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EventKitchener’s opinion on Concentration Camps
During Anglo-Boer War 2 (also called South African War) between the two former Boer Republics (the South African Republic and the Orange Free State Republic)…
EventOrigin of Johannesburg’s name is explained
In reaction to an inquiry, officials in Pretoria replied that Johannesburg was named after Johann Friedrich Bernhard Rissik and Christiaan Johannes Joubert -…
PlaceEnon
Enon is a small town in the Eastern Cape in South Africa. It is named after the biblical place mentioned in John. It lies 13 kilometres East of Kirkwood and 60…
EventArthur Conan Doyle, medic during the Second Anglo, is born
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 22 May 1859. Although Doyle is best known for his writing of the Sherlock Holmes crime novel…
EventThe Neptune, with 288* convicts on board, enters Simon’s Bay, with strong resistance from Cape inhabitants
On 19 September 1849, The Neptune entered and anchored in Simon's Bay (now Simonstown) in the Cape, after being met with a furious city population in Table Bay…
Event19 die at Shell House massacre
African National Congress (ANC) security guards at Shell House killed nineteen Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) members following a tip-off that IFP marchers were…
EventPublic places of recreation for whites only, are proclaimed
Public places of recreation in white areas were proclaimed in accordance with provisions of the Group Areas Act of 1950. Following the proclamation, blacks…
EventStander gang hits 3 banks
On 19 January 1984, the Stander gang robs three banks in less than an hour in the Johannesburg city centre. The Stander gang was a group of three men led by…
EventSouth African Communist Party leader, Dr. Yusuf Mahomed Dadoo dies
A political activist and Chairman of the South African Communist Party (SACP), Dr. Yusuf Mahomed Dadoo died on 19 September, 1983, after having lapsed into a…
EventPresident Paul Kruger and Commandant General Louis Botha issue a proclamation in Pretoria
President Paul Kruger and Commandant General Louis Botha issued a proclamation in Pretoria which promised to pay those Burghers who remained active with their…
EventFormer SANNC President Sefako Mapogo Makgatho dies
Sefako Mapogo Makgatho was born at GaMphahlele, in the Pietersburg district in Transvaal (now Limpopo province) in 1861. He was the son of Chief Kgorutlhe…
EventSuppression of Communism Act 44 of 1950 severely limits what the media could report
Suppression of Communism Act 44 of 1950: One of the most infamous of all security laws during the apartheid era, it severely limited what the media could…
EventProf. Raymond Arthur Dart, SA anthropologist and expert on the Taung skull, dies in Sandton, Johannesburg
Raymond Dart was born in Queensland Australia in 1893. One of nine siblings, he grew up on a farm herding cattle. He won a scholarship to study at the…
EventMau Mau political prisoners escape from Mageta Island, Lake Victoria
On 5 February 1956, 11 Mau Mau prisoners, serving life sentences escaped from Mageta Island, Lake Victoria in a canoe. This was after the prisoners hacked to…
EventThe Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) is founded
In an attempt to organise a broad-based and inter-racial women's organisation, the Federation of South African Women (FSAW or FEDSAW) was launched on 17 April…
EventThe Association of Chambers of Commerce issued a “no work, no pay, no penalty” statement
On 5 June 1986, The Association of Chambers of Commerce released a statement of ‘no work, no pay’ to workers who stayed away from work on June 16. The…
Liberal Opinion/Reality
Liberal Opinion (1961-1968) was published by the Liberal Party of South Africa which was established in 1953 by Alan Paton, after the National Government had…
PlaceHawthornden-House, Herschell Walk, Wynberg
The construction of the original structure probably dates to 1683, but it was rebuilt to its present form, as a double-storey home with French Victorian…
PlaceKwaNdebele
KwaNdebele (or place of the Ndebele) was granted self-government in 1984 and was intended to be the new home for the Transvaal Ndebele people. It was…
EventThe 25th Summer Olympics opens in Barcelona, Spain
On 25 July 1992, the 25th Summer Olympics opened in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona was chosen ahead of Amsterdam, Brisbane, Birmingham, Belgrade and Paris who had…
EventJohn Harris and the Johannesburg station bomb
A time bomb placed in the Johannesburg railway station exploded during the evening rush hours. The explosion resulted in the death of one person and severe…
EventSeparate Representation of Coloured Voters Act is passed
Following years of struggle in courts and abortive parliamentary attempts to pass the Separate Representation of Coloured Voters Bill, the act was passed after…
EventEnoch Mgijima dies
Enoch Mgijima (Mgizima), Fingo prophet of the Israelites sect in the Eastern Cape, died in Ntabelanga, Queenstown. His followers, believing Enoch's claim that…
EventTwo limpet mines explode in Hillbrow
Two limpet mines explode at the South African Defence Force (SADF) Transvaal Medical Command, Hillbrow, Johannesburg. The limpet mines were seen by a member of…
EventKoeberg becomes operational
The nuclear power station at Koeberg, the only commercial nuclear power station in Africa, became operational on this date. On 21 August 1984, the French…
EventSalman Rushdie’s visit is still on
Despite an increasing outcry against Salman Rushdie's public lecture from the Islamic Council of Southern Africa, the Weekly Mail (now Mail and Guardian)…
EventThe British Anti-Apartheid Movement hosts a Concert for Mandela
On 11 June 1988, the British Anti-Apartheid Movement (BAAM) held an 11-hour rock concert at Wembley Stadium in London to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela on his…
EventTsafendas, murderer of South African Prime Minister Hendrik F. Verwoerd in 1966, dies
Dimitri Tsafendas, murderer of South African Prime Minister Hendrik F. Verwoerd in 1966, died at the age of 81 at the Sterkfontein psychiatric hospital on the…
EventMbeki receives an Honorary Doctorate
Three months after being inaugurated as South Africa's second president since democratic elections in 1994, Thabo Mbeki received an Honorary Doctorate from the…
EventTranskei announces it is re-establishing diplomatic relations with South Africa
Transkei announced it was re-establishing diplomatic relations with South Africa following Pretoria’s undertaking to negotiate over disputed land. The break of…