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EventThe Rivonia Trialists are charged with sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the state
On this day in 1963, the Rivonia trialists were charged with sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the South African government. This after a raid by…
EventGeraldine Fraser is born
Geraldine Fraser was born on 24 August 1960, in Lansdowne, Cape Town, the daughter of a teacher and factory worker. She became politically active at…
EventDetectives testify against members of the ANC and the Congress Alliance in the infamous Treason Trial
On 18 February 1960, South African Police (SAP) detectives continue to give evidence at the Treason trial against the accused. The 156 accused in the trial…
EventF.W. de Klerk announces Nelson Mandela will be freed on 11 February
The announcement by President F. W. de Klerk in parliament on 10 February 1990, that Nelson Mandela would be released from prison, unconditionally the next day…
EventMazizi Maqekeza, ANC member, is shot dead whilst in hospital in Maseru, Lesotho
Mazizi Maqekeza and Mbulelo Ngona were among the many South Africans who fled across the border to join the African National Congress (ANC) in their armed…
EventPrime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is killed in Nigeria’s first military coup
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was the first Prime Minister of Nigeria after it gained independence. He served his term as Prime Minister from 1957 until he died in…
EventState of emergency declared after Sharpeville Massacre
This was the first such declaration of a State of Emergency by the Apartheid state. During these periods, the government had free reign to suspend civil…
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,…
ArchiveOmar Badsha: Recording the roles of the ordinary by Niren Tolsi (Mail and Guardian), 17 September 2020
This moment’s gaping generational divide, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, with its accompanying sense of history being lost and collective memory fading,…
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…
ArticleThe effects of WW2 in Africa
Africans resisted colonial rule from the outset, trying to hold on to their land, but were not strong enough to defend themselves against European conquest…
ArticleA History of Abantu-Batho Newspaper 1912-1931
Newspapers or publications by African people played a critical role in giving them an alternative space to articulate their views. The emergence of a number of…
ArticleIndian South Africans
From bondage to freedom - The 160th anniversary of the arrival of Indian workers in South Africa The feature on Indian South Africans forms part of our…
Ruth First timeline 1925-2012
1925 4 May, Ruth Herloise First is born in Johannesburg to Julius and Matilda First, Jewish immigrants (from Latvia and Lithuania, respectively) who helped…
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…
ArchiveAll That Glitters - Bridging two worlds by Emilia Potenza
From the book: All That Glitters by Emilia PotenzaAn industrial revolution was affecting the lives of everybody living in Southern Africa. By the 1920s, one or…
ArticleTransport on land
The first form of transport on land was, of course, WALKING! Content Animals Carts, wagons and coaches The bicycle The steam engine and the train …
Biography of Mtutuzeli Dudu Pukwana by Nick Mencia
Abstract: Mtutuzeli Dudu Pukwana was a South African jazz pianist and alto saxophonist from Port Elizabeth. Due to rising political oppression imposed by the…
ArticleAfrican National Congress Timeline 1950-1959
After coming to power in 1948, the National Party-led government began implementing apartheid by passing a series of racist laws, notably the Population…
PlacePretoria High School for Girls, Park Street
Pretoria High School for Girls was started by Lord Milner in 1902 as part of his efforts to anglicise the Transvaal under British Occupation. And so it was…
ArchiveBiography of Nawal El Saadawi by Sierra Hussey
Nawal el-Saadawi has been creative her entire life. As a young girl, she imagined becoming a singer or a dancer. Her dreams of becoming an artist were opposed…
From conscience politics to the battlefield
This thesis examines the ways in which the Liberal Party - the Natal Division in particular attempted to become an effective political force in South Africa…
EventPaarl Riots report submitted
On 25 June 1963 Mr. Justice H. Snyman submitted to parliament a final report on the 1962 Paarl Riots. The report analysed the main causes of the riots, and…
EventThe first Boeing 707 jet aircraft arrives in South Africa
On 15 July 1960, the first Boeing 707 jet aircraft arrived in South Africa from America. This aircraft has remained in the service of the South African Air…
EventHeadman Tshabalala, founding member of the band Ladysmith Black Mambazo, is shot and killed
Headman Tshabalala was born in 1945 in Ladysmith, Kwa-Zulu Natal. In 1960, he joined the first incarnation of the band Ladysmith Black Mambazo and sang…
EventNoble South Africans win Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is considered by many to be a symbol of international recognition over the prize winners struggle to create a more peaceful world. South…
EventHilda Bernstein passes away
South Africa reacted with shock at the passing away of veteran political activist, artist and writer Hilda Bernstein. She passes away on the 9th September 2006…
EventSA Police kills eleven Pondo tribesmen when they revolt against the imposition of Bantu authorities.
The system of Black authorities and the reforms brought about in the agriÂcultural sphere were not unreservedly accepted in the homelands. Opposition came…
ArticleDavid Goldblatt Timeline
1930 Born in Randfontein, South Africa, in 1930, the third son of Eli Goldblatt and Olga Light, both of whom came to South Africa as children with their…
ArchiveSouth Africa’s Radical Tradition, a documentary history, Volume Two 1943 - 1964, by Allison Drew
Introduction Introduction Part 1 - Building The National Movement Document 1 - Harry Snitcher , Unite Against Segregation! Condemn the C.A.C. [1943] …