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EventHistory of December 16
December 16 looms large in the history of South Africa; it is celebrated as the Day of Reconciliation. First celebrated as ‘Dingane’s Day,’ when the…
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…
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…
ArticleAhmed Mohamed Kathrada Timeline: 1929 - 2017
… Fordsburg. He attends the Newtown Indian Primary School. 1940s Kathrada meets Yusuf Dadoo , I.C. Meer , Yusuf and … du Preez, an Afrikaner, gives him the…
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…
BiographyWessel Johannes “Hansie” Cronje
Wessel Johannes "Hansie" Cronje was born in Bloemfontein on 25 September 1969 to Ewie and San-Marie Cronje. He attended Grey College in Bloemfontein, a…
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…
ArchiveThe Doctor of District Six: Exploring the Private and Family History of Dr. Abdullah Abdurahman, City Councillor for District Six of Cape Town (1904-1940) by Eve Wong
The Founder: An Ambiguous Figure by Chris Saunders
… – is now remembered chiefly for the fact that in the early 1940s he employed Anton Lembede, founder of the ANC Youth …
BiographyGeorge Arthur Heard
Journalist George Arthur Heard was the elder son of Arthur Henry Heard, inspector of works in Bloemfontein, and his wife, Millicent Agnes Elliot. He was one of…
BiographyPieter Streicher Steyn
Professor Pieter Steyn was born in 5 January 1940 in Vryburg in the North West. He is currently a senior researcher at the Department of Chemistry and Polymer…
BiographyAziz Goolam Hoosein Pahad
Aziz Goolam Hoosein Pahad was born on 25 December 1940, Schweizer Reneke, North West Province, (formerly a part of the old Transvaal Province). In 1959, he…
PlaceAthlone - or Cape Flats, Cape Town
… community, which dates back to the 17th century). In the 1940s, a type of dental modification known as a passion gap …
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…
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…
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…
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…
BiographyFrederik van Zyl Slabbert
Frederik van Zyl Slabbert and his twin sister were born on 2 March 1940 in Pretoria to Barbara Zacharia Hagen and Petrus Johannes Slabbert. Slabbert attended…
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…
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…
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…
Awards of Recognition to Honourable Early Associates of Gandhiji and Phoenix Settlement 1904-1914
… remained active in Congress politics from the 1920s to 1940s. In 1951 when Manilal Gandhi went on a fast for 14 days …
The Role of Women in the Struggle against Apartheid, 15 July 1980
… and lead. As the economy developed in the 1930s and 1940s, with the growth of capital accumulation and an … of power by the National Party in 1948, made the…