SAHO global search
2,867 records
Sierra Leone’s Pre-colonial and Colonial era military and security forces
The study of armed forces in Africa tend focus on the contemporary peculiarities with little understanding of or regarding for the history of the nations,…
PlaceNtabankulu Municipality
The Portuguese arrived in the area in 1488, followed by the British in the 1820's. The region was the site of frequent wars and skirmishes between the Khoisan,…
ArticleFietas: Pageview timeline 1880-1988
This timeline is NOT complete. Any omissions are unintentional as this timeline is a work in progress that will be added to over time. Please click on the…
PlaceAllanridge, Free State Province
Allanridge is a Gold Mining Town in the Lejweleputswa District Municipality of the Free State province in South Africa, 34 km North of Welkom. It was founded…
PlaceSteve Biko Bridge, East London
Bridge across the Second Creek, East London, West of Buffalo Harbour. Named in honour of Balthazar John Vorster, 1915-1983. Former Prime Minister of the…
PlaceDonkin Heritage Trail, Port Elizabeth
This group of double-storey semi-detached houses with prominent Victorian and Georgian features was erected shortly after the turn of the 20th Century. It…
EventMpho Mathibela, one of the Siamese twins separated in an operation six months earlier, leaves hospital for the first time
Mpho and Mphonyana Mathibela made headlines when they were born conjoined at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on 7 December 1986.The twin girls were joined at…
EventNigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom
Nigeria gained independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960. And an Executive Council, made up entirely of Nigerians, was led by a Prime Minister,…
EventPolitical activist, Dr Yusuf Dadoo is re-elected President of Transvaal Indian Congress
The a son of a wealthy businessman, Yusuf Dadoo was all too familiar with the repressive political and social conditions that the Indian community lived under…
EventA national congress, under auspices of the Dutch Reformed Church, meets to discuss the ‘poor White problem’
The 'poor White problem' or the Armblankevraagstuk as it was referred to in Afrikaans, was a significant political issue in South Africa in the late 19th…
EventSouth African invention lands on the moon
Krugersdorp was the hometown of engineer George Pratley who founded the Pratley research group (PTY) and went on to invent Pratley Putty in the early 1960's…
EventA consumer boycott is called in Boksburg
The town councils of Vosloorus and Reiger Park staged a consumer boycott in Boksburg on the East Rand (now Ekurhuleni municipality, Gauteng). The boycott, by…
EventApartheid bomb kills Zimbabwean and injures six ANC members
On 10 January 1988, Mr Obed Amon Mwanza, a Zimbabwean, was killed and six African National Congress (ANC) members were injured when the truck in which Mwanza…
EventHalley’s Comet reaches the closest point to earth
Halley's Comet is named after the astronomer Edmund Halley, who in 1705 calculated the orbit of the comet around the sun. Halley was also the first astronomer…
EventScientists find the virus that may cause Aids.
On 23 April 1984 the discovery of a virus that may cause Acquired Immune deficiency Syndrome (Aids) the disease that destroys blood cells, leaving its victims…
EventSouth Africa’s first democratic elections
Following a series of tense negotiations and years of liberation struggle, the first democratic election was held in South Africa on the 27th April, 1994. This…
EventMolly Blackburn, political activist and civil rights campaigner is killed in a car accident
Molly Blackburn was a political activist who joined the Black Sash in 1955. She later left black Sash when she felt that the group was not very active. She…
EventPieter-Dirk Uys, SA activist, satirist, playwright and novelist, is born in Cape Town
Pieter Dirk Uys was born in Cape Town in 1945. He studied drama at UCT from 1965 to 1965 before going to study at the London Film School. During the 1970s and…
EventZulu army defeat British Army at the Isandlwana Mountain
On 22 January 1879, the British Army suffered its greatest defeat in Africa when 24,000 Zulu soldiers overran a British camp of 1 800 near Isandlwana Mountain…
ArticleA Luta Continua Dialogues, Episode 1: Student Activism
Including Qondiswa James, Mbali Williams, Mihla Hanise, Anya Isabel, Kas and Hunter Hosted by Didintle Ntsie Filmed 5 September 2020 Broadcasted 6…
EventBeatles records are banned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), due to John Lennon's previous 'Jesus' comments
In early 1966 John Lennon was reading about Christianity and when he was interviewed by Maureen Cleave for the London Evening Stadard on 4 March, said: …
ArticleKKNK – Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees
The Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (abbreviated to KKNK) is a national arts festival with a primary focus on Afrikaans language in performing arts held…
ArticleThe 52nd ANC National Conference - Polokwane 2007
The 52nd African National Congress (ANC) National Conference took place from 16 – 20 December 2007 at the University of Limpopo in Polokwane. This conference…
First Matabele War
In 1890 Cecil John Rhodes became premier of South Africa with the support of the Afrikaner Bond. Rhodes' grand imperial vision for a British Africa included…
Turning-point elections in South Africa, 1910 - 2009
Regular elections have been a feature of South Africa’s political landscape since the establishment of Union of South Africa in 1910. With the adoption of the…
ArticleThe Inquest into Biko’s Death and his funeral
Prior to Biko's inquest, magistrates had declined to examine the interrogation methods used, and had attributed detention deaths to natural causes, suicides or…
ArticleAnti-Indian Legislation
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Harry Escombe became one of the most prominent White politicians in the Colony of Natal. Initially he pursued a…
ArticleArt South Africa Today exhibitions
In May 1963, the Cape Times announced the launch of ‘a national art exhibition, open to South African artists of all races’. The first iteration of Art South…
ArticleThe History of Al-Shabaab
Origins The organisation known as Al-Shabaab originally emerged from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) movement in Somalia. The ICU began as a loose grouping of…
ArticleNdebele architecture and settlement patterns
Glossary of Ndebele building terms APOKORWAN - Eaves overhang AMAKAPA - Roof AMAKAPA IBALELO - Timber roof rafter AMAOBA - Enclosed room located in the…