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EventRhodesia adopts new constitution
Chief among the factors that led to the adoption of a new constitution in Rhodesia on the 30 January 1979 (now Zimbabwe) was that Ian Smith, the Rhodesian…
EventJournalists’ first visit to Robben Island
The South African government for the first time allowed 20 local journalists, five correspondents of international news agencies and two official photographers…
EventEquatorial Guinea gains Independence from Spain
The colonial history of Equatorial Guinea dates back to 1471 when Portuguese explorers descended on the country. On their way to India, Portuguese explorers…
EventCarte Blanche is denied permission to quote Oliver Tambo
On 30 January 1987 the Minister of Law and Order issued a message to the newspapers denying Carte Blanche, an investigative television programme permission to…
EventIFP proposes truce with ANC
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) proposed a truce with the African National Congress (ANC) as an effort to calm violent clashes between members of the two…
EventSchools closed in the Western Cape
Carter Ebrahim, Minister of Education and Culture for the mixed race community, announced that 454 out of a total of over 900 schools were going to be closed…
EventYouth rage follows the funeral of Victoria Mxenge
Political violence by the youth began after the funeral of assassinated Victoria Mxenge, a civil rights lawyer, who was respected and liked by the Congress of…
EventThe French Foreign Legion is founded
The elite French Foreign Legion was founded by King Louis-Philippe as a military unit to support the conquest of Algeria, which the French had invaded the…
EventTruck drivers strike in major cities
Action started on 27 February developed into a countrywide truck drivers' strike on 1 March. The strike involved over 35,000 workers, who were demanding a wage…
EventA blaze destroys Wanderers Cricket Club
A fire virtually destroyed the historic Wanderers Cricket Club in Johannesburg, reducing to ash irreplaceable items like historic documents, photos, trophies…
EventNelson Mandela is voted the greatest South African
Former SA president and long serving political prisoner, Nelson Mandela, was voted the Greatest South African in a TV show that had the country nominate their…
EventWorld Population Day
Each year on 11 July, countries around the world commemorate World Population Day. This day was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations…
EventPW Botha refuses to testify before the TRC
Former President P. W. Botha declared that he would never testify before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). He also stated that he would never…
EventFirst aeroplane flight in Kimberley breaks the non-stop flight record
John Weston, a civil engineer, began the construction of his own aeroplane in 1907 at Brandfort, in the Free State. This was the first South African built…
EventGandhi leads Satyagraha Passive Resistance Campaign
Born in 1869 at Porbandar, Gujarat, India, the internationally prominent Indian campaigner, Mohandas Gandhi, led the 1906 Satyagraha Passive Resistance…
EventKing Dinuzulu defies British order
Allegedly Zulu Paramount Chief Dinuzulu (Dinizulu) refused British instructions to take up arms against the Boer republics during the Second Anglo-Boer War…
EventSan involvement in the Battle of Chrissiesmeer
The Battle of Chrissiesmeer (Lake Chrissie) during Anglo-Boer War 2 started with an attack by General Louis Botha on the British forces under General Smith…
EventSouth African Committee investigates the Jameson Raid report
The Jameson Raid of 1895 did tremendous harm to the relationship between the Boer Republics and the British Empire, as they viewed it as confirmation that…
EventInkatha Freedom Party boycotts parliament
Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) announced the suspension of its active participation in both chambers of parliament and in the constitution-making process. IFP…
EventTransvaal Anti-SAIC Committee decided to revive the old TIC
At the annual congress of the Transvaal Anti-SAIC Committee held in Johannesburg, it was decided to revive the old Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC) and to…
EventThe introduction of new South African flag 1994
On 27 April 1994, South Africa introduced a new national flag, at the same time the country held its first democratic elections in which African National…
EventThree AWB members shot and killed during the invasion of Bophuthatswana
On 11 March 1994 hundreds of Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) (Afrikaner Resistance Movement) members drove into Bophuthatswana, a Bantustan homeland in the…
EventInternational Year of Mobilisation for Sanctions against South Africa is launched
The United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid (originally called the Special Committee on the Policies of Apartheid of the Government of the Republic…
Dawn
The official policy of the African National Congress was one of non-violence. However, after fifty years of non-violent struggle, Umkhonto we Sizwe (meaning…
EventThe State Theatre in Pretoria opens
The State theatre in Pretoria opened in 1981 as a non-profit government funded company. The Japanese- influenced building is actually a complex of theatres. At…
EventEllen Kuzwayo becomes the first Black woman to receive an honorary degree from Wits University
Nnoseng Ellen Kate Kuzwayo made history when she became the first Black woman to receive an honorary degree from the University of the Witwatersrand on 2…
New Age
New Age, newspaper and its' predecessors, The Guardian; Advance were founded by trade unionists, academics and and was known as a leftist publication. New Age…
9. In search of better employment
From the book: A Documentary History of Indian South Africans edited by Surendra Bhana and Bridglal Pachai Robert E. Somasundram was unhappy as a teacher…
PlacePhansi Museum
The Museum houses some of the finest examples of African artefacts, such as: beadwork, headrests, milk pails, snuff containers, tobacco pipes, telephone wire…
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…