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ArticleGeneral South African History Timeline: 1990s
1990 Nelson Mandela is released from prison. 27 townships declared unrest areas in terms of the Public Safety Act No 3 of 1953. Gazankulu: Immorality and…
ArticleA History of the Springbok Legion
The Springbok Legion (SL) was a leading organisation formed in 1941 to fight for the rights of soldiers during World War II and in the post-war period. Over…
10 YEARS PROJECT
close Document 28 Negotiations: a strategic perspective 25 November 1992 As adopted by the National Executive Committee of the African National…
The Boerenvereenigingen: precursor to the Afrikaner Bond
In the 1870s a series of farming associations emerged in the Cape, both in the west and in the east. While both English and Afrikaner associations emerged, the…
ArticleCommercial, Catering & Allied Workers Union of South Africa (CCAWUSA)
SACCAWU was founded as CCAWUSA (The Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union of South Africa) in 1975, with Emma Mashinini as the general secretary and M…
ArticleLiberation history Timeline 1960-1969
The 1960s witnessed the banning of both the ANC and the PAC in the aftermath of the Sharpeville Massacre. In response to the banning, both parties were forced…
ArticleSouth African Coloured Peoples Organisation (SACPO)
Like all other Black ethnic groups, the Coloureds also fell victim to segregation and repressive legislations enacted by Colonial and successive governments…
Dr William Fehr (1892-1968), collector of art as history
The name of Dr William Fehr should be familiar to many of those who have visited Castle Good Hope in Cape Town at least once during the last fifty years. Young…
ArticleNapoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte. Source: www.historywiz.com A new absolute ruler After the fall of Robespierre in 1794, a new group of people took over the government…
ArticleAfrica: Colonialism, Arts, Protest & Independence
1884 Otto von Bismarck chairs the Berlin Conference to stem the scramble for Africa. Only Morocco, Ethiopia, and Liberia are recognized as independent…
ArticleTransition to Armed Struggle by Norman Levy
Transition to Armed Struggle The brief respite from the Treason Trial which ended on 29 March 1961 and the Rivonia arrests in July 1963 was a period of…
ArticleGarveyism: Early 1900s philosophy
Marcus Garvey, preaching the unity of all blacks, claimed that liberty would come about only through the return of all Afro-Americans to their ancestral homes…
ArticleThe International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF)
The International Defence and Aid Fund (IDAF) was established by Canon L John Collins of St Paul’s Cathedral in 1956. Its mission was to work towards a…
ArticleThe Azania Liberation Support Committee and its publications
The Azania Liberation Support Committee (ALSC) was formed in London around 1983 by Roseinnes Phahle and other individuals of various broadly leftist political…
ArticleOliver Reginald Tambo Timeline 1917 - 2011
1900s 1917 27 October, Oliver Reginald Tambo (OR) is born in the village of Kantolo, Mbizana, in the Mpondoland (eQawukeni), region of the Eastern Cape…
The turn to armed struggle
For several years, different liberation organisations debated engaging in armed struggle against the Apartheid state. Following the Sharpeville Massacre, the…
ArticleThe aftermath of the Battle of Blood River 1838
The fate of Natalia After the defeat of Dingane, the Kingdom of the AmaZulu was hurled into political strife. Mpande was open to the demands for land by the…
Zulu Community
Late nineteenth century postcard of Zulu Warriors. Note the Europeans in the background. Source: Frescura Collection The pre-1994 apartheid system of…
Apartheid - The early 1980s
The early 1980s There was little change in the situation from the late 1970s to the early 1980s in South Africa. After the crisis of the early and mid-70s,…
ArticleThe Cordoned Heart
South Africa: The Cordoned Heart is considered as one of the seminal photographic exhibitions and books of the 1980’s. The exhibition and book was a product of…
Early civilisations from around the world: Mesopotamia, China, Indus River Valley, the Mesoamerican empires
Mesopotamia The name Mesopotamia was given to the Middle Eastern civilisation that existed between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. The source of these rivers…
ArticleNelson Mandela Timeline 1940-1949
1940 Mandela was elected to the Student Representative Council (SRC) at Fort Hare. After he became embroiled in general student dissatisfaction with boarding…
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,…
ArticleThe South African general elections: 1994
In September 1993, the South African legislature approved the setting up of a multiparty Transitional Executive Council (TEC) to manage South Africa’s…
ArticleSouth African National Students Congress (SANSCO)
Background to the formation of the South African National Students Congress (SANSCO) The emergence of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) and the adoption…
The Hunter-Gatherers of Southern Africa: Summary
Hunter-gatherers is a term for people who survive, or used to survive, by hunting and gathering food. QUICK INFO GUIDE: Southern Africa…
ArticleNegotiations and the transition
The increasing social unrest in South Africa that swept through the country in the 1980s, and the changing geopolitical circumstances on the international…
'The People Accept the Challenge of the Nationalists' Statement issued by the National Executive of the A.N.C., April 6, 1963
THE PEOPLE ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE OF THE NATIONALISTS. OUR POLITICAL LINE OF ACTION. Our mass political line of action is inspired by our historic National…
ArticleFootball in South Africa Timeline 1862-2012
1862 The first documented football matches in South Africa are played in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth (between White civil servants and soldiers). 1879 …
Liberation organisations
UDF The United Democratic Front (UDF) was a non-racial alliance of about 400 national, regional and local organisations. It was launched in Cape Town in 1983,…