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Ruth First Untold by Jerry Saena
This article was written by Jerry Saena and forms part of the SAHO and Southern Methodist University partnership project Abstract: Ruth Heloise First was a…
EventNapoleon assembles his army near Aboukir, Egypt
The First Battle of Aboukir was a decisive victory for the French and secured France's occupation of Eqypt. In June 1798 Napoleon's army departed France to…
ArticleThe Union of South Africa 1910
Towards Union It is often assumed that the discovery of gold at the Rand was the chief cause of the South African War. This is not completely true, as…
ArticleWorld War I and the South African Native Labour Contingent
The South African Native Labour Contingent (SANLC) was formed in 1916 in response to a request from the British Imperial Government for an African labour force…
ArticleSouth African Coloured People Organisation (SACPO)
Like all other Black ethnic groups, the Coloureds also fell victim to segregation and repressive legislations enacted by Colonial and successive governments…
A new class struggle
While historians are generally in agreement that the main anti-Indian feeling in South Africa was directed towards the merchant class, these sentiments were…
ArticleYoung Communist League of South Africa (YCLSA)
The history of the Young Communist League (YCL) dates back to 1921, although the organisation observes 25 May 1922 as the date of its official formation…
ArticleWomen’s Role in the Negotiations by Nicole Dellaportas
This article was written by Nicole Dellaportas and forms part of the SAHO and Southern Methodist University partnership project Women’s Role in the…
ArticleThe Destruction of Sophiatown
Apartheid's Truimph Over Non-Racialism The destruction of Sophiatown is widely documented, considered as the Nationalist Party (NP) government's model for its…
ArticleApartheid crumbles, Women in the turmoil of the 1980s
The 1980s saw escalating state repression and mass detentions. In a frenzy of desperate reaction, the government declared a series of back-to-back states of…
ArticleMaps of Africa through the centuries
As Africa was largely unexplored by Europeans for many centuries the maps that were created were by and large grossly inaccurate. They are still a fascinating…
ArticleThe 1992 Whites only referendum ‘For’ or ‘Against’ a negotiated constitution
On 17 March 1992, President Frederick Willem de Klerk announced the results of a referendum in which only white people were allowed to participate. The aim of…
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…
Article”People’s Power!”, 1986
In January 1986, the UDF met the African National Congress (ANC) for talks in Stockholm. It was at these talks that the position and future role of the UDF…
ArticleSona Patterns - Revisiting the Contributions of the People in Sub-Saharan Africa to Modern Mathematics
To many, modern mathematics and Africa are not synonymous. Open any school mathematics book and the role of African scholars has been relegated to the category…
PlaceKwazulu Natal Province
The homeland of KwaZulu (or place of the Zulu) was granted self-government under apartheid on 1 December 1977. According to the apartheid social planner’s…
PlaceNZASM Goods Office, Railway Street, Pretoria
The building was erected by the Netherlands-South Africa Railway Co, probably in 1896, and is the largest and best remaining example of the Company's…
Event”Ghetto Act” or The Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act No 28 of 1946 is passed
The "Ghetto Act" was designed to curtail Indian property ownership in White areas in Natal. Natal was divided into controlled and uncontrolled areas. The…
EventKader Asmal, political activist and future Member of Parliament, is born
Kader Asmal political activist, human rights lawyer, former Minister of Education (1999-2004) and of Water Affairs and Forestry (1994-1999); is born in Stanger…
EventNamibia gains Independence
Namibia or South West Africa, as it was called while it was a German territory was placed under the South African administration by the League of Nations after…
EventApartheid police officers admit to the killing of Biko before the TRC
Four apartheid-era police officers, including police Colonel Gideon Nieuwoudt who appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) admitted their…
Cable to the United Nations Opposing Incorporation of South-West Africa, by Dr. A.B. Xuma, January 1946
"Protest against [proposed] incorporation South West Africa into Union" The Chairman General Assembly United Nations Organisation West Minister London…
PlaceWupperthal Mission Station, Clanwilliam
Wuppertal is a most attractive oasis in a very rugged wilderness, 72 km southeast of Clanwilliam and about 250 km from Cape Town. This picturesque place has…
Document 38 - “How to Build o Revolutionary Mass Party in South Africa: A letter from the Executive Committee of the Communist International, “Umsebenzi, 12 December 1930
From: South Africa's Radical Tradition, a documentary history, Volume One 1907 - 1950, by Allison Drew Document 38 - "How to Build o Revolutionary Mass…
David Goldblatt: oblique apartheid look by Kenneth Baker, 5 December 2012
"South Africa in Apartheid and After: David Goldblatt, Ernest Cole, Billy Monk," which opened at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art last weekend, will…
January 8th Statements - Statement of the National Executive Committee on the occasion of the 78th Anniversary of the ANC - 8 January 1990
Compatriots and comrades; Brothers and sisters: A New Year is upon us. The President of your movement, the ANC, Comrade Oliver Tambo, is unable to…
How to Approach Heaven by Jon Soske (Chimurenga Magazine)
The struggle for freedom is a reckless, foolish and sacrosanct adventure—so believed Albert Luthuli, president of the African National Congress from 1952-1968…
ArticleThe History of Education: 1658 to present
± 1000 BCE (Pre-colonial) Late Stone Age people (San/Tsam//Xam) teach their children how to hunt and gather food, skin animals, prepare and cook food and…
PlaceRust en Vreugd, Buitenkant Street, Cape Town
The original date of construction of the dwelling has not been definitely established but it is assumed that it was built, in its present form, by Willem…
PlaceKroondal, Rustenburg
Kroondal, situated on a farm, was one of 22 German Lutheran mission congregations established in the former Natal and Transvaal. The farm Kroondal, which was…