This day in history

Zander Tyler, stage name Jack Parow was born in Parow, Cape Town on 22 February 1982.[i] He is one of the most popular Afrikaans hip hop artists in South Africa.[ii] His breakthrough single was the song “Cooler as Ekke” in late 2009,[iii] and has released four studio albums since then. Namely “Jack Parow” in 2009; “Eksie Ou” in 2011; “Nag Van Die Lang Pette” in 2014, and lastly “Die Hoe Ons Rol” in 2016. His second album “Eksie Ou” was released by his own label Parowphernalia, and include the hit singles “Hosh Tokolosh” and “Hard Partyjie Hou”.[iv] He has also released two EP’s, the first being “Cooler as Ekke” in 2009 and the other being “From Parow with Love” in 2016. Theunis Engelbrecht also wrote a biography on Jack Parow’s life titled “Die Ou Met die Snor by die Bar”. Jack Parow also produced a television series called “Die Hoe Ons Rol”, which aired on the local television channel KykNet. He has also produced his own brandy, called “Parow Brandy”. Apart from music, Jack Parow has featured in a few local films, such as Schuks! Your Country Needs You; Babalas; and Welcome To Parowdise.[v] He has also often collaborated with other Afrikaans artists to the likes of Die Heuwels Fantasies; Die Antwoord; and Fokofpolisiekar.[vi] End Notes [i] Jack Parow, http://bimba.co.za/jack-parow (9 June 2017). ↵ [ii] Jack Parow, https://muzikum.eu/en/120-9427/jack-parow/biography.html (9 June 2017). ↵ [iii] Jack Parow, http://bimba.co.za/jack-parow (9 June 2017). ↵ [iv] Jack Parow, http://bimba.co.za/jack-parow (9 June 2017). ↵ [v] Jack Parow, https://www.top250.tv/acteur/1267406/jack-parow (9 June 2017). ↵ [vi] Jack Parow, https://www.last.fm/music/Jack+Parow/+wiki (9 June 2017). ↵

John Langalibalele Dube (22.02.1871- 11.02.1946) was born at the Inanda Mission station of the American Zulu Mission (AZM) in Natal to James and Elizabeth Dube. His father, James Dube was one of the first ordained pastors of the American Zulu Mission. Dube’s grandmother was the first convert of the Lindley Mission Station. Dube’s uncle Mqawe was a Zulu chief. Dube spent his early years at Adams School where his father served as a Congregational Minister. In 1887 John Dube left South Africa to study at Oberlin College in the USA. In 1894 he married Nokutela  Mdima  Dube . He later founded the Natal Bantu Teachers Association, which was known as the Natal African Teachers Union (NATU) for professional Black teachers. Dube played a pivotal role in the political and socio-economic development of Black people in Natal. John Dube fought against the injustices against Black people and tried to gain a sense of equity during his lifetime

Born to Indian Emigrants from Tamil Nadu, India, Mudaliar grew up in Johannesburg. She was named after the village her mother came from in India, Thillaiyadi. As she entered her teenage years in South Africa, Valliammai became increasingly aware of the oppressive system she and her family were living under. When Mudaliar was sixteen she joined her mother and a large group of other women in an illegal march from the Transvaal to Natal. In October 1913, once again mother and daughter were part of the second batch of women who marched to Natal. They were arrested and sentenced to three months of hard labour at the Pietermaritzburg prison.  Mudaliar fell ill soon after her conviction but refused an offer to be released early. She died on 22 February 1914, soon after her release from prison. Gandhi, who visited her at her death bed, designed the Indian flag with the colours of Mudaliar’s sari which she had held up in defiance, not having a flag.

The Minister of Manpower Utilisation, Fanie Botha warned of a government plan to adopt tougher measures against the rapidly expanding and increasingly militant Black trade unions. The newly established industrial court was proferred as a means of disciplining certain unions. This stern warning by Botha came almost two years after the formation of the Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU) in 1979, which brought another dimension to the union movement. FOSATU was the predecessor to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) which was launched on 1 December 1985, when popular unrest had spread across South Africa.

On 22 February 2007, a category 4 cyclone named Favio struck the central province of Inhambane in Mozambique. Although the cyclone was concentrated in Inhambane, the winds and rains were felt as far away as the Province of Gaza. Favio was the worst storm to hit Mozambique ever. The country was just recovering from flood devastation and it was feared that Favio would add to the devastation. The cyclone caused vast damage, destroying homes, schools, and uprooting trees. More than 140 000 people were displaced. However, despite its severity, the cyclone claimed very few lives. UNICEF praised the Mozambican government for their quick response to the storm.

The African National Congress (ANC) announced the names of members of a new National Working Committee (NWC) that was to be responsible for the day-to-day running of its affairs. The NWC had been elected at a meeting of the 60-member National Executive Committee (NEC), the party's second highest decision-making structure. The NEC also agreed to retain President Nelson Mandela's services as an ex-officio member of both the NEC and NWC.

A few days after the ruling by the Supreme Court to force Potgietersrus Primary School in Limpopo Province to allow Black pupils to enroll, sixteen Black children arrived at school protected by police officers to register. They were subjected to a barrage of racist verbal abuse by some members of the White community whose children attended the same school. The low attendance by White pupils affirmed their parents' stance. Only twenty out of almost 700 pupils came to school on that day. Many White parents threatened to establish their own school, rather have their children attend a multiracial school.

The minister of Law and Order, Adriaan Vlok, announced in the House of Assembly that no member of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) would be tolerated in any of the structures of the South African Police (SAP). Neither would members of the United Democratic Front (UDF) or the African National Congress (ANC) be accepted. He said 'radicalism either to the left or to the right of the moderates is unacceptable to us in the police force'.

The fifteenth Annual Conference of the Trade Union Council of South Africa (TUCSA) altered its constitution in such a way that effectively debarred Africans from membership. It accomplished this by no longer accepting any unregistered unions as TUCSA affiliates. Though Black trade unions could organise legally, they were not recognised and not registered under the Labour Relations Act.

On this day in history, the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Amendment Bill was adopted - despite opposition from the United and Progressive Parties. This amendment furthered the existing ban on marriages between White and Black people (Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949) by extending it to White and Coloured people. Marriage officers were given the power to decide the race of couples wanting to be married. If South African citizens of mixed racial descent were married outside of the country, the marriage would not be recognized in South Africa. One year after the original Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949) was adopted, a supplementary law, known as the Immorality act, was adopted. It prohibited sex between people of different races. These laws often split families, and entrenched racial division. President P W Botha removed the Act from the statutes book in 1986.

Minister of Defence, PW Botha disclosed that South Africa's northern borders are protected by a radar complex constituting an early warning system, and that the entire coastline was to be covered by the Decca navigational system costing $8.4m The statement by P.W. Botha regarding the acquisition of advanced radar and navigation equipment emphasized Apartheid South Africa's military might, especially to those involved in the liberations struggle.

On 22 February 1962 the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) issued an anti-Apartheid letter, stating that lawful means must be used to fight against injustices of apartheid rules. The Bishops wrote; "As Christian people we dare not remain silent and passive in the face of injustices inflicted on members of the underprivileged racial groups. Colour must never be permitted to offer an excuse or pretext for injustice." In February 1977, they decided to uphold the rights of conscientious objectors, expressing disturbance over reports of police cruelty and deaths in detention. Bishops called for an investigation into and protests against the provision of legal indemnity to the police. At the end of the conference, a twenty-one point action programme was issued for directions to be taken in the future.

A report was released in London about the disappearance of the Waratah between Durban and Cape Town. The twin-screw passenger and cargo steamship, one of the biggest liners on the Austalian run, was lost with 211 people, passengers and crew, on board. The report, conducted by the British Board of Trade, found that it was likely that the ship had overturned in a gale of exceptional strength. Her disappearance on her return maiden voyage from Australia to England in 1909, without any trace of wreckage or survivors despite a search by three naval vessels shortly after she failed to arrive in Cape Town, is one of the most baffling mysteries of the sea.

Lord Robert Stephenson Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement in 1908 and British hero at the siege of Mafeking, is born in Paddington, London. Baden-Powell was considered to be a distinguished member of the British colonial army, and he was lauded at home for establishing the Boy Scout movement, which still exists today. However, history also remembers him as staunch patriot with fascist leanings. 

On 22 February 1707 a young man on horseback raced through the streets of Stellenbosch shouting "Victorie! Victorie!" - a sign that the Burghers were victorious in their struggle against Cape Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel and his officials. Background: Who were the 'burghers'? By 1657, the market for work in the Cape, under central direction by the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC), was saturated. Therefore, Jan Van Riebeeck proposed that married men were released from their contracts and given farms of their own to cultivate. This development was approved by the VOC, and these independent farmers become known as 'free burghers'. The Struggle When the first free burghers began farming, the Company issued strict instruc­tions that officials were not allowed to supplement the market with food, as the burghers, were dependent on food production for their survival. However, under Simon van der Stel - and later his son, Willem Adriaan van der Stel - land was given to High officials and the governor's brother, a free burgher. By 1705, land that comprised a third of the farming area of the colony was owned by twenty Company officials. They had therefore established a monopoly in the sale of wine, meat, fish and wheat. The wealthier burghers felt the most threatened by this monopoly. Henning Husing and Adam Tas sent a petition to Amsterdam via authorities in Batavia, accusing the Cape officials of misconduct. The Lords Seventeen (controllers of the VOC) demanded an explanation from the Cape officials. Out­raged, Cape officials sent instigators of the burgher rebellion to Holland on the return fleet. Tas was arrested and Jacobus van der Heiden - one of the most intractable witnesses - was thrown into the 'Dark hole' cell in the Castle. Subsequently, leading Cape burghers lobbied against the Cape officials in Amsterdam, and the colony became embroiled in turmoil. In early 1707, the Cape received the news that the Lords Seventeen in Amsterdam were repealing the authority of Van der Stel and other officials, including Johannes Starrenburg, the landdrost of Stellenbosch. They forbade all officials to own property or trade on the Cape market, and insisted that they surrender their land. This was a resounding burgher victory. A coalition of burghers had overpowered the officials and firmly established their role as the sole suppliers of food in the Cape. In recognition of these circumstances, the young Hendrik Biebouw and his friends - who lived on the periphery of burgher society - staged a celebration in the hamlet of Stellenbosch. These festivities would have gone unno­ticed, except for Biebouw's strong identification of himself as an Afrikaner, at least 80 years before the burghers commonly used the term for themselves.