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Chapter VII - The 1980’s
From the book: Side by Side by Helen Joseph Two of our most loved women leaders, Mary Moodley and Lilian Ngoyi, died at the end of the 1970s. They had both…
1973: Neo-apartheid and the Sleeping the Giant by Mbuso Nkosi
This paper was submitted to the 1973 Durban Strikes Celebrating 50 Years Conference 1973: Neo-apartheid and the sleeping the giant. Mbuso Nkosi …
EventHuman Rights Day is celebrated for the first time in South Africa
Since 1995, Human Rights Day has been a public holiday celebrated in South Africa. It shares the day with the anniversary of the infamous Sharpeville Massacre,…
EventMass arrests in Pondoland
Justice Minister Francios Christiaan Erasmus informed the National Assembly that 4 769 Africans, 2 Europeans and 2 others had been taken into custody during…
EventBlacks are making bonfires of their “passes” in Johannesburg
On 28 March 1960, Natives began making bonfires of their reference books in Johannesburg. Their action was the latest gesture of defiance against the pass laws…
EventDeputy Minister of Interior Affairs, P.W. Botha, introduces the Republican Referendum Bill to Parliament
On 11 March 1960, for the first time in the history of South Africa, the Republican Referendum Bill was introduced to Parliament by the Deputy Minister of…
EventMoïse Kapenda Tshombe refuses to end the Katanga secession
Moïse Kapenda Tshombe, finally released from prison by Mobutu Sese Seko refused to end the Katanga secession. On 23 December 1961 he led the Congo province of…
EventThe Security Council begins deliberations on the situation in South Africa
The United Nations Security Council began deliberations on the situation in South Africa, under an agenda item entitled: "The situation arising out of the…
EventThe World Health Organisation (WHO) declares Aids a worldwide epidemic
It is unknown when AIDS emerged. However, the first reported cases were in the early eighties. Then, the disease was widely known as a gay man’s disease…
EventANC’s Walter Sisulu and Duma Nokwe rally support against Urban Bantu Councils Act
African National Congress (ANC) leaders, Walter Sisulu and Duma Nokwe went from house to house in Orlando, Soweto near Johannesburg rallying support amongst…
EventLéopold Sédar Senghor resigns after twenty years as Senegalese president.
Léopold Sédar Senghor was a poet and writer who later became president of Senegal. He was educated in Paris where he got acquainted with Aimé Césaire. After…
ArticleLearning about history through people: oral history
People as historical sourcesPeople can be great sources of information. By speaking to people we can learn about the past. Learners are also sources of…
Launch of The Eye of the Needle by Richard Turner
Described by Nelson Mandela as a source of inspiration, Richard Turner was a central figure in the white South African student movement and key in its…
EventThe first mountain zebra foal is born in at the National Mountain Zebra Park
The Mountain Zebra is an endangered species native to South Western Angola, Namibia, and South Africa. It is boldly stripped in black and white or brown and…
EventThe African National Congress (ANC) calls a meeting to chart a way forward for the Defiance Campaign
On 29 July 1951 the African National Congress (ANC) called a meeting in Johannesburg. Executives from the South African Indian Congress (SAIC), the African…
EventHerman Charles Bosman guilty of murder
When South African author Herman Charles Bosman visited his parents in Johannesburg during the June school holidays, his visit ended in tragedy in the house of…
EventThe South African security police bombed two houses in Manzini, Swaziland
In response to attacks on the Sasol oil refinery in Secunda, the South African security police bombed two houses in Manzini, Swaziland. The attacks claimed the…
EventThe last passenger boat of the Union Castle line, the Windsor Castle, leaves Table Bay
Once part of a vital communications link between Europe and Southern Africa, the RMS Windsor Castle was the last of the Union Castle Line's, "Cape Mail Express…
EventSipho Gumede, South African jazz legend, dies
Born in the predominantly Indian community of Cato Manor near Durban, Sipho Gumede started playing music on a homemade guitar. He joined his first band at the…
EventGerman South West Africa is put under South African administration
After the completion of World War One's Treaty of Versailles, German South West Africa was declared a mandate of the new international peace-keeping body, the…
EventHaile Selassi I, Emperor of Ethiopia, is born
Haile Selassi was born as Lij Tafari Makonnen in the village of Ejersa Gor, in the Harar province of Ethiopia. Heir to a 13th century dynasty, he ascended to…
EventPrime Minister B.J. Vorster predicts South Africa will become leading state in the Southern Africa
The South African Prime Minister B.J. Vorster declared that if the positive signs of cooperation with the rest of Africa are interpreted accurately, South…
Freedom In Our Life Time - List of Photographs
From the book: Freedom In Our Life Time by Anton Muziwakhe Lembede Anton Lembede's primary school class, Umbumbulu, 192.7 (Bemadette Sibeko) Inset of…
EventInternational Labour Organisation excludes South Africa from its two-day meeting
In a two-day meeting to discuss emergency measures against South Africa and the problems its membership poses, the governing body of the International Labour…
EventPatrice Emery Lumumba, first Prime Minister of an independent Congo, is born
A member of the Tetela ethnic group, Patrice Emery Lumumba was born in the Katakokombe region of the Kasai Province of Belgian Congo. Lumuba became involved in…
EventAlbert Luthuli delivers his Nobel Peace Prize Lecture
Albert Luthuli delivers his Nobel Lecture after receiving the Peace Prize the previous day. Luthuli was the first South African to receive the Nobel Prize for…
EventFidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba
Before Fidel Castro took over the island state's government; Cuba was under the military rule of President Fulgeneio Batista. Castro was the leader of the 26…
EventThe TRC is set up by parliament
The South African parliament approved legislation to set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995. The Commission, based on the Promotion of National…
EventWalter Sisulu secretly attends a meeting at the house of George Xorile with F. Van Rensburg
On 11 January 1963, African National Congress (ANC) member, Walter Sisulu attended a secret meeting at the house of George Xarile together with F. Van Rensburg…
ArticleCensus in South Africa
From 10 to 31 October 2011, South Africa will be conducting its third census since the advent of democracy in 1994. Undertaking a census is a massive exercise…