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ArticleHistory of Women in Prisons during Apartheid
This article was written by Justin Lawler and forms part of the SAHO and Southern Methodist University partnership project During the times of apartheid,…
The National Arts Festival
In 1974, an inaugural festival titled the 1820 Settlers National Monument was opened as a memorial to the British immigrants in South Africa. They established…
ArticlePrehistory of the Durban area
Prehistory of Southern Africa The Durban area is probably best known for the historic Zulu kingdom, dating to the early 19th century. To understand the…
Political deaths in police custody 1984 - 1989
YearDateNameAffiliationPlace of deathDescription198415 JulyNgalo, Johannes (26) ParysFound dead in cell due to serious internal injuries. 29 September …
Soweto and mounting pressure on the apartheid state, 1970s
The Day Our Kids Lost Faith. 1976. © Bailey's African History Archives During the 1970s, and particularly in the late 1970s after the Soweto uprising of 1976,…
ArticleWorld War I Timeline 1916
18 February The German colony of Cameroon falls to French and British forces after 17 months of fighting. 21 February–19 December The Battle of Verdun…
ArticleUnion, Segregation, apartheid and Democracy: From Union to non racial democracy
The 1910 election: The Union of SA The first election that created the modern South African state, held in accordance with the provisions of the Union of…
ArticleGeneral South African History Timeline: 1700s
1700 The first "placaat" (ordinance or statute) restricting the importation of Asian slaves is promulgated. Dlamini chiefdoms move south from Delagoa Bay…
Rustenburg the Segregated city
Rustenburg the Segregated city Towards Union The Afrikaner character of the town persisted after Union in 1910, and there was little to attract other…
ArticleSouth Africa and the Olympic Games
BackgroundWhat is today referred to as the “Ancient Olympic Games”, was a sports festival celebrated in honour of the Greek god Zeus in the town of Olympia. As…
ArticleDurban Timeline 1497-1990
1497 - 1699 1497 24 December, A flotilla of three Portuguese ships under the command of Capt Vasco da Gama sailed up the eastern seaboard of southern…
ArticleTreks & Land conflicts timeline 1602-1966
1602 20 March, The Dutch East India Company (VOC) comes into being. 1652 Jan van Riebeeck, a representative of the Dutch East India Company (VOC),…
ArticleAbstracts presented for the 1973 Durban Strikes Conference
Following is a list of abstracts presented for the 1973 Durban Strikes - Celebrating 50 Years Conference. “White ladies [do not] push heavy skips”:…
Biography of Can Themba by Aisha Ahmed
Key Words: Can Themba, Apartheid, Writer in Exile, Drum Magazine Born: 1924 Marabastad, Pretoria Died: 1968 Swaziland Education: High School, Polokwane …
ArticleTimeline 20 years of Democracy 1994 to 2014
1994 27 April,South Africa's interim constitution which was adopted in November 1993 came into effect on 27th April 1994 to administer South Africa’s first…
ArticleRemembering and Celebrating South Africa’s Iconic LGBTQI+ Women
The shards of South Africa’s fragmented history share a common thread throughout; at the core is a struggle for equality and visibility. Over the course of the…
ArticleLand Restitution in South Africa since 1994
Land restitution is one of the key issues since South Africa achieved democracy in 1994 and as such an overview of what has been achieved since the…
ArticleThe Khoisan
In around 2300 BP (Before Present), hunter-gatherers called the San acquired domestic stock in what is now modern day Botswana. Their population grew, and…
ArticleThe Durban strikes and the resurgence of the trade union movement in 1973
When Black workers in Durban embarked on a wave of strikes in January 1973, the government and employers were shocked, and they responded mainly by giving in…
ArticleIndian South Africans timeline 1920-1929
1920 February, The Asiatic Inquiry Commission, headed by Sir Johannes Lange, is appointed to inquire into laws concerning the right of Asiatics to trade and…
ArticleMangosuthu Buthelezi: the Zulu nationalist who left his mark on South Africa’s history
Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi played a prominent role in South African politics for almost half a century. He was one of the last of a generation of black South…
ArticleMangosuthu Buthelezi was a man of immense political talent and contradictions
Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, who has died, was a history maker. He was born on 27 August 1928 into a tumultuous global century, and into the local conditions…
Nelson Mandela Timeline 1920-1929
1920 The Housing Act is passed. This Act made funds available for the government to house the poor. “The resultant estates were required to be racially…
Defining the term 'Bantu'
The following article is based on an essay from Kees van der Waal’s chapter in “Critical Essays on Afrikaans Places of Memory” The term ‘Bantu has gone…
The Dutch and the Khoisan
The Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) or Dutch East India Company came into being on 20 March 1602 and is seen as the first company that issued shares to…
Article2016 in Review
In 2016 South Africa History Online celebrates 15 years of being a public open source heritage site. What a journey it has been. At the end of the first week…
ArticleNelson Mandela Timeline 1970-1979
1970 16 February, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and 21 others, who were detained under the Suppression of Communism Act, in May 1969, are acquitted. Three are…
Apartheid - The early 1980s
The early 1980s There was little change in the situation from the late 1970s to the early 1980s in South Africa. After the crisis of the early and mid-70s,…
ArticleThe Cape Coloured Corps and the First World War
In September 1915, the Union Government offered to raise an infantry battalion of Cape Coloured men for service in the First World War. A strict selection…
ArticleApartheid Legislation 1850's-1970's
1856-1910 Masters and Servants Acts of 1856 These Acts, which had been passed between 1856 and 1904 in the four territories, remained in force after…