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BiographyJohannes Nkosi
A martyr for the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA and SACP after 1953), was the son of Jacobina Nkosi (no details of his father could be traced). Nkosi…
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…
BiographyNomadhlangala Cosy Europa Ndabezitha
Nomadhlangala Cosy Europa Ndabezitha was born on 22 September 1953 in Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) to Madhlangala Dukuza Ndabezitha and Ntombinkulu Bhengu…
EventThe South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) introduces its first national news service
The history of broadcasting in South Africa can be traced back to 1923, when the first wireless broadcast was made in Johannesburg. By April 1927, an hour of…
BiographyBenjamin Magson Kies
Benjamin Magson Kies Introduction Benjamin Magson Kies was an important South African political activist and theorist from about the middle of the 1930s…
BiographyHaile Selassie I
Early years The 225th and last Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie was born in Ethiopia in a region called Ejersa Gora on 23 July 1892. His birth name given…
BiographyEllen Phyllis Hellman
Ellen Hellmann was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on August 25, 1908. She was the daughter of Bernard Kaumheimer, who emigrated to South Africa from…
BiographyThamsanqa “Thami” Mnyele
"For me as craftsman, the act of creating art should complement the act of creating shelter for my family or liberating the country for me people. This is…
BiographyMimi Coertse
Mimi Coertse was South Africa's first operatic prima donna."Prima donna", in its true sense, properly indicates the chief female vocalist in an opera company…
BiographyGünther Komnick
Günther Komnick was born in Insterburg in the former German province of East Prussia in 1929 into a cultured family of artists. He lived through the monumental…
BiographyIrma Stern
Irma Stern was born in 1894 in Schweizer-Reneke, Transvaal. She studied in Weimar and Berlin and had her inaugural exhibition in Berlin in 1919. On her return…
BiographyRowley Israel Arenstein
Rowley Israel Arenstein was born on 7th of July in 1918. Arenstein was a prominent Durban attorney,the son of immigrant eastern European jews and a leader of…
BiographyEsther Barsel
Born in Raguva, Lithuania on 17 October 1924, Esther Barsel (nee Levin) came to South Africa in 1927 when she was three years old. She and her mother followed…
Siphiwe Nyanda
Siphiwe Nyanda was the eldest of the six children of Betsy and Henry Nyanda, a traffic inspector and area supervisor of liquor outlets for the Johannesburg…
BiographyNavanethem (Navi) Pillay
Navanethem (Navi) Pillay was born on 23 September 1941 in Clairwood, Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal). She attended the University of Natal (now University of…
BiographyNokukhanya Luthuli
Nokukhanya Luthuli, maiden name Bhengu, (also known as MaBhengu) was the wife of Chief Albert John Luthuli. Although she never became as public a figure as her…
BiographyArchbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu (known fondly as the "Arch”) was born in Klerksdorp on 7 October 1931. His father, Zachariah, who was educated at a Mission school, was the…
BiographyDr James Sebe Moroka
Dr. James Sebe Moroka was the great grandson of Chief Moroka I of the Barolong, from Thaba Nchu in the then Orange Free State. Moroka was born on 16 March…
PlaceMofolo Arts Centre
Located on Mzilikazi Street in Mofolo, the Mofolo Arts Centre is a hub of cultural and artistic exploration in Soweto. The centre is one of the few…
ArticleTeachers League of South Africa (TLSA) conference in 1925
Background The establishment of the Teachers’ League of South Africa (TLSA) emerged out of increasing racial segregation in the Cape. While segregation had…
Hunter-Gatherers in Southern Africa
For more than 95% of the last 100 000 years, most people all over the world followed a hunting and gathering way of life. Until recently, people living by…
ArchiveWebinar Programme: Strategic Debates, the ANC - SACP alliance and the Soviet Union. Convenor: Tshepo Moloi.
The role and influence of the South African Communist Party in the armed struggle by Patrick Mangashe UFH [email protected] Abstract The Communist…
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…
Event19 die at Shell House massacre
African National Congress (ANC) security guards at Shell House killed nineteen Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) members following a tip-off that IFP marchers were…
EventDemonstrating Clergymen are arrested in central Johannesburg
Fifty-three churchmen were arrested while demonstrating in central Johannesburg against the detention of a fellow clergyman who had supported the school…
BiographyGertrude Hope (nee Posthumus) Cooper
Gertrude Hope (nee Posthumus) Cooper, the second-youngest of eight children was born in King Williamstown but grew up Worcester where her father, an engineer…
BiographyBenjamin Ulenga
Benjamin (Ben) Ulenga was born in Owamboland. His father was a labourer, who from age 16 or 17 had to leave Owamboland to work on various English, Dutch,…
BiographyDennis Brutus
Dennis Brutus was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia (present day Zimbabwe) on 28 November in 1924.His parents moved to Port Elizabeth where he grew up,at the age of…
BiographyJack Mkhuseli
Mkhuseli Jack was born on the farm Mosskraal in Humansdorp on 31 May 1958. Jack was the second youngest of eight children of Fikile and Alice Jack, a domestic…