SAHO global search
11,508 records
EventUN Secretary-General Hammerskjöld arrives in Congo
Dag Hammerskjöld, secretary-general of the United Nations (UN), arrived in the Congo to try to end the civil war. Hammerskjöld became involved in attempts to…
EventHendrik Andries Hanekom, SA actor dies in the Strand, Cape Town
Hendrik Hanekom and his wife Mathilda were pioneers of Afrikaans professional theatre. Hendrik died on *14 January 1952 in the Strand, Cape Town. Throughout…
EventUDF organises boycott of Coloured and Indian parliamentry elections
On 22 August 1984 the United Democratic Front, an internal coalition of anti-apartheid groups, organised highly successful boycotts of the Coloured and Indian…
EventSchool boycott in Port Elizabeth ends
Leaders of Port Elizabeth's Black secondary school children decided to end a four month boycott of classes. This followed after negotiations took place between…
EventThe Ben Schoeman freeway is opened
The Ben Schoeman N1 freeway between Johannesburg and Pretoria, named after the then minister of transport, was opened on this date. In the forty years of its…
EventLucas Mangope leaves Mmabatho due to uprising
President Lucas Mangope, the leader of the apartheid homeland Bophuthatswana, retreated from the capital, Mmabatho, in the face of a popular uprising after he…
EventMangope calls out troops as unrest flares in Bophuthatswana
In 1994, the persistant tensions in Bophuthatswana homeland came to a head after the homeland's government decided against registering for the election and the…
EventSA writer, Nadine Gordimer, wins Nobel Prize for Literature
South African writer Nadine Gordimer won the 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature. She was the first woman in 25 years to be awarded the honour and the seventh…
EventAbolition of Racially Based Land Measures Act is adopted
The South African parliament under President F.W. de Klerk adopted the Abolition of Racially Based Land Measures Act 108 of 1991, which scrapped the…
EventANC and IFP to meet over violence
The African National Congress (ANC) and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) announced that they would hold a meeting of the two parties in Durban, in an attempt to end…
EventThe government launches ‘Operation Iron Fist’ in townships
At the height of township violence in Transvaal, President F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela held a series of meetings to discuss means of quelling the unrest…
EventANC, COSATU and SACTU issues a joint statement in Lusaka
The South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the African National Congress (ANC) issued a joint…
EventANC claim responsibility for a land mine explosion which kills six
Six people, including three children aged between three and nine, were killed and three seriously injured in a landmine explosion on the fenced-in Chatsworth…
EventState of Emergency enters 100th day
Location: back to this day in history search archive The state of emergency entered its 100th day after it was announced on July 20. P W Botha in an attempt…
EventZulu King Dingane orders the execution of Piet Retief’s men
Following the signing of Dingane and Retief's treaty, Piet Retief and his party were treated to a farewell dance by the Zulu impis at Ungungundlovu. They were…
EventSA military integration is disputed
The transition in the South African Defence Force (later SANDF) was not achieved without difficulties. It came to the surface that a dispute ensued between…
EventAdriaan Vlok applies for amnesty
Former apartheid era Minister of Law and Order, Adriaan Vlok, applied to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for amnesty for his role in the bombing…
EventSouth Africa approves the Constitution of the African Civil Aviation Commission
The South African government approved the Constitution of the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) on 17 January 1996, deposited its Instrument of…
EventA strike by White mineworkers turns into open rebellion
Angry White workers, on strike since 28 December 1921, stormed and occupied police stations, railway installations and mines on the Witwatersrand. They also…
EventIndustrial and Commercial Workers Union is founded under Clements Kadalie
The Industrial and Commercial Union later renamed the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) was founded by Clements Kadalie, a young Nyassalander who…
EventZulu assault at Holkrantz
On 6 March 1902 in the district of Vryheid, a Zulu Chief, Sikobobo, attacked a Boer regiment after the latter had stolen their cattle, burned their kraals and…
EventLouis Hayward, South African–American Actor dies.
Louis Hayward was born in Johannesburg on 19 March 1909. He went to study in England where he met playwright Noel Coward who became his patron. He starred in a…
EventNiel van der Watt, SA composer is born
Born Gerhardus Daniel van der Watt in Pretoria, Niel van der Walt is a composer well known for his choral compositions. He comes from a family of teachers. He…
EventDemonstrations begin outside the South African Embassy in Washington D.C.
Demonstrations began outside the South African Embassy in Washington DC and continued on an almost daily basis as anti-apartheid protesters demanded a stronger…
EventThe Simelela Rape Survivors Centre in Cape Town reports on rape in Khayelitsha
The Simelela Rape Survivors Centre in Cape Town reported that almost half of the rapes in Cape Town's Khayelitsha township involved girls under fourteen, with…
EventUgandan President Idi Amin releases political prisoners
On 28 January 1971, just three days after General Idi Amin Dada overthrew Milton Obote, he released all political prisoners detained by Obote’s government. He…
EventFive power stations are blown up as tensions rise during WWII
Five power stations are blown up by pro-Axis power saboteurs in an attempt to destabilise the Rand gold mines. During the Second World War supporters of the…
EventTakudzwa Ngwenya, Zimbabwean-born American rugby player, is born
Takudzwa Ngwenya was born in Harare, Zimbabwe on 22 July 1985. He played for the Mashonaland Club and for Vainona High School in his home country. He then…
Archive1995 - President Mandela: State of the Nation Address, 24 February 1995 (after National Elections)
CLOSING ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA: PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE ON THE STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS, 24 FEBRUARY 1995 Madame Speaker and Deputy Speaker; …
Document 2 - Against the C.A.D. for Full Democratic Rights [1943]
From: South Africa's Radical Tradition, a documentary history, Volume Two 1943 - 1964, by Allison Drew Document 2 - Against the C.A.D. for Full Democratic…