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Biography of Arthur Nortje by Kangkang Yang
Abstract: For most of his life, Arthur Nortje’s poetry remained relatively unknown, especially since he died very young at 28. Activist Dennis Brutus called…
ArticleThe Black Sash: A History of Transformation
This article was written by Ashley Schumacher and forms part of the SAHO and Southern Methodist University partnership project During the year of 1955 in…
ArticleThe Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire was one of the most powerful states in the world during the 15th and 16th centuries. It lasted until the 20th century. …
ArticleANC and the early development of apartheid 1948-1950s
In 1948 the Nationalist Party (NP) won the election, and began to introduce the policy of apartheid. The African National Congress (ANC) reacted immediately to…
ArticleWestern Cape Youth Uprising timeline 1976
1976 16 June, Extra police patrols are deployed. 24 June, The Principal's office in Hlangisi Primary (Nyanga) was burnt out and the following day the same…
ArticleAfrikaner Broederbond
On 5 June 1918 disaffected Afrikaners were brought together in a new organisation called Jong Suid-Afrika (Young South Africa). The following year its name was…
ArticleThe Homelands
The Bantustans or homelands, established by the Apartheid Government, were areas to which the majority of the Blacks population was moved to prevent them from…
ArticlePretoria (Tshwane): The Naming of a City
Introduction Pretoria is located in the north east of South Africa, to the north of Gauteng, and 60 Kilometres away from the north east of Johannesburg [i] …
ArticleThe Cattle Killing Movement
1. Introduction ↵The value of history is derived from its obligation to view all factors and clues of the past that lead up to one particular moment, event or…
ArticleMedu Art Ensemble
In 1977, a group of "cultural workers"from the townships fled into exile in Gaborone, Botswana; including Molefe Pheto, from Mhloti Theatre. Thami Mnyele…
Prehistory: Pre colonial farmers in Gauteng
Prehistory of Southern AfricaFarming people did not inhabit the Greater Johannesburg region until the Late Iron Age. Then, beginning in the 15th century,…
ArticleThe death of Samora Machel
This feature celebrates Samora Machel and examines the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death and acknowledges the contribution that he made to…
ArticleThe Crackdown on the Black Consciousness Movement in 1973
The period after the Sharpeville Massacre and the banning of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan African Congress (PAC), especially after the…
ArticleStrong and Unnoticed: The Women of the UDF by Reid Arnold
Abstract The UDF was an umbrella organization that was founded to unify the hundreds of Anti-Apartheid movements occurring in the 1980s. Female leaders such…
ArticleAzanian People’s Organization (AZAPO)
In aftermath of the June 16 Uprising, the government cracked down on student activists and organisations alike. On 19 October 1977 the Black Consciousness…
Indian Community in Lenasia
From the very beginning, settlement in Lenasia was a contentious issue, driven with debates about race, class, collaboration with and resistance to apartheid…
ArticleAn Introduction to Sophiatown
In 1899, an investor named Herman Tobiansky envisaged a pleasant white suburb that could be developed on a site to the West of Johannesburg. It was some way…
ArticleCelebrating Freedom and Democracy
The relationship between our Constitution and other laws The Constitution is a law passed by Parliament and it is the highest law in the land. All other laws…
SAAAH: “Reception / Perception”
Post-structuralist discourse has resulted in a shift in emphasis from the author to the reader, or the production of art to its reception. Reception/perception…
ArticleGeneral South African History Timeline: 1800s
1799-1802 Khoi-San rise up in an unsuccessful but protracted rebellion in the eastern districts of the Cape in what becomes known as the Third War of…
Control: 1910 - 1948
Intervention from Above: The 1913 Native Land Act "Awaking on Friday morning, June 20, 1913, the South African Native found himself, not actually a slave,…
ArticleThe Angolan Civil War (1975-2002): A Brief History
The overthrow of Portugal’s Prime Minister, Marcello Caetano, on 25 April 1974 hailed a watershed moment for the former Portuguese colonies of Mozambique,…
Article1910-1924: African nationalism and working-class and popular protests
Introduction General Louis Botha headed the first government of the new Union of South Africa, with General Jan Smuts as his deputy. Their South African…
ArticleWomen in the Cities and the Resistance Movement
ArticleBritain takes control of the Cape
The arrival of the British at the Cape changed the lives of the people that were already living there. Initially British control was aimed to protect the trade…
The ANC Women’s League in the Struggle for Women’s Rights in South Africa by Meghan Knapp
This article was written by Meghan Knapp and forms part of the SAHO and Southern Methodist University partnership project Abstract The African National…
ArticleAfrican nationalism and working-class & popular protests, 1910-1924
General Louis Botha headed the first government of the new Union of South Africa, with General Jan Smuts as his deputy. Their South African National Party,…
Fortieth Anniversary of the 1946 Mine Strike
You are here: homehome libraryarticles & documents A Distant clap of thunder: Fortieth Anniversary of the 1946 Mine Strike A Salute by the South…
ArticleMusic and culture as forms of resistance
Music Music was a central feature of the urban culture that developed in Johannesburg and in Sophiatown in particular. It was here that the most important…
ArticleSouth African Constitution: The Bill of Rights
On 21 March, South Africa celebrates Human Rights Day. This day is a commemoration of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre and how far the nation has come in the…