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The Detention Weapon
… the procession of deaths in detention for a while. In the 1980s, the figures started slowly creeping up again and …
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…
EventRobert Mugabe assures the SADC that the 9-10 March election in Zimbabwe would be free and fair
On 14 January 2002, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe assured members the 14-member Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) that the 9-10 March election…
EventSouth Africa signs SADC treaty
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) was originally known as the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC). It was formed in 1…
PlaceBeaufort West, Cape Town
A Town 573 km from Cape Town, established in 1818 on the Farm: ''Hooyvlakte''. It is currently the name of one of the Suburbs in which a section of Beaufort…
Archive2014 - President Zuma, State of the Nation Address, 13 February 2014 (before National Elections)
… remember those who died in state-sponsored violence of the 1980s and 1990s in our townships and villages. Ms Jabu …
EventTseko Simon Nkoli dies
On this day in history, prominent activist Tseko Simon Nkoli died of an AIDS related illness. Nkoli was one of the first Black anti-apartheid activists to…
Message by Oliver Tambo on the 40th anniversary of the three doctors` pact, 09 March 1987
On behalf of the National Executive Committee, the entire membership of the African National Congress, its military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe and indeed on my own…
EventAssassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand
19th century Europe had a complex system of political and military alliances in place. The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian…
EventThe Dutch Reformed Church rejoins the World Alliance of Reformed Churches
On 13 October 1998, the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) rejoined the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) after the general synod renounced apartheid. This…
EventSouth Africa completes destroying its stockpile of anti-personnel mines
South Africa announced that it had completed destroying its stock pile of anti-personnel mines. A total of 261 423 were destroyed, while 18 000 were retained…
EventWorld War I begins
19th century Europe had a complex system of political and military alliances in place. The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian…
EventAnti-SAIC political rally ends in Lenasia
… P., n.d. “ Pre-Transition (1902-1989): Chronologies 1980s ” from The O’Malley Archives [online] Available at: … All, here and now: Black politics in South…
ArchiveWebinar Programme: Debating Socialist Lineages. Convenors Shahid Vawda and Lungisile Ntsebeza
Webinar Programme: Debating Socialist Lineages. Convenors: Shahid Vawda and Lungisile Ntsebeza The Making of the Trotskyist Tradition in South Africa: A…
ArchiveLetter to Petros Sipho Mkhize from his father in Macambini, KwaZulu-Natal
A two-page handwritten letter in isiZulu on green paper, headed with the address of Mathubesizwe Secondary School, Nyoni (Macambini), with "Bethel Mission"…
EventGovernment's final consolidation of 'homelands'
The Nationalist party government announced its intention to consolidate the total number of separate 'homeland' areas from 113 to 36. The homelands were…
ArticleAfrican National Congress Timeline 1910-1919
This period was characterized by events leading up to the formation of the African National Congress in 1912 as well as the organization’s early years. Events…
EventPercy Qoboza, editor of the Post, states that it is difficult to see how a credible newspaper for Blacks can be created in South Africa
Percy Qoboza was a journalist and outspoken critic of the apartheid regime. He initially studied in the field of theology, but became involved in journalism…
EventBotswana President, Seretse Khama dies
Bechuanaland (now Botswana) President, Seretse Khama died on 13 July 1980 he died in Gabarone, Botswana. He was born on 1 July 1921 at Serowe, Botswana. His…
ArchiveJonas Gwangwa embodied South Africa’s struggle for a national culture by Gwen Ansell
Music is not a zero sum game with only one ‘best’. But if you seek to name one musician whose life embodies the South African people’s struggle for a national…
ArchiveBibliography by Howard Barrell
This bibliography includes all books, articles and primary material referred to in the text and footnotes, as well as a few additional works which were…
ArticleThe People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN)
A Brief Overview The People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was an armed wing of the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), the major liberation…
ArticleHerero Revolt 1904-1907
Present day Namibia was once a part of the imperial German empire. As was common during the scramble for Africa in the latter half of the nineteenth century,…
ArticleThe 1956 Women’s March, Pretoria, 9 August
‘Strijdom, you have tampered with the women, You have struck a rock.' So runs the song composed to mark this historic occasion. By the middle of 1956…
ArticleA history of Apartheid in South Africa
Background and policy of apartheidBefore we can look at the history of the apartheid period it is necessary to understand what apartheid was and how it…
ArticleColonial history of Nelspruit
Nelspruit lies in the Lowveld, in the valley of the Crocodile River just below the great eastern escarpment of the Transvaal. Long before it acquired a…
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 110 of 1983
Background Before P W Botha came to power in 1978, the government of John Vorster had begun a process for constitutional reforms. A commission headed by…
Segregationist Legislation Timeline 1950-1959
Immorality Amendment Act, Act No 21 of 1950 This Act was one of the most controversial pieces of Apartheid legislation. It prohibited adultery, attempted…
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,…
EventP.W. Botha launches CONSAS at the Carlton Conference to eliminate “Marxist threat”
On 22 November 1979 South African prime minister P. W. Botha gathered business leaders together in a conference at the Carlton Hotel in Johannesburg. Here he…