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EventFormer Prime Minister H.F. Verwoerd is born
Former Prime Minister H.F. Verwoerd is born Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd, former South African prime minister and chief architect of apartheid was born in…
PlaceGwali Mission
Chumie was established in 1820 by Reverend John Brownlee, as a station of for the Glasgow Missionary Society. The village which grew up about it was…
EventThe Battle of Gingindlovu
The Anglo-Zulu War Battle of Gingindlovu took place on 2 February 1879. It occured shortly after the Battle of Kambula and Rorkes drift. During this battle,…
EventNigerian political campaigner, women’s rights activist and traditional aristocrat, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti is born
Funmilayo Ransome Kuti was born Francis Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas on 25 October 1900 in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Kuti founded a women’s organisation with 20 000…
EventA two-day All-in African Conference starts in Pietermaritzburg, Natal
The two-day All-in African Conference - with 1,400 delegates from 145 religious, cultural, peasant, intellectual and political bodies was hosted in…
EventCaptured Gen. Cronje and his wife are shipped to St Helena
General Pieter Arnoldus (Piet) Cronje, commandant-general of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR, also known as Transvaal Republic) and his wife Hester, with…
PlaceGroot Drakenstein Prison
The village of Groot Drakenstein was probably established in the late 1850s. Following the acquisition of a number of fruit farms in the valley by Cecil John…
EventMargaret Rheeder is hung in Pretoria
Margaret Rheeder, found guilty of poisoning her husband, Benjamin Fredenman, was hung in Pretoria. On the morning of 27 April 1957 Rheeder went to a pharmacy…
EventSpringboks lose to the Lions
The South African national rugby team became known as the Springboks on their tour to Britain in 1906. Since those early years, teams from abroad repeatedly…
EventBoris Becker of West Germany beats Kevin Curren of SA at Wimbledon.
Boris Becker (17) of West Germany beat Kevin Curren (27) of South Africa at Wimbledon to become the youngest ever tennis champion. Becker beat Curren in the…
EventDick King returns home after securing help for Port Natal
Dick King (Richard Philip) returned to Port Natal on board the Conch after his heroic rescue operation. King, accompanied by his young after-rider Ndongeni as…
EventSpringboks wallop their Australian counterparts
The Springbok rugby team, nicknamed Amabokoboko, national team of South Africa under mentorship of Nick Mallett, registered an important victory over the…
EventSouth Africa concludes an agreement with the Marconi Company for a high
During the South African War in 1899, Marconi wireless equipment was tested in South Africa, with mixed results. Land-based military radio proved problematic,…
EventCongo Free State becomes the Belgian Congo
King Leopold II of Belgium handed over the Congo to the Belgian state on this date. Previously he held it as a private project undertaken to extract rubber and…
EventKing Mwanga of Uganda signs a contract with the British East Africa Company
Danieri Basammula-Ekkere Mwanga II, Mukasa beter known as King Mwanga II, was Kabaka of the kingdom of Bungada after the death of his father, Muteesa I in 1884…
EventNicolaas Jacobus Smit, Vice-President of the ZAR, is born in Graaff-Reinet.
Nicolaas Jacobus Smit, was the eldest child of Nicolaas Jacobus Smit, (descendent of Jan Smit and Adriana Tol) and Elizabeth Magdalena van der Merwe, …
EventRwandan and Burundian presidents J Habyarimana and C Ntayamira are killed in an air crash
0n 6 April 1994, an extraordinary event in the history of the African continent took place in Kigali, Rwanda when two presidents from two countries were…
PlaceBloemfontein City Hall
The Bloemfontein City Hall was built in 1935 and has a beautiful Italian style interior with an attractive sandstone exterior. The Bloemfontein City Hall Is a…
ArchiveGeneral History of Africa Collection
This groundbreaking work was the first of its type to present the entire history of the African continent. The collection sheds light on the pre-colonial era…
EventCheryl Carolus is born
Former South African High Commissioner in London, political activist and Chief Executive Officer of Tourism South Africa, Cheryl Carolus, was born in…
EventSA rugby team plays and wins the first test match against Ireland
On 30 May 1981, South Africa played its first rugby test match against Ireland at Newlands stadium in Cape Town. This game was particularly significant, as…
EventNdaweni Mahlangu causes a storm in political circles
Former Mpumalanga premier, Ndaweni Mahlangu, who replaced Matthews Phosa as the province's second premier, caused a storm within political circles with his now…
EventMax the gorilla is shot
A mountain gorilla, Max was shot and wounded as he grappled with a fleeing armed robber who jumped into his zoo enclosure. The suspect, Isaac Mofokeng, ducked…
EventHunter and politician Johannes Viljoen dies
Big-game hunter, commandant, politician and scout Johannes Willem Viljoen (Jan) died in the Marico district, Western Transvaal. Together with three other…
EventRhodes asks Charter for British South Africa Company
Cecil John Rhodes applies for a Charter from United Kingdom to establish the British South Africa Company. The Royal Charter was granted in October 1889, with…
EventGen. Louis Botha, soldier, statesman and first prime minister of the Union of South Africa, is born.
Gen. Louis Botha, soldier, statesman and first prime minister of the Union of South Africa, is born near Greytown, Natal (now kwaZulu Natal). A Boer…
EventWidespread violence and intimidation in 1996 Kwazulu-Natal
The prevalent violence in kwaZulu-Natal began with widespread interference during the voter registration process preceding the local government elections…
PlaceAliwal North, Eastern Cape
Town on the banks of the Orange River, some 195 km from Bloemfontein, on the road to to East London. It was founded in 1849 and named by the Governor of the…
PlaceClarkson, Eastern Cape
A Moravian Mission Village in the former Humansdorp District, 26 km South-East of Assegaaibos Railroad Station, located in Cacadu District Municipality. It…
ArticleChieftaincy and Kingship in South Africa
Introduction In a democratic society, the observance of chieftaincy faces many problems. One of the key issues relates to chieftaincy operating on principles…