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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…
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…
EventCongo Free State becomes the Belgian Congo
King Leopold II of Belgium handed over the Congo to the Belgian state on this date. Previously he held it as a private project undertaken to extract rubber and…
EventBenjamin Mzimkulu Macala, SA artist, is born
Benjamin Mzimkulu (Ben) Macala was born in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State (now Free State). As a young boy he tended cattle on a farm in the Free State and…
PlaceDie Stem Parsonage, Simonstown, Cape Town
This double-storeyed structure was erected as a Rectory and Vicarage, in 1815 by building contractor, Herman Schutte, and its verandah was added in 1820. The…
EventMugabe announces the merging of ZANU and ZAPU
Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) leader, Robert Mugabe announced that Rhodesia's political organisations, ZANU and ZAPU (the Zimbabwe African People's…
EventBotswana gains independence from Britain
Previously known as Bechuanaland, Botswana gained independence from Britain on 30 September 1966 under the leadership of Seretse Khama. Khama was elected…
ArchiveCrisis News
Crisis News, published by the Western Province Council of Churches, Cape Town, "attempts to tell the truth of what is happening in our country", particularly…
Nelson Mandela Correspondence around Mandela’s health
Introduction Apart from a prostate operation in 1985 and equally successful treatment for TB in 1988, Nelson's health had been good. At a time when the Press…
80. Local affairs committees: a means to an end
From the book: A Documentary History of Indian South Africans edited by Surendra Bhana and Bridglal Pachai The system of management committees, or local…
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…
EventMac Maharaj, Laloo Chiba, Raymond Nyanda and Andrew Masondo arrive on Robben Island prison
On 5 January 1965, members of the African National Congress (ANC) Mac Maharaj, Laloo Chiba, Raymond Nyanda and Andrew Masondo arrived at Robben Island. They…
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…
EventEdgar D. Ngoyi, South African ANC leader who spent seventeen years on Robben Island, is born.
Edgar Dumile Ngoyi was born on 26 December 1926 in the Eastern Cape. Ngoyi became politically active in the African National Congress (ANC) as a member of the…
PlaceMea Vota, Rissik Street, Sunnyside, Pretoria
This dwelling was designed and built in about 1899 by A Westenberg and C van der Made, both engineers employed by the Netherelands-South Africa Railway Co, for…
EventThe Black Consciousness Movement of Azania is formed in London
Following the waning of the influence of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), members of the movement formed new groups and some joined other liberation…
EventNgoako Abel Ramathlodi is born
Ngoako Ramathlodi, former premier of the Northern Transvaal Province (now Limpopo) and current Africa National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee…
Michael Mosoue Moerane, pianist, choirmaster and composer, is born in Gumtree, Basutoland (now Lesotho). He died in Gumtree in
Michael Mosoeu Moerane, composer, teacher, pianist and conductor, is born in Mangoanaleng, Matatiele, Eastern Cape. He died in Bloemfontein in January, 1980…
PlaceAbangani Art Centre, Durban
In the 1980's Joseph Bheki Ndlovu, an artist and illustrator, joined the Abangani Open School in Durban as a youth organiser and an arts and craft teacher…
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…
EventButhelezi says Zulus would continue carrying cultural weapons
At a meeting held in Ulundi, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi warns that the deals struck between the African National Congress …