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EventUN report accuses Katangan President and Congo President of conspiracy to murder Patrice Lumumba
On 14 November 1961 Katangan President, Moise Tshombe, and Congo President, Joseph Kasavubu, were accused of conspiracy to murder ex-premier Patrice Lumumba in…
EventSimon Petros Matseke, prominent in African social and political life, dies in Pretoria
Peter Matseke was born in 1878 in Pretoria. When the Anglo-Boer War broke out, he was drafted as driver for Boer Commandos. Through that experience, he learnt…
Known as Black Tuesday’, the New York Stock exchange collapsed sending economic shockwaves throughout the world and throwing the global economy into depression
Tuesday, 29th October 1929, saw the world's economy go into recession as the New York Stock Exchange collapsed and saw shocked investors withdraw their…
EventWiehahn Commission Report tabled in parliament
On 1 May 1979, the first interim report of the Wiehahn Commission is tabled in Parliament. The Wiehahn Commission was set up by the government after the Durban…
EventEgyptian President Anwar Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Carter begin a Middle East peace conference at Camp David, Maryland
The three heads of state met for 13 days of secret meetings at Camp Devid, the Presidential Retreat in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland, about 100 kilometers…
EventIvory Coast’s new prime minister, Daniel Kablan Duncan, takes office
After emerging as an independent country following French colonization, Ivory Coast came under the leadership of Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Known as the father of…
EventThe first museum is opened in Soweto, and is named after Hector Pieterson, one of the first casualties of the 16 June 1976 Soweto uprising.
The Hector Pieterson Museum, the first museum in Soweto, was opened on 16 June 2002. The Museum is situated on Kumalo Street in Orlando West, and is named…
EventFirst air flight from London to South Africa
By the 1920s, the development of heavier than air flight had progressed considerably, partly due to the outbreak of World War One. Britain, having emerged…
EventKing Moshoeshoe II is reinstated as King of Lesotho
On 25 January 1995, King Moshoeshoe II was formally reinstated as King of Lesotho. Moshoeshoe had a turbulent reign over Lesotho as he was twice dethroned,…
EventHaile Selassie, deposed Ethiopian emperor, dies
Haile Selassie was born Lij Tafari Makonnen, in the village of Ejersa Gor, in the Harar Province of Ethiopia. Heir to a 13th century dynasty, he ascended to…
Address by his excellency, President Jacob Zuma at the 50th Anniversary of the Mpondo Revolt of 1960, 07 June 2010, Ingquza Hill, Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape
Hon Minister Sicelo Shiceka; Hon Premier Kiviet; Members of the Provincial Executive present; Mayors of OR Tambo and Ingquza Hill Municipalities; Hon…
86. Non-racial sport
From the book: A Documentary History of Indian South Africans edited by Surendra Bhana and Bridglal Pachai The South African Cricket Board (SACB), which is…
ArticleEuropean missionaries in southern Africa: the role of the missionaries
"Without doubt it is a far more costly thing to kill the (indigenous population) than to Christianise them." (Warneck 1888) European missionaries to…
EventThe first flight in Kimberley takes off
In 1907, four years prior to flying on his aeroplane in Kimberley, John Weston embarked on the construction of his own aeroplane in Brandfort, in the Orange…
PlaceOld Arts Building, University of Pretoria
The University of Pretoria Museums are celebrating another milestone, as the Old Arts Building was declared a museum in June 1982. The foundation stone for…
EventPretoria is proposed as the new capital of ZAR
The seat of government of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR), or the old Transvaal, was transferred from Potchefstroom to Pretoria in 1860. With the city…
EventThe University of the Orange Free State is founded in Bloemfontein
The University of the Free State was founded on 18 March 1950. The institution began as a small college in what was then the Orange River Colony, called the…
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…
EventSir Ronald Ross, discoverer of the malaria mosquito is born
Sir Ronald Ross the discoverer of the malaria mosquito was born in Almora, India in 1857. After graduating in medicine, he entered St Bartholomew’s Hospital…
PlaceUmlazi
History of Umlazi The history of Umlazi (or Mlazi) dates back to 1845 when British settlers forcibly occupied what was then Natal (now KwaZulu Natal ) and…
PlaceKwaMashu
The development of KwaMashu Township, in the KwaZulu-Natal province and located some 19km north of Durban, resulted from the mass resettlement of the slum…
Exploring Student-Worker Alliance: the role of COSAS in trade unions, 1979-1985 by Noor Nieftagodien
This paper was submitted to the 1973 Durban Strikes Celebrating 50 Years Conference Abstract Exploring Student-Worker Alliance: the role of COSAS…
Dr Mamphela Ramphele interviewed by Rupert Taylor, 16 April 1998, Cape Town
Dr Mamphela Ramphele 16/4/98, Cape Town interviewed by Rupert Taylor Taylor: What is the nature of the conflict? Ramphele: I’ll take issue with the…
Biography of Caiphus Semenya
Caiphus Semenya is a South African composer, musician, and arranger that became known for his musical work while living in Southern California during South…
Origins: Formation, Sharpeville and banning, 1959-1960
For many years there was tension within the African National Congress (ANC) between those with different ideological and theoretical views. One of these views…
ArticleNational symbols such as the Coat of Arms and the National Anthem
National Symbols since 1994In South Africa, we have a perse number of people and cultures, but we are all South African. National symbols such as a national…
PlaceAlgiers, Capital of Algeria
Presumed to be named after the Harbour City, on the West side of the Bay of Algiers, Capital City of Algeria. Algiers is the urban area of Ganyesa, which is a…
PlaceOriental Plaza, Fordsburg, Johannesburg
Indoor bazaar with shops selling bargains from clothing to home-ware to spices, plus food stalls. Established in the Johannesburg suburb of Fordsburg in the…
EventThe Defiance Campaign against apartheid laws begins
Following the adoption of a Programme of Action in the 1949 annual congress, the ANC began the 1950s with mass action campaigns marked by boycotts, strikes and…
EventSouth African poet, writer and political activist, Mafika Pascal Gwala is born in Durban.
Mafika Pascal Gwala was born on 5 October 1946 in Verulam, north of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. He is the second child of five children of his parents. He…