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EventElephant poaching reaches an all time high
While African elephants have been hunted for several centuries, the exploitation of elephant herds on a massive scale began in the 1970s. Organized gangs of…
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…
EventOrganisations forward applicants for amnesty to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The African National Congress (ANC) confirmed it had forwarded 300 applications from its members to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for amnesty…
PlaceMjanyana Hospital
The village of Emjanyana was probably established in the mid-1970s, in Ngcobo Eastern Cape. In 1894 the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel on Foreign…
EventUniversity of Pretoria is established
On 10 February 1908 a new department of the Transvaal University College (T.U.C.), situated in Johannesburg, started its classes in Kya Rosa, a house in…
EventThe Native Affairs Commission went once more to Ntabelanga for negotiations
In a last attempt at negotiations with the Israelites, the Native Affairs Commission (NAC) went once more to Ntabelanga near Queenstown, Eastern Cape. The…
ArticleNobel Prizes and South African Laureates
..to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind. Winning a Nobel Prize is one of the highest international…
ArticleA history of prison labour in South Africa
Prison labour has a particularly debatable history in South Africa. Historically, South Africa operated on the understanding that prisons were places of…
PlaceA History of Ottosdal and Letsopa
Precolonial and Early History Almost four hundred years ago, Khoe-San people moved into the interior of South Africa from the Cape (what is today the…
ArticleCongress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) was launched on 1 December 1985, at the height of the struggle against apartheid. As a federation, it…
Upcoming events at the Book Lounge
Next Week's Events Saturday 12th March, 11am – Storytime: Friends Friends are helpful, kind and fun to be around. Today we’ll read about all kinds…
PlaceTimour Hall Primary School, Plumstead
In the early 1900’s land was set aside by the owners at Timour Hall Estate for the establishment of a school. The first structure was a wood and iron building…
PlaceMelrose House, Jacob Mare Street, Pretoria
George Heys, a young man from Durban, made his fortune in the diamond rush in Kimberley by establishing a successful coach transportation business that…
PlaceIrene Concentration Camp and Gravesite
Opened on 2 November 1900, the Irene Concentration Camp was built with the intention that it would be one of the camps that would house Boer woman and children…
EventA bomb blast rocks the ANC London office
On this day the African National Congress (ANC) headquarters in London, England, was bombed. General Johann Coetzee, former head of the South African security…
EventIt is announced that a child prostitution and trafficking task team rescues 14 underage prostitutes in downtown Johannesburg
Child kidnapping, trafficking and prostitution has become rife in the syndicates of Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. Children who are trafficked for sexual…
EventMother Teresa arrives in SA to establish a missionary home for HIV/AIDS sufferers
Mother Teresa was born in Albania and at a young age felt compelled to care for the sick and poor. When she was eighteen years old, she left home and joined…
EventBird flu outbreak is declared over, thousands of birds were killed to prevent the spreading of the disease
On 13 September 2005 Agriculture Minister , Thoko Didiza, announced that South Africa had been declared free of notifiable avian influenza (bird flu). The…
EventWits attains full university status
The University College in Johannesburg attained full University status under the name the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg. The origin of…
Event200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act
The 25 March 2007 saw the 200-year-celebration of the abolishment of the slave trade in the British Empire. The Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was passed by…
EventSADF's 31 Battallion is disbanded
The South African Defence Force's (SADF) 31st Battalion was disbanded at a public ceremony in the Cape Province. This Battalion was composed primarily of the…
PlaceBlombos Cave and Private Nature Reserve, Stillbaai - Cape Town
Blombos Cave is a World-famous Archaeological Site, overlooking the sea and located in a private nature Reserve which is NOT open to the public!"Archaeologists…
EventSmiso Zwane, South African hip hop artist is born
Smiso Zwane, stage name Okmalumkoolkat was born in the Umlazi township of Durban on 27 July 1985. [i] Along ZamaniXolo stage name DoktaSpiZee, two forms the…
PlaceAdams Mission, Kwa-Zulu Natal
Settlement West of Amanzimtoti and South of Durban, in the Umlazi district. Established in 1836, it was destroyed by Dingaan, but rebuilt in 1839. Named after…
EventSS Mendi sinks in the English Channel on the way to France
The sinking of the SS Mendi on 21 February 1917 became one of South Africa's worst tragedies of the First World War (1914-1919). A total of 616 South Africans,…
EventThe first mountain zebra foal is born in at the National Mountain Zebra Park
The Mountain Zebra is an endangered species native to South Western Angola, Namibia, and South Africa. It is boldly stripped in black and white or brown and…
EventThe first episode of Star Trek is aired on NBC
The now iconic series struggled to find an audience at first, and was cancelled after just 3 seasons. However, its cult-like popularity blossomed in…
EventA South African spy is released from jail
Location: back to this day in history search archive Odile Harrington, a South African convicted and imprisoned for espionage in Zimbabwe in 1987, was…
EventScores of people, including a Chief, are killed in Lari, Kenya, following an attack by Mau Mau freedom fighters
On 26 March 1953, close to 100 people were killed and scores of others injured at Lari in Kiambu region, Kenya, when Mau Mau freedom fighters attacked the area…
ArticleRuth First timeline 1925-2012
1925 4 May, Ruth Herloise First is born in Johannesburg to Julius and Matilda First, Jewish immigrants (from Latvia and Lithuania, respectively) who helped…