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PlaceOriental Plaza, Fordsburg, Johannesburg
Indoor bazaar with shops selling bargains from clothing to home-ware to spices, plus food stalls. Established in the Johannesburg suburb of Fordsburg in the…
EventThe Defiance Campaign against apartheid laws begins
Following the adoption of a Programme of Action in the 1949 annual congress, the ANC began the 1950s with mass action campaigns marked by boycotts, strikes and…
EventSouth African poet, writer and political activist, Mafika Pascal Gwala is born in Durban.
Mafika Pascal Gwala was born on 5 October 1946 in Verulam, north of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. He is the second child of five children of his parents. He…
The United Nations adopts resolution 1375 (XIV) on Apartheid
On this day in 1959, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 1375 (XIV) condemning South Africa's Apartheid policies at its 838th plenary…
EventTrade unionist Clements Kadalie dies in East London
Trade unionist, Lameck Koniwaka Kadali Muwamba, known by his adopted name, Clements Kadalie, was born in April 1896, near the Bandawe mission station in…
EventCastro decides to send troops to Angola to fight South Africa
The president of Cuba Fidel Castro decides to send Cuban troops to Angola in response to South Africa's invasion of the country. After attaining its…
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,…
EventGerard Bhengu SA artist, is born in Natal
Pioneer South African artist Gerard Bhengu was born at an outstation of Mariannhill Mission Station at Centecow, Bulwer district in Southern Natal. Bhengu's…
EventJoost Van Der Westhuizen, Springbok rugby scrum-half and captain, is born
Former rugby player Joost van Der Westhuizen was born 20 February 1971. Van Der Westhuizen was at the height of his career during the mid 1990’s and early 2000…
EventFourteen are killed in Phola Park violence
Phola Park, East Rand: As township warfare spreads, a woman grieves over her husbands death, following a night attack by residents of nearby Zulu hostel. She…
EventAdelaide Tambo returns to South Africa after 30 years
Adelaide Tambo became politically active after her grandfather's arrest at the age of ten. While she attended high school, she started to work as a courier for…
EventLocal government elections thrown in disarray
The Constitutional Court's ruling against the use of decree powers by President Nelson Mandela, threw the preparations for the local elections scheduled for…
EventThe cornerstone of Cape Town City Hall is laid
Cape Towns City Hall's original foundations were laid at the turn of the 20th Century. The mayor of Cape Town, Thomas Ball, laid the corner stone of the City…
EventMbhazima Shilowa, former premier of Gauteng, is born
Mbhazima Samuel (Sam) Shilowa, was born in Olifantshoek in the Transvaal (now Limpopo Province.) After High School, Shilowa moved to Johannesburg, where he…
ArchiveApartheid Super Spy, Craig Williamson’s Trails of Death and Destruction: The Scandinavian Connection, (Responses to recent exposures in Jyllands Posten) by Prithiraj Dullay
It was early in the October 1977 morning that they came. Ironically, they came on the morning of the Hindu festival of lights called Diwali, celebrating…
James Stewart - the ANC fighter who spoke truth to power by Martin Plaut, 1 February 2016
This is the obituary of Hermanus Loots, better known by his nom de guerre, James Stewart, who exposed the atrocities in the ANC’s Quatro prison camp. Martin …
ArchiveInterview with Lybon Tiyani Mabasa
Interview with Lybon Tiyani Mabasa, a leader in the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) at the time of this interview, was born in 1952 and graduated from…
EventProfessional soccer is introduced in SA when the National Football League is founded
In 1958, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) officially recognised the White body of the Football Association of South Africa (FASA) as…
EventAlbert Luthuli is elected as an ANC President
The African National Congress (ANC) was founded as the SANCC in 1912. John Dube was its first president, and the well known writer and poet, Sol Plaatje, was…
EventChurch Council meets PW Botha over unrest
A delegation of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) met with President P W Botha and other government leaders, following calls by the church for…
EventThe Motsuenyane Commission finds the African National Congress (ANC) guilty of abuse in its camps
Human rights abuses were common in South Africa during the apartheid era and the liberation struggle was aimed at bringing these abuses to an end. When…
EventThree Zimbabwean intelligence officers stand trial for a bomb attack on an ANC house
Kevin Woods, Michael Smith and Philip Conjwayo were arrested in Zimbabwe in connection with the bombing that killed the driver of the car transporting the bomb…
EventJean van der Poel dies in Cape Town.
Jean Van der Poel was a historian and teacher who played an important role in the South African Teachers' Association and undertook several major historical…
EventUnited Nations lifts arms embargo on South Africa
Following the election of Nelson Mandela as president of the government of National Unity, the United Nations (UN) Security Council finally lifted the arms…
From the 1973 Durban strikes to the Marikana massacre and De Doorns conflict: How trade unions acquired their power and what has gone wrong with employment relations in South Africa subsequently by Johann Maree
Forty years ago during January and February 1973 mass strikes by African workers in Durban broke out in protest against low wages. In total 61,000 workers went…
PlaceHammarsdale, KZN
Despite their defeats in battles with the Boers and the British during the nineteenth Century, the Zulus have remained an active force in South African…
EventSWAPO attacks SAP
The South African Police Force (SAP) stationed in the Caprivi Strip, bordering Zambia, suffered casualties in clashes with 'terrorists'. South West African…
EventANC stalwart and Rivonia Trialist, Govan Mbeki, is released from Robben Island Prison
On 5 November 1987, Govan Mbeki, member of African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee and Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) High Command, was released…
EventPolice head admits to Khotso House bombing
Appearing before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC), General Johan van der Merwe former South African Police Services(SAPS) National Commissioner …