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Indian South Africans timeline 1950-1959
Indian South Africans Timeline: 1950-1959 1950 A.K.M. Docrat, a popular activist, was named under the Suppression of Communism Act. He was jailed for thirty…
Extract from a speech made at Heilbron on 16 August 1968
Adv. Vorster once referred to this speech as his "political confession". 1 It was in his second year as Prime Minister that Adv. Vorster made this now well…
ArticleThe History of LGBT legislation
Introduction Discriminatory, separate and oppressive, these are words that were used to explain South Africa’s Apartheid regime, which officially lasted from…
Gertrude Fester Biography by Nehal Patel
This article was written by Nehal Patel and forms part of the SAHO and Southern Methodist University partnership project Gertrude Fester Biography Abstract …
The Rise of Women’s Trade Unionism in South Africa by Peter LaNasa
This article was written by Peter LaNasa and forms part of the SAHO and Southern Methodist University partnership project Abstract: This essay discusses…
‘Just say yes, Mr President’: Mbeki and AIDS by Anthony Brink A PROSPECTUS
‘”¦ when historians assess the democratic credentials of Thabo Mbeki’s government in future, it is likely that their most critical attentions will focus on its…
48. Breach of the compromise
From the book: A Documentary History of Indian South Africans edited by Surendra Bhana and Bridglal Pachai A mass meeting was held in Johannesburg on 24…
ArticleXhosa
The four major ethnic divisions among Black South Africans are the Nguni, Sotho, Shangaan-Tsonga and Venda. The Nguni represent nearly two thirds of South…
ArticleForced removals on Highveld and "black spots", 1912-1991
In the early 1960s the Apartheid government moved swiftly to dislodge numerous Black communities on the Transvaal Highveld occupying land in what was…
Document 58 - Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, “The Opening Address at the Africanist Inaugural Convention”, 4 April 1959 [….]
From: South Africa's Radical Tradition, a documentary history, Volume Two 1943 - 1964, by Allison Drew Document 58 - Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, "The Opening…
Discovery of the Gold in 1884
The first recorded discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand was made by Jan Gerrit Bantjes in June 1884, on the farm Vogelstruisfontein, and was followed soon…
ArticleMessage of the National Executive Committee of the ANC, delivered by Mr. Tambo, at the funeral of Dr. Yusuf M. Dadoo
1 September 1983, London We are gathered here to pay homage to an outstanding leader of the African liberatory struggle, a comrade and friend who devoted…
Women at the start of the 20th century
It is only over the last three or four decades that women's role in the history of South Africa has, belatedly, been given some recognition. Previously the…
ArticleIsitwalandwe/Seaparankwe Award
Isitwalandwe/Seaparankwe is the highest honour awarded by the people of South Africa, through the African National Congress, to those who have made an…
Grade 4 Archive
This archive features classroom material that is no longer required in the curriculum. Origins of major world religions reflected in SA: Religion is an…
Natal Performing Arts Council (NAPAC)
NAPAC was founded on 25 July 1963 under Chris Lombard as the first director. The first office premises were two small offices in Acutt Street, Durban. They…
ArticleOvercoming Adversity from All Angles: The Struggle of the Domestic Worker during Apartheid by Bennett Gwynn
This article was written by Bennett Gwynn and forms part of the SAHO and Southern Methodist University partnership project Overcoming Adversity from All…
Interview with Archibald Gumede 29 July 1990
POM When we were talking to one of the people yesterday in one of the townships, we talked to one 15 year old boy and I asked him would he have been…
EventHaile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, warns the League of Nations that he is going to mobilise his forces after threats of invasion by Italy
Ethiopia had been one of the few states to survive "the scramble for Africa" by the major European powers in the late 19th century. Both Italy and Ethiopia…
ArticleXenophobic violence in democratic South Africa timeline
1994 to 1995 In December 1994 and January 1995, armed youth gangs in Alexandra Township outside of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, destroyed the homes and…
Dealing with the past and facing the future
The text that follows is a brief summary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. You can read far more detail by going to SAHO's TRC feature In an…
ArchiveThe exilic geographies of the South by Benjamin N. Lawrance and Vusumuzi R. Kumalo
In August 1960, Dugmore Boetie fled South Africa and entered Bechuanaland (present day Botswana) on foot. He was part of a flow of “discontented young men”…
ArchiveAssia Djebar: A Life of Resistance and Inspiration by Logan Landry
Life Fatima Zohra Imalayen was born in 1936 in the town of Cherchell, Algeria (Chronology Assia Djebar 1996). She grew up learning both Arabic and French…
ArticleHow Unique was Slavery at the Cape?
The first slaves arrived at the Cape in 1658, despite Jan van Riebeeck's several prior attempts at requesting slaves for the settlement from the Heren XVII. On…
Observatory - Steeped in History and Heritage by Patric Mallet
A couple of days back I had a dream where I visited the renovated premises of my once favourite shop as a kid in Salt River just around the corner from where I…
ArchiveRootedness and Openness in The Life and Works of Véronique Tadjo (b. 1955) by Tim Steckler
“The truth is revealed in people’s eyes. Words have so little value. You need to get under people’s skins. See what is inside.”[1] -The Shadow of Imana:…
ArticleLand, Labour and Apartheid
Land and labour are two very important elements of the economic development of a society, and the way they are used will influence how the society develops. In…
ArticleBlack South African literature
The origins of Black South African literature in English lie in the Eastern Cape. The Glasgow Missionary Society founded the school of Lovedale at Alice in the…
ArticleA history of Apartheid in South Africa
Background and policy of apartheidBefore we can look at the history of the apartheid period it is necessary to understand what apartheid was and how it…
Apartheid - A Crime Against Humanity: The Unfolding of Total Strategy 1948-1989
The content of this article was taken from the book A Crime Against Humanity - Analysing the Repression of the Apartheid State edited by Max Coleman, (Cape…