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EventVaal Triangle erupts in violence
Boipatong, Bophelong, Evaton, Sebokeng and Sharpeville, five Black townships in the area known as the Vaal Triangle exploded into what some have described as a…
EventPaul Biya becomes president of Cameroon
Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned as president of Cameroon, he was replaced by Paul Biya, the current Prime Minister. Ahidjo handpicked Biya to replace him after he had…
EventProgressive Federal Party is formed
The Progressive Reform Party of South Africa and the 'Japie' Basson dissident group of United Party (UP) members merged to form the Progressive Federal Party …
EventTranskei gains complete independence
The oldest of the independent homelands, Transkei, gained complete independence as an autonomous republic under the policy of separate development. At its…
EventJacob Matlala, SA flyweight, wins the World Boxing Organisation world champion title
On 15 May 1993, Jacob "Baby Jake" Matlala, won the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) world champion title. Matlala had been introduced to boxing at a young age…
EventGoldstone report on police shootings in Sebokeng is released
The report of the inquiry, led by Justice Richard Goldstone, into the shooting by the police of anti-Apartheid protesters in the township of Sebokeng on 26…
EventRamaphosa and Motlatsi are arrested
First general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Cyril Ramaphosa, and its president, James Motlatsi, were arrested in Newcastle, Natal. The…
EventConstable Vlotman is given a R500 fine and a five year suspension sentence
On 18 January 1987, Constable Vlotman a member of the South African Police Services (SAPS) who assaulted three journalists in Athlone, Cape Town, in September…
EventA Xhosa film wins Golden Bear award
The South African Xhosa film uCarmen eKhayelitsha became the second South African movie to compete and first to win the Golden Bear award as the best film at…
EventSix SA Tsunami survivors arrive at Lanseria
Six injured South African survivors of the tsunami in Thailand arrived at Lanseria airport on board a rescue flight from Bangkok. The tsunamis were set off a…
EventPatricia de Lille testifies at Schabir Shaik’s trial
At the time, leader of the Independent Democrats, Patricia de Lille, finally took the stand at the Durban High Court to testify in the fraud and corruption…
EventThe ANC leader in the KwaZulu Natal midlands, Sifiso Nkabinde, is expelled from the ANC
Sifiso Nkabinde was expelled on the 7 April 1997 for allegedly being a spy for the Apartheid regime and for fomenting violence between African National…
EventSouth African Police announce arrest of serial killer
The South African Police in Pretoria announced the arrest of Moses Sithole, named the country's most wanted man at the time. Sithole, thirty-one years of age…
EventTrader and art collector Habib Rajab is born
Habib Mohamed (A.M.) Rajab was born in Durban. He was a trader and collector of oriental art, remembered for his role in preventing the Grey Street complex…
EventReport released on the Waratah steamship's disappearance
A report was released in London about the disappearance of the Waratah between Durban and Cape Town. The twin-screw passenger and cargo steamship, one of the…
EventMoses Josiah Madiba is born
Moses Josiah Madiba, the author, educationist and first African chancellor of the University of the North, was born at Uitvlucht, Pietersburg (now Polokwane)…
EventThe mayor of Cape Town, Hyman Lieberman, opens the Great Synagogue in the Gardens, Cape Town
Cape Town has a substantial Jewish community, the majority of who are descendents of Lithuanian immigrants. By 1863, the Jewish congregation in Cape Town had…
EventThe Great Comet of 1901
On 24 April 1901 a comet that became known as 'The Great Comet of 1901' or 'Viscara' was visible to the naked eye over most of South Africa. The comet was…
EventMary Elizabeth Barber, pioneer naturalist, dies
On 4 September 1899, an 1820 Settler and early South African naturalist, Mary Elizabeth Barber died in Malvern, Natal Province (now known as Kwazulu Natal)…
EventTraditional Bushman artist Vetkat Regopstaan Kruiper, aged 38, dies suddenly from natural causes
Regopstaan Kruiper, also known as Vetkat, was a prolific artist. He was born at the camp Twee Rivieren in the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park (now Kgalagadi…
EventMa Tambo dies in Johannesburg
Adelaide Frances Tambo (77), widow of former African National Congress (ANC) leader Oliver Tambo, died at her home in Johannesburg. Ma Tambo, as she was…
EventBoers defeat British in the battle of Ingogo (Anglo-Boer War 1)
During the Anglo-Boer War 1- also called Transvaal War of Independence or Anglo-Transvaal War- a Boer force of about 200 (under General Nicolaas Smit) defeated…
EventExplorer Karl Gottlieb Mauch dies
German explorer Karl Gottlieb Mauch, allegedly the first person to discover gold in South Africa, died in poverty in Stuttgart, Germany. He made geologic and…
EventPieter Jacobs Marais reports discovery of gold
Pieter Jacobs Marais reports his discovery of alluvial gold in the Jukskei River on B.J. Liebenberg's farm, Bultfontein, in 1853. The site was just north of…
EventMalawi’s Kamuzu Banda losses election
Malawi's first President Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda since independence from Britain in 1964 concedes defeat to Bakili Muluzi in the country's first multi-party…
EventSixty ANC refugees are airlifted out of Lesotho
Sixty African National Congress (ANC) refugees are airlifted out of Lesotho to counter South Africa's threat of a blockade against that country. A year before…
EventLindiwe Sisulu is detained
On 13 June 1976, Lindiwe Nonceba Sisulu was detained for her involvement in political activities. The police suspected her of being in possessions of the then…
EventThe force of the Union of South Africa enters Windhoek, capital of South West Africa.
After the outbreak of World War I, there was immediate fighting in different parts of the world. On 11 May 1915, South African troops entered Windhoek, the…
EventSA actress, Ashley Callie dies
Actress Ashley Callie, most famous for her portrayal of Leonie Haines in the soap opera Isidingo, died on 15 February 2008. Callie was involved in a head on…
EventFeminist writer and activist, Diana E. H. Russell is born
Diana E.H. Russell was born in Cape Town on 6 November 1938. Her mother was British and her father South African. After completing her bachelors degree at the…