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ArchiveForeign African labour in South Africa
African National Congress paper on foreign African labour in South Africa. Covers control of foreign labour, recruitment of foreign labour in the mining…
The Sweet Workers’ Union
The Sweet Workers’ Union (SWU) originated as an offshoot of the short-lived Women Workers’ Union, founded by Fanny Klenerman in the mid-1920s, when that…
ArchiveBiography of Bavumile Herbert Vilakazi
Biography of Bavumile Herbert Vilakazi. Bavumile Herbert Vilakazi was born on 12 June 1955 in Evaton, the fifth son of a family of five boys, his politisation…
EventSA Police Commissioner, Lt. Gen. H.J. du Plooy to take drastic actions against police who call Africans “Kaffir”
On 24 August 1960, The Star newspaper reported that the new Police Commissioner, Lt. Gen. H.J. du Plooy would take disciplinary action against White policeman…
EventThe Anglican Bishop of Johannesburg, Rev. Ambrose Reeves is secretly deported
On 12 September 1960, the Anglican Bishop of Johannesburg, Rev. Ambrose Reeves was secretly deported through Jan Smuts Airport. The Bishop’s departure did not…
EventThe national Chairman of SABRA warns of sour relations in the Union
“Recent events in Africa have robbed the Union of precious time. This country now has less than 10 years to adjust its race relations.”This was a warning by…
ArchiveChapter 1 Break down the walls by Denis Goldberg
June 12, 1964 was the day for sentencing in the Rivonia Trial in Pretoria. The prosecution wanted the maximum sentence – and we expected it: death. But in a…
EventWomen lead Food Raid
In the 1940s, as a result of the Second World War, the economy was in a dire state with the working and lower classes being the most vulnerable. There were…
EventWomen lead Food Raid
In the 1940s, as a result of the Second World War, the economy was in a dire state with the working and lower classes being the most vulnerable. There were…
EventUniversity of Pretoria is established
The Transvaal University College, with branches in Johannesburg and Pretoria, took the examinations of the Cape University. The Pretoria branch of the…
EventAt a summit SA Trade Unions resolve to defy apartheid and labour laws
Location: back to this day in history search archive During the summit conference organised by non-racial labour unions at Langa, Cape Town, Trade Union…
EventPrime Minister opens SA’s first atomic reactor
Dr. H.F. Verwoerd opened South Africa's first atomic reactor, SAFARI-1 (South African Fundamental Atomic Reactor Installation-1) at Pelindaba, about thirty km…
EventThe European Community announces that it will lift economic sanctions against South Africa
On 27 January 1992, the European Community announced that it will lift economic sanctions against South Africa which imposed in September 1985. While some…
EventEleven people are killed at Donnybrook, Kwazulu
The killing of eleven people at Donnybrook, Kwazulu-Natal on the 21 March 1996 can be considered as part of the ongoing rivalry between supporters of the…
EventSelassie returns to Ethiopia after attempted coup
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie returned immediately to his country after a short successful coup launched on 13 December 1960 by the Imperial Bodyguard, the…
Event1 575 people are detained under a state of emergency
The events which led to mass detentions in April 1960 were the following: A state of emergency was called after anti-pass demonstrations at Sharpeville, Langa…
How Zuma, the smiling spy, controls South Africa by Joe Brock and Ed Cropley (World News), 04 May 2016, Johannesburg
As head of intelligence for the outlawed African National Congress during apartheid, Jacob Zuma neutralized perceived traitors and sidelined opponents to shore…
PlaceJubilee Art Centre
The Jubilee Art Centre in central Johannesburg joined these alternative art education centres in the 1970s but was forced to relocate to the Mofolo Art Centre…
EventBheki Mlangeni, ANC human rights lawyer of Soweto, is killed by a walkman bomb meant for Dirk Coetzee.
Bheki Mlangeni was a lawyer working for the African National Congress (ANC) in the 1990s. He and former police Captain Dirk Coetzee had worked together to…
EventSACTU launches a national potato boycott.
The potato boycott began in protest against slave-like labour conditions for Black workers on potato farms. In areas like Bethal in Eastern Transvaal (now…
PlaceRwanda
Rwanda is a land-locked Country located in the Eastern part of Africa. People began settling in the area as early as 10.000BCE[i]. After several successive…
ArchiveAppendix 7 South Africa, the transition to democracy and the banning of torture, by Denis Goldberg
My thanks to Professor Goerling for inviting me to present this paper to the conference on Torture and the Future. Torture has recently been often in the news…
EventProfessor John Fleming “Jack” Brok dies
On 3 July 1983, John Fleming (Jack) Brock died – he was a scientist, physician and a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town…
PlaceKliptown Museum
The story the Kliptown Open Air Museum tells of the thousands of people who contributed to the drafting of the Freedom Charter through photographs, news…
EventSA cartoonist, Daniel Cornelis Boonzaaier is born
South African cartoonist Daniël Cornelis Boonzaaier was born at Patatsrivier in the Cape Province in 1865. Boonzaaier became famous for his caricatures and…
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…
EventJoe Slovo is born
Joe Slovo, the former South African Communist Party (SACP) and African National Congress (ANC) leader and Minister of Housing was born in Lithuania. From 1950s…
EventDanie Malan, SA athlete, sets a new world record in the 1 000m event in Munich
On 24 June 1973, South African athlete Danie Malan set a new world record in the middle distance 1000m event in Munich. Malan was raised in the Boland area of…
EventCiskeian police disrupt residents’ meeting
The Ciskeian police disrupted a residents' meeting, which was held to inform those residents of Peelton unable to attend a previous meeting, of the…
EventM.K. Gandhi is forcibly removed from a whites-only train carriage
On 7 June 1893, M.K Gandhi, later known as "The Mahatma" or "Great Soul" was forcibly removed from a whites-only carriage on a train in Pietermaritzburg, for…