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EventThe inquest into the death of Black Consciousness leader, Steve Bantu Biko, opens in Pretoria
Steve Biko died naked and unattended on the cement floor of a cell in a Pretoria prison hospital after it had been established that he had suffered some kind…
EventCommodore Dieter Gerhardt’s trial begins in the Cape Town High Court
The trial of Commodore Dieter Gerhardt on charges of spying for the Soviet Union began in the Cape Town High Court. The Judge President granted an application…
EventThe launch of the Progressive Women’s Movement of SA
On 8 August 2006, hundreds of women gathered in Bloemfontein to launch a new national women’s movement, a non-profit organisation called the Progressive Women…
EventANC’s chief representative in Swaziland, Stanley Mabizela, writes a letter to the ANC following a visit by Thabo Mbeki and Max Sisulu
On 12 March, 1975, Stanley Mabizela the African National Congress (ANC) Chief representative in Swaziland wrote a handwritten letter to the ANC to thank them…
EventPalaeontologist Mary Leakey discovers one of the oldest hominid skulls in Tanzania
On 17 July 1959, Palaeontologist Mary Leaky discovered on of the oldest hominid skulls in the Olduvai Gorge, in Northern Tanzania. At first she found several…
EventMargaret Rheeder is hung in Pretoria
Margaret Rheeder, found guilty of poisoning her husband, Benjamin Fredenman, was hung in Pretoria. On the morning of 27 April 1957 Rheeder went to a pharmacy…
EventLibya becomes independent
Libya declared its independence as a constitutional and hereditary monarchy under King Idris I. It was the first country to achieve autonomy through the…
EventManto Tshabalala - Msimang, controversial minister of health, is born
SA health minister Mantombazana Tshabalala-Msimang was born at Emfume south coast of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Tshabalala-Msimang matriculated at Inanda Seminary…
EventSpringboks lose to the Lions
The South African national rugby team became known as the Springboks on their tour to Britain in 1906. Since those early years, teams from abroad repeatedly…
EventUniversity of Pretoria is established
The Transvaal University College, with branches in Johannesburg and Pretoria, took the examinations of the Cape University. The Pretoria branch of the…
EventSharpeville Deputy Mayor killed
The Deputy Mayor of Sharpeville, Sam Dlamini was hacked to death by a group of youths, and doused in petrol and burned. The riots were in protest against rent…
EventThe Conservative Party is formed
The Conservative Party (CP) was founded in the Skilpadsaal in Pretoria, with Dr Andries Treurnicht as leader. It brought together, in alliance with Dr…
EventSA Olympic team leaves for Barcelona
The South African Olympic team of ninety-five members took off to participate in the 22nd Olympic games staged in Barcelona, Spain in 1994. This was South…
EventCODESA’s starting date set
Delegates from twenty groups agreed after preparatory talks in Johannesburg on a date for the start of substantive negotiations on South Africa's future…
EventSAA Helderberg 747 crashes
The South African Airways Helderberg 747 jet aircraft crashed into the Indian Ocean near Mauritius, killing all 159 people on board. A fire, which started from…
EventDick King returns home after securing help for Port Natal
Dick King (Richard Philip) returned to Port Natal on board the Conch after his heroic rescue operation. King, accompanied by his young after-rider Ndongeni as…
EventThe NPA does not pursue charges against Wouter Basson, former chemical weapons expert of the SADF
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) announced that it would not start a fresh prosecution of Dr Wouter Basson, former chemical weapons expert of the South…
EventSouth African boxers,Zolile Mbityi and Peter Malinga both win world titles
22 October 1999 was a red-letter day in South African boxing history, as both Zolile Mbityi and Peter Malinga captured world titles. Mbityi, South African (SA)…
EventSpringboks wallop their Australian counterparts
The Springbok rugby team, nicknamed Amabokoboko, national team of South Africa under mentorship of Nick Mallett, registered an important victory over the…
EventPresident Mandela addresses the National assembly of Mali
On the 2 March 1996, President Nelson Mandela paid his first state visit to Mali. While there, he addressed the National Assembly at Bamako where he emphasised…
EventThe Rev. John Langalibalele Dube dies
The Rev. John Langalibalele Dube (Mafukuzela), politician and founder and first editor of the Zulu newspaper Ilanga lase Natal (now Ilanga), dies in Umhlanga,…
EventKenyan independence hero Bildad Kaggia dies after a long illness
Bildad Mwaganu Kaggia was a nationalist and a freedom fighter. Kaggia joined the Kenyan army when the Second World War broke out and was deployed in London as…
EventSA jazz singer, Letta Mbulu is born in Soweto
Letta Mbulu was born in Soweto on 23 August 1942. As a teenager she joined the cast of the play King Kong and toured the US with other artists like Miriam…
EventThe SA government presents a promotion of Constitutional Development Bill
The South African government presented a promotion of Constitutional Development Bill which proposed an advisory and consultative council, designed to give…
EventKing Mwanga of Uganda signs a contract with the British East Africa Company
Danieri Basammula-Ekkere Mwanga II, Mukasa beter known as King Mwanga II, was Kabaka of the kingdom of Bungada after the death of his father, Muteesa I in 1884…
Event5,580 Egyptian prisoners of war are exchanged for four Israelis held by Egyptian troops
5,580 Egyptian prisoners of war were exchanged for four Israelis held by Egyptian troops following the Tripartite Invasion (Israel, Britain and France). The…
EventRwandan and Burundian presidents J Habyarimana and C Ntayamira are killed in an air crash
0n 6 April 1994, an extraordinary event in the history of the African continent took place in Kigali, Rwanda when two presidents from two countries were…
EventOldest part of Johannesburg, Marshalltown, is planned
On 27 September 1886, Henry Brown Marshall asked Kidger Tucker to draw up a plan for a new residential area for Johannesburg. The plan was laid out in October…
PlaceBloemfontein City Hall
The Bloemfontein City Hall was built in 1935 and has a beautiful Italian style interior with an attractive sandstone exterior. The Bloemfontein City Hall Is a…
EventAthanase Seromba surrenders to the ICTR after being accused of participating in the slaughter of the Tutsis
Athanase Seromba, a priest accused of partaking in the 1994 Rwandan genocide that saw over 800 000 tutsis die at the hands of Hutu militia, handed himself over…