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EventEthiopia requests OAU to stop Somali intervention in the Ogaden Province
Ethiopia requested the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), predecessor of the African Union to stop Somali intervention in the Ogaden Province, Ethiopia…
EventGeneral Secretary of the ANC, journalist and writer, Solomon Plaatje dies
Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje was a South African writer, linguist, translator and political leader. Plaatje died of pneumonia at the age of 55 while on a trip to…
EventGambia gains independence
On this day in history Gambia became the 36th African nation to gain independence. The Gambia (officially the Republic of The Gambia) commonly known as Gambia,…
EventDemocratic Republic of Somali is formed
On 1 July 1960, the independent Somali Democratic Republic, commonly known as Somalia, was formed out of former British and Italian territories, with Mogadishu…
EventVaal Triangle erupts in violence
Boipatong, Bophelong, Evaton, Sebokeng and Sharpeville, five Black townships in the area known as the Vaal Triangle exploded into what some have described as a…
EventPaul Biya becomes president of Cameroon
Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned as president of Cameroon, he was replaced by Paul Biya, the current Prime Minister. Ahidjo handpicked Biya to replace him after he had…
EventTranskei gains complete independence
The oldest of the independent homelands, Transkei, gained complete independence as an autonomous republic under the policy of separate development. At its…
EventThe South African Military History Society is established
The South African Military History Society (SAMHS) was formed following an appeal by Commandant-General H.B. Klopper to all South Africans to take an interest…
EventSA signs Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA
Shortly after the signing of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1991, the South African government entered into a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with…
EventGoldstone report on police shootings in Sebokeng is released
The report of the inquiry, led by Justice Richard Goldstone, into the shooting by the police of anti-Apartheid protesters in the township of Sebokeng on 26…
EventANC denies responsibilities for the unrest in homelands
On this day in 1990, the African National Congress (ANC) veteran leader, Walter Sisulu, denied allegations levelled at his party by the South African…
EventANC agrees to facilitate SA rugby’s return to international games
The African National Congress (ANC) in Harare, Zimbabwe, agreed to "use its good offices" to facilitate the readmission of South African rugby into…
EventGert Maritz (41), Voortrekker leader, dies.
On 23 September 1838 Gerhardus Marthinus (Gert) Maritz, Voortrekker leader, died at Sooilaer, in Natal (now kwaZulu Natal), he was 41 years old. The Great Trek…
EventCorner stone of Mission Church is laid in Graaff-Reinet
After magistrate Andries Stockenstrom had donated a piece of land and six windows, building started on the Dutch Reformed Mission Church in Graaff-Reinet. The…
EventA Xhosa film wins Golden Bear award
The South African Xhosa film uCarmen eKhayelitsha became the second South African movie to compete and first to win the Golden Bear award as the best film at…
EventPatricia de Lille testifies at Schabir Shaik’s trial
At the time, leader of the Independent Democrats, Patricia de Lille, finally took the stand at the Durban High Court to testify in the fraud and corruption…
EventFirst victim of the land invasions in Zimbabwe, David Stevens, is murdered
A White farmer, Davis Stevens, was shot dead in Zimbabwe by squatters occupying his land. He was the first White farmer to be killed in the on-going land…
EventDurban mass meeting endorses Smuts and Gandhi agreement
An Indian mass meeting in Durban unanimously endorsed the agreement between General J.C. Smuts and Mahatma Gandhi regarding voluntary registration, poll tax,…
EventAnnexation of the Orange Free State is announced
At the begging of May 1900, the British Army, under Field Marshal Lord Roberts, launched an attack on the Orange Free State. President M T Steyn and General C…
EventMary Elizabeth Barber, pioneer naturalist, dies
On 4 September 1899, an 1820 Settler and early South African naturalist, Mary Elizabeth Barber died in Malvern, Natal Province (now known as Kwazulu Natal)…
EventMalawi’s Kamuzu Banda losses election
Malawi's first President Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda since independence from Britain in 1964 concedes defeat to Bakili Muluzi in the country's first multi-party…
EventNigerian Political Scientist Professor Claude Ake is born
Professor Claude Ake, a Nigerian political scientist, was a visiting professor at Yale University where he taught political science. Ake died in a plane crash…
EventVigilante mob beats man to death in Diepsloot
Elvis Ramoloyi was beaten to death by a mob after a confrontation with two men who got upset when he reversed his car too close to where they were standing…
EventHenry Olonga, Zimbabwean Cricketer is born
Henry Khaaba Olonga was born in Lusaka, Zambia, to a Kenyan father and a Zimbabwean mother. The family moved back to his father’s homeland, Kenya, before…
ArchiveBlack consciousness: a reactionary tendency
This article is a reprint, and first appeared in June 1976 in The Educational Journal of March-May issue. The author provides the reader with a very detailed…
EventMusician, Gito Baloi of Tananas fame, is killed
Musician Gito Baloi was shot dead on 4 April 2004, during a hijacking on his way home from a concert. Gito Baloi was born in Mozambique on 30 September 1964…
EventTryna du Toit, Afrikaans novelist, is born in De Aar, Karoo
Catherina Charlotte Kotzenberg was born in De Aar on 13 January 1910. She started writing books at the age of thirty and chose to write under the pseudonym,…
ArchiveJakes Gerwel: The epitome of integrity and courage by Niren Tolsi, 30 November 2012
Professor Gert Johannes "Jakes" Gerwel, who died of complications following heart surgery on Wednesday, was a quiet South African, but one who thought and…
Bibliographical note and further reading
From the book: A Documentary History of Indian South Africans edited by Surendra Bhana and Bridglal Pachai For the serious researcher investigating any aspect…
The Role of the Missionaries in conquest - Chapter X - Triumph of disunity (2)
From the book: The Role of the Missionaries in conquest by Nosipho Majeke The Basotho THE NEXT PART of our history revolves round Moshoeshoe, chief of the…