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ArchiveLetter to Petros Sipho Mkhize from his father in Macambini, KwaZulu-Natal
A two-page handwritten letter in isiZulu on green paper, headed with the address of Mathubesizwe Secondary School, Nyoni (Macambini), with "Bethel Mission"…
EventGovernment's final consolidation of 'homelands'
The Nationalist party government announced its intention to consolidate the total number of separate 'homeland' areas from 113 to 36. The homelands were…
EventBarend Strydom kills 8 People in Pretoria
On 15 November 1988, 21 year-old Barend Strydom went on a killing spree with his pistol and attempted to shoot every Black person he encountered. He killed 8…
ArchiveInterview with Lybon Tiyani Mabasa
Interview with Lybon Tiyani Mabasa, a leader in the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) at the time of this interview, was born in 1952 and graduated from…
EventAlbert Luthuli is elected as an ANC President
The African National Congress (ANC) was founded as the SANCC in 1912. John Dube was its first president, and the well known writer and poet, Sol Plaatje, was…
EventChurch Council meets PW Botha over unrest
A delegation of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) met with President P W Botha and other government leaders, following calls by the church for…
EventThe Motsuenyane Commission finds the African National Congress (ANC) guilty of abuse in its camps
Human rights abuses were common in South Africa during the apartheid era and the liberation struggle was aimed at bringing these abuses to an end. When…
EventThree Zimbabwean intelligence officers stand trial for a bomb attack on an ANC house
Kevin Woods, Michael Smith and Philip Conjwayo were arrested in Zimbabwe in connection with the bombing that killed the driver of the car transporting the bomb…
EventJean van der Poel dies in Cape Town.
Jean Van der Poel was a historian and teacher who played an important role in the South African Teachers' Association and undertook several major historical…
EventUnited Nations lifts arms embargo on South Africa
Following the election of Nelson Mandela as president of the government of National Unity, the United Nations (UN) Security Council finally lifted the arms…
Pietie Norval was born on this day
Pieter ‘Pietie’ Norval was born on 7 April 1970 in Belleville.[i] He began playing tennis at the age of 7 years old, and turned professional at 18.[ii] Norval…
EventWilhelmina Johanna (Wilma) Stockenström is born
Wilma Stockenstrom is a significant and gifted female Afrikaans writer, whose work has been translated into several other languages. Wilma studied Drama at…
EventUnited Nations Charter is adopted
The United Nations Charter was adopted in San Francisco by the United Nations Conference on International Organisations. The preamble to the charter was based…
EventS.P. Botha, Minister of Water Affairs, proposes new schemes to ease the Western Cape’s water supply problem
S.P. Botha, Minister of Water Affairs, proposes new schemes to ease the Western Cape's water supply problem During his opening of the Cape Show on 4 March 1970…
PlaceWallacedene, Cape Town
Wallacedene is an Informal Housing Settlement in the Eastern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. The Settlement was established during the 1980s when the…
ArticleChanges in modern forms of communication
The Postal system The act of sending letters from one person to another developed soon after the invention of writing, however, the creation of a formal…
ArchiveThe Man Before Mandela by Steven Gish
Few alumni know this, but one of South Africa’s most important civil rights leaders is part of the University of Minnesota family. One hundred years ago,…
ArticleGrade 9 - Term 4: Turning points in modern South African History since 1948
For this complex period to be studied, the Sharpeville massacre, Soweto uprising and the release of Nelson Mandela and unbanning of liberation movements have…
America, Spanish conquest
All the content in this America section was developed from 2003 lessons, namely; – America in the 1500s – The Slave TradeThe content below has been modified…
EventLlewellyn Herbert was born on this day
Llewellyn George Herbert was born on 21 July 1977 in Bethal, Mpumalanga.[i] Herbert was the South African 400 metre hurdle champion from 1996 to 2003.[ii] He…
PlaceAlberton, Germiston
Town 6 km West of Germiston and 11 km South of Johannesburg. It was laid out on the Farm, Elandsfontein in 1904. Named after General Hendrick Abraham Alberts,…
EventThe British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announces that a mysterious epidemic (AIDS) is causing increasing concern in the United States
December is known worldwide as AIDS Day due to the epidemic's existence worldwide. Research into AIDS has dramatically improved the diagnosis and treatment of…
EventSouth African Communist Party leader Abram Fischer is sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of communism
During the 1940s, Bram Fischer served on the Johannesburg District Committee and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of South Africa (later SACP). In…
EventSouth Africa, Cuba and Angola Sign formal peace agreement, allowing Namibian independence from South Africa
The agreement was the culmination of months of intense diplomatic efforts brokered by the United States. South African President P.W. Botha proclaimed, "A new…
EventSA judge jails former state assassin Eugene de Kock for more than 200 years
During the Apartheid regime, Eugene de Kock was a colonel in the South African Police force. He acted as the commander of a counter-insurgency group located on…
EventFormer South African Prime Minister and State President John Vorster is born
Former South African Prime Minister and State President, Balthazar John Vorster was born in in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape on 13 December 1915. Vorster began…
EventSir Bartle Frere, the new British High Commissioner delivers an ultimatum to Cetshwayo the Zulu king to disband his army’
The newly appointed British High Commissioner for Southern Africa delivers to Cetshwayo the Zulu king to disband his army, handover offenders. Frere who was…
EventSouth African Defence Force (SADF) raid Maseru in an effort to kill suspected members of the African National Congress
In the early hours of December 9th, 1982, South African Defence Force commandos crossed the border into Lesotho. Their target was a cluster of houses on the…
ArchiveCongress Resister 1983 - 1989
Congress Resister was published by the Transvaal Indian Congress (TIC), which was formed at the turn of the twentieth century by Mahatma Gandhi. It was not…
ArticleThe Sedition Trial 1946 - 1948
The history of the struggle against racial oppression and exclusion in South Africa is inextricably intertwined with the struggle of workers against…