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PlaceBotswana
The Republic of Botswana shares a common border with South Africa in the South, Namibia in the West and North, Zimbabwe in the East, and Zambia in the North…
PlaceAthlone - or Cape Flats, Cape Town
Athlone was once known as West London, but renamed in honour of a member of the British Royal family. It was during the 1930s that the Earl of Athlone, arrived…
EventViolence erupts in Bophuthatswana Townships and Kathlehong
Violence erupted when 50 000 (or 100 000 according to police) residents from GaRankuwa, Mabopane, Soshanguve and areas in the Odi district presented a petition…
Event46664 concert is held in Fancourt
The South African 46664 concert, 46664 being the prison number of South African president Nelson Mandela during the apartheid era, was staged at the exclusive…
EventGerhardus Cornelis Oosthuizen buys a section of land, which is later declared part of the Witwatersrand gold reef
On 6 April 1874, Gerhardus Cornelis Oosthuizen bought a section of the farm Langlaagte for £100. This farm would later be declared a part of the Witwatersrand…
Symposium: Memory in a time of freedom
Description of event: The District Six Museum, in partnership with the Steve Biko Foundation, is hosting a symposium entitled, "‘Memory in a time of freedom"…
EventNational Heritage Day celebrates South African cultural diversity
National Heritage Day is one of the newly created South African public holidays. The day was previously known as Shaka Day, and was celebrated in kwazulu/Natal…
EventThe first OK Bazaars opens on the corner of Eloff and President Street in Johannesburg
On 25 June 1927, Michael Miller and Sam Cohen opened the first OK Bazaars on Eloff and President Streets in Johannesburg. OK Bazaars went on to gain success as…
EventFake versions of the new South African banknotes hit the streets
On 7 February 2005, reports were issued of the use of fake versions of the then new South African banknotes. These came hardly a week after the latest currency…
EventThe longest cricket test match in history is played between South Africa and England in Durban
Today marks the anniversary of the longest cricket test match in history. The game was played between South Africa and England in Durban. The game continued…
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…
PlaceChapman's Peak Drive, Hout Bay to Fish Hoek
Chapman’s Peak is named after John Chapman, the Captain’s mate of an English ship, the 'Consent'. The Peak which can be seen from Hout Bay, was not named after…
Document 39 - “Walter Sisulu, “Boycott as a Political Weapon”, Liberation, 23, February 1957
From: South Africa's Radical Tradition, a documentary history, Volume Two 1943 - 1964, by Allison Drew Document 39 - “Walter Sisulu, "Boycott as a Political…
African farmers in Southern Africa
The first farmers For a period of time that is almost impossible to imagine, all the inhabitants of Southern Africa were Stone Age hunter-gatherers. Then about…
PlaceSoebatsfontein, Northern Cape
The name of this small Village ('fountain of pleading') comes from a Spring in the middle of the Village. Legend has it that a man named Hendrik Stievert…
EventAnti-apartheid activist Sister Bernard Ncube dies
On 31 August 2012, anti-Apartheid activist Sister Bernard Ncube died at the age of 80. She was a practicing Roman Catholic nun and was recruited into the anti…
PlaceSomerset Road, Green Point
The Settlement of Green Point was established sometime before June 1846, and in 1870 its name was changed to Somerset Road, presumably to differentiate it from…
PlaceDe Waal Park, Camp Street, Oranjezicht
The land was originally part of the van 'Breda Estate'' in Oranjezicht, and was purchased by the Town Council of Cape Town in 1877 for the building of the…
PlaceJan De Waal House, 93 Bree Street, Cape Town
Jan de Waal, born in Amsterdam, arrived at the Cape in 1715 as an employee of the Dutch East India Company The erf on which this double storey house stands was…
PlaceElaandslaagte, a Mission Station in Kwa Zulu Natal
Elandslaagte was a mission station of the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa, and was probably founded in about 1860. The 1875 census indicated that the…
EventProceedings against SA start in the International Court of Justice
Location: back to this day in history search archive South Africa received a mandate from the League of Nations over South West Africa (SWA) on 17 December…
EventMzwakhe Mbuli is sentenced to 13 years in jail
Mzwakhe Mbuli became known as the "people's poet" as a result of the style and content of his poetry. He covered issues like drugs and Apartheid and the former…
EventThe Rand Revolt breaks out
The end of World War I was followed by a global depression that affected South Africa as well. Soon after the war, in 1918 and 1919, Black workers across…
EventJack Penn, sculptor and one of the world’s best plastic surgeon is born
Jack Penn, a well known plastic and reconstructive surgeon, was born on 14 August 1909 in Cape Town. Penn later moved with his family to Johannesburg, where he…
EventGerman Lieutenant-General Lothar von Trotha lands in Swakopmund, South West Africa
The scorched earth campaign conducted by Germany against the Herero people in South West Africa (now known as Namibia) is considered among the first genocides…
EventMalawi voters take part in the first multiparty election in three decades
Present day Malawi became the British colony of Nyasaland in 1890, after aggressive diplomatic conflict with Germany. In 1964, Britain released the colony and…
EventRichard Horatio Edgar Wallace, South African author and newspaper editor, is born in Greenwich, England.
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was born on 1 April 1875 in Greenwich, England. Both his parents were actors. He started his career at the age of eleven working…
Nelson Mandela Correspondence around property and land
Introduction Nelson's attachment to property is sentimental rather than material and this is reflected in his attitude to his Orlando home and to land at his…
PlaceBergtheil House, 16 Queen’s Avenue, Westville
Named after Jonas Bergtheil, this museum is situated in the leafy suburb of Westville, almost midway between Durban and Pinetown. The museum is housed in…
PlaceCompensation, Settlement near Durban
Compensation is a Settlement 43 km North-East of Durban, on the route to Umhlali-Tongaat. The Area of Compensation got its name from Compensation Farm acquired…