SAHO global search
2,673 records
ArticleMass Democratic movements, 1976-1983
IntroductionNovember 1977, Dr Mamphele Ramphele stands over Steve Biko's open casket in his home before the funeral, attended by 20,000 mourners at King…
ArticleuMkhonto weSizwe (MK) in exile
Introduction Following British victory in the South African War, the Union of South Africa was forged in 1910 under the British Commonwealth. The Union…
State policies and social protest, 1924-1939
One of the most important developments in South Africa in this period was the formation of the Pact Government in which the push for independence from Britain…
ArticleAbstracts presented for the 1973 Durban Strikes Conference
Following is a list of abstracts presented for the 1973 Durban Strikes - Celebrating 50 Years Conference. “White ladies [do not] push heavy skips”:…
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…
A Place of Freedom
Phoenix represented an island of freedom in a society that moved from informal segregation in the early years of the twentieth century to full-blown apartheid…
BiographyKewpie
Kewpie was a hairdresser and iconic queer figure from District Six. A gender fluid individual who identified by female pronouns, Kewpie was a seminal nightlife…
BiographyBoy Mvemve
Boy Adolphus Mvemve died a very violent death in exile in Zambia in 1974. He was 43 years of age at the time, operating under the nom de guerre John Dube (or…
BiographyElizabeth Komikie Gumede
Recorded as one of the most tortured women political prisoners under the apartheid regime, Elizabeth Komikie Gumede was born in 1921. Gumede served as an…
BiographyLeo Linda Sihlali
Leo Linda Sihlali was born on 9 September 1915 in Butterworth. He went to primary school in Tarkastad where his mother worked as a teacher. On completion he…
BiographyChristiaan Rudolf De Wet
Christiaan de Wet was born at Leeuwkop near Smithfield, Orange Free State, on 7 October 1854. He received little formal education, spending his days helping…
ArticlePass Laws and Sharpeville Massacre
Pass laws in South Africa were met with fierce resistance during the 20th century. But earlier forms of passes, had in fact been used in various instances…
The Polly Street Era
It is evident, through the examples of the art of John Koenakeefe Mohl, Ernest Mancoba and Gerard Sekoto, that the foundations of a fine art by black South…
BiographySir Ernest Oppenheimer
Ernest Oppenheimer was born on 22 May 1880 in Friedberg, Germany. He was the son of Edward Oppenheimer, a cigar merchant. Oppenheimer began his working life at…
BiographyBhawani Sannyassi Dayal
Bhawani Sannyassi Dayal was the son of the Jariam Singh, a former President of the Transvaal Indian Association. He received his early education at St Cyprian…
Francis Zaccharius Santiago Peregrino
Francis Zaccharius Santiago Peregrino was a journalist and public intellectual who, in the early 1900s, challenged notions of Black racial inferiority in the…
BiographySolomzi Ashby Peter Mda
Solomzi Ashby Peter Mda was born on 6th April 1916, in Herschel district, bordering Lesotho. He was the first son of Mildred Mei, a school teacher and…
BiographyZweledinga Pallo Jordan
Pallo Zweledinga Jordan was born on 22 May 1942 in B Location, Kroonstad, in the Orange Free State. His father, Dr Archibald Campbell Jordan, was an African…
BiographyChristopher Ndodebandla Dlamini
Chris Dlamini was born in Benoni, Transvaal, on 10 October 1944, one of the five children of Anna and Gilbert Dlamini, a worker in an electro-planting factory…
BiographyMandla Langa
Mandla Langa was born in Stanger, or KwaDukuza, a town in the Natal Province, now known as KwaZulu-Natal Province. He is the son of a preacher, and he grew up…
BiographyEnver Hassim
Enver Hassim was born in the Transvaal, where he was part of a large family, with two brothers and four sisters. His father made a living as a middleman and…
BiographyAbdul ‘Apamai’ Rahman Dawood
Abdul Rahman Dawood or 'Apmai' as he was affectionately known was born in India to a family of progressive community activists in October 1935. He was brought…
BiographyVincent Joseph Gaobakwe Matthews
Vincent Joseph Gaobakwe Matthews born in Durban, on 17 June 1929, Matthews was one of five children of Frieda and ZK Matthews, a professor, academic lawyer and…
ArticlePort Elizabeth the Segregated city
Contents 1910-1950 Apartheid ideology and implementation from 1950 Conclusion 1910-1950 By 1950, the population of New Brighton had grown from 3,650 in…
ArticleGandhi and the Passive Resistance Campaign 1907-1914
The passive resistance campaigns led by MK Gandhi in South Africa had huge consequences not only for the history of the country but also for world history in…
ArticleEnd Conscription Campaign (ECC)
In the late 1970s four young men publicly refused to obey their army call-ups by the South African Defence Force (SADF) and were sentenced to up to 18 months…
ArchiveHow the apartheid regime burnt books – in their tens of thousands, 24 October 2018
On the advice of the State Librarian one fine day in the 1970s, a truck transported thousands of books and magazines from Pretoria’s Central Police Station to…
ArticleWomen’s Role in the Negotiations by Nicole Dellaportas
This article was written by Nicole Dellaportas and forms part of the SAHO and Southern Methodist University partnership project Women’s Role in the…
ArticleAfrican National Congress Youth League (ANCYL)
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) was established on 2 April 1944, by Anton Lambede (who became the League’s first President), Nelson Mandela,…
A growing urban African population
As Johannesburg expanded, so did its need for African labour. After the First World War, a large number of factories were being established and were growing in…