Politics & Society
126 records
ArticleSocialism
Socialism is a political and economic ideology aiming to create a society where all members distribute resources and wealth equally. It is…
ArticleA brief history of domestic service in South Africa
Colonial History of Domestic Work Since slaves were used as domestic servants in the settler colony from the middle to late 18th century…
ArticleVlakplaas and the History of Apartheid's Death Squad
Vlakplaas is the name of an undercover counterinsurgency division of the apartheid police that operated in the 1980s. Vlakplaas is also…
ArticleThe South African Communist Party and May Day – Some Key Moments
May Day celebrated on 1 May annually, is a celebration of workers and their work. It has a long history, being a day of commemoration and…
ArticleChanging Perceptions of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela is a figure who has undergone many transformations in the eye of the South African public as well as in the global…
ArticleMandela and the South African Communist Party
Mandela and MK The late 1950s saw the first hints of an armed struggle occurring in certain parts of South Africa. Various types of…
ArticlePass Laws in South Africa
The Pass Laws was a system used to control the movement of Black, Indian and Coloured people in South Africa. The pass said which areas a…
ArticleThe Daily Dispatch
Together with the Rand Daily Mail, the Daily Dispatch was one of the loudest mouthpieces for mainstream liberal critique of the Apartheid…
ArticleBureau of State Security (BOSS)
The telling of the history of South African Intelligence Agencies is somewhat hamstrung by the fact that people from these agencies do not…
The International Socialist League (ISL)
The International Socialist League (ISL) was formed in September 1915. It was created by a progressive faction of the South African Labour…
ArticleSS Mendi
The sinking of the SS Mendi was caused by the reckless action of the captain of the SS Darro. It remains the greatest wartime maritime…
ArticleForced Removals in South Africa
Forced removals refer to the moving of people from their homes against their will. This may not always involve physical threat or force,…
ArticleStaffrider magazine (1978-1993)
Introduction Staffrider was a South African literary and arts magazine published by Ravan Press in Johannesburg from 1978 to 1993. It…
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…
ArticleThe Black Sash: A History of Transformation
This article was written by Ashley Schumacher and forms part of the SAHO and Southern Methodist University partnership project During…
ArticleMiriam Makeba: Activist on Two Fronts by Connor Kirkpatrick
Miriam Makeba: Activist on Two Fronts Abstract: Miriam Makeba is a Grammy award-winning singer. She is from Johannesburg and…
ArticleStrong and Unnoticed: The Women of the UDF by Reid Arnold
Abstract The UDF was an umbrella organization that was founded to unify the hundreds of Anti-Apartheid movements occurring in the 1980s…
ArticleThe 1956 Women’s March in Pretoria
The 1956 Women’s March in Pretoria, South Africa constitutes an especially noteworthy moment in women’s history. On 9 August 1956,…
ArticleA history of prison labour in South Africa
Prison labour has a particularly debatable history in South Africa. Historically, South Africa operated on the understanding that prisons…
ArticleThe Group Areas Act of 1950
The National Party was elected in 1948 on the policy of Apartheid ('separateness'). This 'separateness' put South Africans of different…
ArticleConstitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, was drawn up by the Parliament elected in 1994 in the first non-racial elections…
ArticleResponses in South Africa to the outbreak of WWI: The Afrikaner Response and the 1914 Rebellion
When the First World War broke out in August 1914, the British Government called upon the dominions in the British Empire to come to its…
ArticleThe Influenza epidemic
In March 1918 an international influenza pandemic broke out, that led to the deaths of 50 million people worldwide. The pandemic spread…
ArticleThe Establishment of the Afrikaner Broederbond in May 1918.
In May 1918 a group of fourteen railway clerks, clergymen and policemen formed an organization, Jong Suid-Afrika (Young South Africa). A…
ArticleThe World and South Africa when Nelson Mandela was born
Nelson Mandela was born into a world of war, revolutionary upheaval and a worldwide influenza pandemic. In July 1918, when Mandela was born…
ArticleThe Anti-Pass Campaigns 1960
1959-1960: Formation, Sharpeville and Banning For many years there was tension inside the African National Congress (ANC) between those…
ArticlePondoland
Introduction. Pondoland is the traditional area of the Pondo people, one of the Xhosa speaking peoples. Pondoland area is situated on the…
ArticleForced removals on Highveld and "black spots", 1912-1991
In the early 1960s the Apartheid government moved swiftly to dislodge numerous Black communities on the Transvaal Highveld occupying land…
ArticleThe Langa March, 30 March 1960
On 30 March 1960, Philip Kgosana led a Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) march of between 30.000-50.000 protestors from Langa and Nyanga to the…
Article16 June 1976 - Soweto Uprising
IntroductionThe 16 June 1976 Uprising that began in Soweto and spread countrywide profoundly changed the socio-political landscape in South…