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EventBarend Strydom kills 8 People in Pretoria
On 15 November 1988, 21 year-old Barend Strydom went on a killing spree with his pistol and attempted to shoot every Black person he encountered. He killed 8…
PlaceAlfred Nzo District Municipality, Kwa-Zulu Natal/Eastern Cape
District in the Alfred Nzo Municipality, of which Harding is the principal Town. Encircled by Mount Currie, Umzimkulu, Ixopo, Port Shepstone and Bizana.It was…
EventUmkhonto we Sizwe bombs Church Street, Pretoria
One of South Africa’s deadliest terror attacks took place in Church Street, Pretoria, in 1983, when Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African…
EventMilitary service becomes compulsory for White South African men.
The Defense Amendment Bill, designed to make military service compulsory for White young men, was passed on 9 June 1967 - with the support of the opposition…
EventMilitary coup is executed in Lesotho
On 30 April 1991, the head of the Lesotho military, Maj.Gen Justin Lekhanya was ousted by rebel junior officers. The reasons for this coup was a long standing…
EventThe trial of Dr Allan Boesak on charges of theft and fraud starts
Born in 1945 in the North West Cape, Boesak developed deep interests in religion and politics from an early age. At the age of 14 he became a sexton Dutch…
EventMahatma Gandhi leaves the Tolstoy Farm 1913
Mahatma Gandhi , a champion of passive resistance and non-violent campaigns left the Tolstoy Farm in Transvaal (now known as the Gauteng Province). After being…
PlaceNxuba (formerly known as Cradock)
Cradock is a Historic Town that has retained much of its 19th-Century charm. Its beautifully restored Victorian and Karoo-style buildings, combined with its…
PlaceDimbaza, Eastern Cape
The name, Dimbaza, an African Town in the former Ciskei, about 11km North-West of King William’s Town (on the road to Alice) and Fort Beaufort! Dimbaza is a…
PlaceBlyde River Canyon, Mpumalanga
One of the largest green canyons in the world, the Blyde River Canyon is a masterpiece carved over millions of years by the Blyde River as it cut through…
PlaceMasiphumelele Township, Cape Town
Masiphumelele means “We will succeed” in Xhosa. This spirit of endurance was needed by the people for decades - and these words are still an expression of…
PlaceHeilbron, Free State
Although it was a small camp, Heilbron was unusual in several respects. This area in the northern Free State might appear flat and uninteresting but, the…
ArticleGeneral South African History Timeline: 1990s
1990 Nelson Mandela is released from prison. 27 townships declared unrest areas in terms of the Public Safety Act No 3 of 1953. Gazankulu: Immorality and…
ArchiveThe Snape Building Political Demonstration at the University of Cape Town in 1966 by Andrew M. Colman
In the late afternoon of Wednesday, 21 September 1966, I took part in a small political demonstration on the campus of the University of Cape Town (UCT). It…
Archive2014 - President Zuma, State of the Nation Address, 13 February 2014 (before National Elections)
State of the Nation Address By His Excellency Jacob G Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa on the occasion of the Joint Sitting of Parliament, Cape…
Statement by Oliver Tambo on South African Raid on Matola, 05 February 1981
[On the morning of January 30, 1981, South African troops attacked and killed a number of ANC refugees in Matola, Mozambique. The following is from an address…
EventDelagoa Bay railway line is officially opened
On 8 July 1895 the Delagoa Bay railway line was officially opened by Paul Kruger. Its link to Pretoria was completed on 20 October 1894.The railway line was…
Beyond the Apartheid University?
Beyond the Apartheid University? Interrogating the transformation of the South African Higher Education landscape. Sub-themes to be considered as focus of…
PlaceOld Locomotive “Emil Kessler”, Johannesburg
It was declared a National Monument under old NMC legislation on 6 April 1936. (Note the National Monuments plaque on the side of the loco.) The engine weighs…
EventWolraad Woltemade drowns at sea after saving 14 people from a sinking ship
On 1 June 1773, the Jonge Thomas, a Dutch East India ship, was anchored at the mouth of the Salt River in Table Bay. In the early hours of the morning, a storm…
EventReported arrest of London bomb mastermind, Rashid Aswat
The suspected mastermind of the bomb attacks in London on July 7 hid in South Africa for several weeks before being arrested in Zambia last week. Cable News…
EventEarly jewellery, a set of shell beads estimated to be 75 000 years old, is discovered in South Africa
On 16 April 2004, a set of shell beads estimated to be 75 000 years old was discovered in the Blombos cave, overlooking the Indian Ocean, near Stilbaai. The…
EventSA judge jails former state assassin Eugene de Kock for more than 200 years
During the Apartheid regime, Eugene de Kock was a colonel in the South African Police force. He acted as the commander of a counter-insurgency group located on…
EventSouth African Defence Force (SADF) raid Maseru in an effort to kill suspected members of the African National Congress
In the early hours of December 9th, 1982, South African Defence Force commandos crossed the border into Lesotho. Their target was a cluster of houses on the…
History of Muslims in South Africa: Introduction by Ebrahim Mahomed Mahida
From the book: History of Muslims in South Africa by Ebrahim Mahomed Mahida This book, History of Muslims in South Africa: A Chronology, probably the first of…
EventC. Lindenberg Letty, botanical artist, is born
Cynthia Lindenberg Letty was born in Standerton, in the old Transvaal Province in 1895. She was the eldest of five children. At the outbreak of the South…
PlaceHazyview
A Village that is inundated with History and very quicky being modernized but will always keep it's charm! The name "Hazyview" aptly describes the hazy,…
ArticleAfrikaans: the Language of Black and Coloured Dissent
IntroductionAfrikaans, one of the official languages, together with English, during South Africa’s Apartheid era, often occupies a politicised space as the …
History of Muslims in South Africa: 1980 - 1989 by Ebrahim Mahomed Mahida
From the book: History of Muslims in South Africa by Ebrahim Mahomed Mahida 1980 Darul Quraan Trust International 121 The Darul Quraan Trust International in…
The Arrival of the Khoisan
About 2 000 years ago (100 BC), life began to change significantly in the Western part of Southern Africa. Herders, also known as the Khoikhoi, arrived,…