20th Century South Africa

On 12 September 1977, the Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko died while in the custody of security police. The period...

IntroductionThe 16 June 1976 Uprising that began in Soweto and spread countrywide profoundly changed the socio-political...

Background and policy of apartheidBefore we can look at the history of the apartheid period it is necessary to understan...

This feature celebrates Samora Machel and examines the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death and acknowledges t...

General Louis Botha headed the first government of the new Union of South Africa, with General Jan Smuts as his deputy. ...

People banned under ApartheidNameAct/Section/Issued up to: (delivery date)Date on which notice expires:Other: (address, ...

"Two hundred thousand subterranean heroes who, by day and by night, for a mere pittance lay down their lives to the fami...

 

The United Democratic Front (UDF) was an anti-apartheid body that incorporated many anti-apartheid organisations. It was...

Rajaluxmi Pillay (also known as Rajes) was born in 1944 in Pietermaritzburg and grew up in Kimberley. She studied in Bri...

At the annual conference of the African National Congress (ANC) held in Durban on 16 December 1959, the President Genera...

Africa is the world’s second largest continent, both by size and number, after Asia. Its landmass holds 54 countries and...

Due to the fact that Black People were detained in separate camps, the issue of Black Concentration Camps is dealt ...

Within 37 African countries, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has listed 135 Wo...

Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu, affectionately known as Ma Sisulu, has been described countless times as a caring and ser...

1984-1990:- The people armedIntroductionNumerous factors characterised the intensification of the freedom struggle again...

Vlakplaas is the name of an undercover counterinsurgency division of the apartheid police that operated in the 1980s. Vl...

'South African War ( a.k.a. the Anglo-Boer War) remains the most terrible and destructive modern armed conflict in South...

Adopted at the Founding Conference of the Federation of South African Women Johannesburg, 17 April 1954. The Charter ...

Women at the start of the 20th century It is only over the last three or four decades that women's role in the histor...

The Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW or FSAW) was launched on 17 April 1954 in Johannesburg as the first attemp...

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, was drawn up by the Parliament elected in 1994 in the first non-...

1976 According to the government-appointed Cillie Commission of Enquiry 575 people died. Police action resulted in 451...

Following on from Part 1, this article seeks to analyse some of the historical and present dynamics bedevilling ESKOM. O...

Forced removals refer to the moving of people from their homes against their will. This may not always involve physical ...

The fruit-canning industry in South Africa can be traced to the late nineteenth century, when the first jam factories op...

The revolution in Cuba, culminating in Fidel Castro’s seizure of power on 1 January 1959, was from the beginning based o...

In 1959 the Africanists broke away from the ANC and formed the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). The histories of these two...

Enforced racial segregation in South Africa began with the arrival of the Dutch and English colonisers. Following its ...

Introduction The battle of Cuito Cuanavale and the Cuban intervention in Angola is one of the turning points in South...

This short history of Electrical Supply Commission (ESKOM) aims to provide an overview of the history of the power utili...

On 30 July 2011, the South African Communist Party (SACP) celebrated its 90th anniversary. Initially known as the Commun...

From bondage to freedom - The 160th anniversary of the arrival of Indian workers in South Africa  The feature on...

Introduction On 9 January 1973, workers at the Coronation Brick and Tile factory, outside Durban, came out on strike....

 

On 16 December, 1961, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) was launched as an armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). The...

At the start of the 20th century South Africa faced a poor white epidemic. The state justified Apartheid as an "anti-pov...

South Africa has early human fossils at Sterkfontein and other sites. The first modern inhabitants of the country were t...

Colonial History of Domestic Work Since slaves were used as domestic servants in the settler colony from the middle t...

The telling of the history of South African Intelligence Agencies is somewhat hamstrung by the fact that people from the...