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EventGerhardus Cornelis Oosthuizen buys a section of land, which is later declared part of the Witwatersrand gold reef
On 6 April 1874, Gerhardus Cornelis Oosthuizen bought a section of the farm Langlaagte for £100. This farm would later be declared a part of the Witwatersrand…
ArchiveHow colonial violence came home: the ugly truth of the first world war by Pankaj Mishra (The Guardian), 10 November 2018
"Today on the Western Front,” the German sociologist Max Weber wrote in September 1917, there “stands a dross of African and Asiatic savages and all the world…
Symposium: Memory in a time of freedom
Description of event: The District Six Museum, in partnership with the Steve Biko Foundation, is hosting a symposium entitled, "‘Memory in a time of freedom"…
EventNational Heritage Day celebrates South African cultural diversity
National Heritage Day is one of the newly created South African public holidays. The day was previously known as Shaka Day, and was celebrated in kwazulu/Natal…
EventThe first OK Bazaars opens on the corner of Eloff and President Street in Johannesburg
On 25 June 1927, Michael Miller and Sam Cohen opened the first OK Bazaars on Eloff and President Streets in Johannesburg. OK Bazaars went on to gain success as…
EventConstructors make mass grave finding in Namibia
Reports were made that two mass graves were found at a former South African Defence Force base, Eenhana, in northern Namibia. Construction workers discovered…
EventFake versions of the new South African banknotes hit the streets
On 7 February 2005, reports were issued of the use of fake versions of the then new South African banknotes. These came hardly a week after the latest currency…
EventBill Flynn, popular SA actor dies in Johannesburg
On 11 July 2007, South African actor Bill Flynn, 58, passed away, allegedly due to a heart attack. Flynn was born on 13 December 1948, and was educated at…
EventThe longest cricket test match in history is played between South Africa and England in Durban
Today marks the anniversary of the longest cricket test match in history. The game was played between South Africa and England in Durban. The game continued…
ArchiveEulogy at funeral of Dr Mantombazana Tshabalala-Msimang, by Jacob Zuma, 22 December 2009, The Cathedral of Sacred Heart, Pretoria
Comrade Mendi Msimang and the family and relatives, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, Ministers, Premiers, Deputy Ministers and MECs, Ministers from…
African farmers in Southern Africa
The first farmers For a period of time that is almost impossible to imagine, all the inhabitants of Southern Africa were Stone Age hunter-gatherers. Then about…
EventAnti-apartheid activist Sister Bernard Ncube dies
On 31 August 2012, anti-Apartheid activist Sister Bernard Ncube died at the age of 80. She was a practicing Roman Catholic nun and was recruited into the anti…
PlaceBotshabelo
Missionaries Alexander Merensky and Heinrich Grützner started work in the north eastern part of the South African Republic in 1860. There were unsuccessful…
PlaceVineyard Hotel, Colington Road, Newlands
It was declared a National Monument under old NMC legislation on 18 February 1977.Over the past two Centuries, The Vineyard has proudly evolved into one of the…
PlaceLiberia
Liberia, which means ‘freedom’ formerly known as the Grain Coast, is one of the few African countries including Ethiopia that were not colonised by the…
EventProceedings against SA start in the International Court of Justice
Location: back to this day in history search archive South Africa received a mandate from the League of Nations over South West Africa (SWA) on 17 December…
EventThe possessions of Piet Retief are auctioned
Piet Retief's visit to Dingane's kraal in October 1837 was the beginning of an eventful relationship between the Zulu and the Voortrekkers. Retief was in high…
EventMzwakhe Mbuli is sentenced to 13 years in jail
Mzwakhe Mbuli became known as the "people's poet" as a result of the style and content of his poetry. He covered issues like drugs and Apartheid and the former…
EventThe Rand Revolt breaks out
The end of World War I was followed by a global depression that affected South Africa as well. Soon after the war, in 1918 and 1919, Black workers across…
EventJack Penn, sculptor and one of the world’s best plastic surgeon is born
Jack Penn, a well known plastic and reconstructive surgeon, was born on 14 August 1909 in Cape Town. Penn later moved with his family to Johannesburg, where he…
EventGerman Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha lands in Swakopmund, South West Africa
The scorched earth campaign conducted by Germany against the Herero people in South West Africa (now known as Namibia) is considered among the first genocides…
EventRichard Horatio Edgar Wallace, South African author and newspaper editor, is born in Greenwich, England.
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was born on 1 April 1875 in Greenwich, England. Both his parents were actors. He started his career at the age of eleven working…
The Lusaka Years: The ANC in Exile in Zambia, 1963 to 1994
Invitation The HSRC Seminar Series The Lusaka Years: The ANC in Exile in Zambia, 1963 to 1994. Speaker: Hugh Macmillan, research associate, African…
Nelson Mandela Correspondence around property and land
Introduction Nelson's attachment to property is sentimental rather than material and this is reflected in his attitude to his Orlando home and to land at his…
EventSuppression of Communism Act, No. 44 of 1950 approved in Parliament
The Suppression of Communism Act, No. 44 of 1950, according to which the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) was declared an illegal organisation, was…
ArticleAfrican National Congress Timeline 2011 - 2020
AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS TIMELINE — 2011 – 2020 2011 8 January 2011 African National Congress (ANC) President Jacob Zuma delivers the traditional ANC…
ArticleThe Johanna
The Johanna, or Joanna, was a British East Indiaman vessel sailing from Kent, England, to Surat, India, under the command of Captain Robert Brown. She embarked…
First Matabele War
In 1890 Cecil John Rhodes became premier of South Africa with the support of the Afrikaner Bond. Rhodes' grand imperial vision for a British Africa included…
List of deaths in detention
Detaining and imprisoning those who went against the Apartheid state was one of the many weapons that the government used to quell resistance. As detention was…
ArticleTransport in the air
Ancient stories tell of people's desire to fly like a bird. The Greek myth about Icarus and Daedalus is one of the most famous stories. According to the story,…