it has been. At the end of the first week…
ArticleThe Jacob Zuma Presidency - 2009 to 2017 (March)
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma ascended to the South African presidency on 9 May 2009 on a wave of popular euphoria fuelled by voters and fellow party politicians…
ArticleJune 16 Soweto Youth Uprising timeline: 1976-1986
1976 According to the government-appointed Cillie Commission of Enquiry 575 people died. Police action resulted in 451 deaths. 3 907 people were injured…
ArticleGeneral South African History Timeline: 1930s
9 July, The Executive of the South African Indian Congress (SAIC) meets in Durban and appoints S.R. Naidoo as the SAIC's nominee to the Young Committee. Albert…
ArticleThe Anti-Apartheid Movement Abroad 1906 - 1990
1906 The African National Congress (ANC) sends a delegation to the UK in response to the implementation of new land laws in the Orange Free State, which had…
ArticleuMkhonto weSizwe (MK)
On 16 December, 1961, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) was launched as an armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). The formation of the MK Umkhonto…
Yusuf Dadoo Timeline: 1970 - 1979
1970 Early in 1970, the South African Communist Party (SACP) convenes a special meeting. Apart from members of the Central Committee, leading activists of…
A brief history on South African prisons and prisoners
Introduction In 1948 the National government was voted into power and instituted apartheid. This lead to an increase in the number of people being…
Biography of Caiphus Semenya
Caiphus Semenya is a South African composer, musician, and arranger that became known for his musical work while living in Southern California during South…
ArticleChief Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli timeline 1800 - 1967
Historical Context to Chief Luthuli Chronology While Chief Luthuli himself preferred another spelling and signed his name without an 'h', his surname is…
ArticleDr Alfred Bitini Xuma Timeline 1893-1998
1893 Alfred Bitini Xuma is born, the seventh child born of Abraham and Elizabeth Xuma, an aristocratic Xhosa family living in Manzana Village in the Engcobo…
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…
ArticleKenyan Timeline
The earliest human ancestors (Homo erectus and Homo habilis) have their origin in East Africa more than 2 million years ago. Several human remains have been…
ArticleResponses in South Africa to the outbreak of WWI: The Afrikaner Response and the 1914 Rebellion
When the First World War broke out in August 1914, the British Government called upon the dominions in the British Empire to come to its assistance. The South…
ArticleInternational Rugby World Cup Timeline 1983-2011
The involvement of the South African national rugby team, the Springboks, in international rugby is rife with controversy. In the 1960s, as international…
ArticleTimeline of the 1973 Durban Strikes
1972 October and December - Strikes at the Durban docks October 1972 - when new wages for dockworkers were not implemented, stevedores in Cape Town and…
ArticleRobert Mangaliso Sobukwe Timeline 1924 - 1978
1924 5 December, Robert Mangaliso Sobukhwe is born in Graaff-Reinet a town in the Cape Province. 1940 Sobukwe enrols at Healdtown Institute where he…
ArticleIndian South Africans timeline 1960-1969
Indian South Africans Timeline: 1960-1969 1960 19 February, Dr Monty Naicker called for strength in resistance, citing the example of Patrice Lumumba of…
ArticleAzanian People’s Organization (AZAPO)
In aftermath of the June 16 Uprising, the government cracked down on student activists and organisations alike. On 19 October 1977 the Black Consciousness…
ArticleThe Drafting and Acceptance of the Constitution
On 2 February 1990, the National Party government unbanned political parties, released many political prisoners and detainees, and unbanned many people,…
Article1960's Diaries of Nelson Mandela on his trip through Africa
“The time comes in the life of a nation when there remain only two choices –submit or fight”. In 2005 Dr Garth Benneyworth (Sol Plaatje University) located a…
ArticleTimeline of the Labour and Trade Union Movement in South Africa 1881 - 1919
The period preceding the formation of the South Africa Union witnessed the establishment and growth of trade unionism which continued even after formation…
ArticleThe Women of Marikana
The town of Marikana, formerly known as and still sometimes referred to as Rooikoppies (red hills), is based in Rustenburg, in the North West province of South…
ArticleDemocratic Alliance (DA)
The Democratic Alliance (DA), previously named the Democratic Party (DP), was formed on 8 April 1989, when the former Progressive Federal Party, Independent…