Politics & Society
258 records
ArticleThe Early Cape Slave Trade
The year 1658 marks the beginning of the slave trade at the Cape colony. During the first four years of the Dutch East India Company (VOC)…
ArticleRace and ethnicity in South Africa
Race and ethnicity have been and still is at the heart of South African history, politics, society and economy since the European…
ArticleEconomic Freedom Fighters (EFF)
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) announced its formation on 27 July, 2013 in Soweto. The party was formed by former ANC Youth League…
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…
ArticleList of uMkhonto weSizwe Operations
ANC-2nd Submission to TRC - APPENDIX FOUR Please note: Information in this list was drawn from press reports and the Annual Surveys…
Article2014 South African platinum strike: longest wage strike in South Africa
In democratic South Africa, the government allows citizens to express dissatisfaction through peaceful demonstrations. Workers are also…
ArticleThe role of traditional leaders during Apartheid
Introduction The institution of traditional leadership represents an early form of societal organisation. It embodies the protection of…
ArticleSouth Africa’s Diverse Culture Artistic and Linguistic Heritage
Introduction South Africa, called by some people the 'Rainbow Nation', a title that captures its diversity and 11 official languages…
ArticleYusuf Dadoo Timeline
The Yusuf Dadoo timeline includes the history of one the leading members of the South African communist movement. Starting at the beginning…
Article1994 Cabinet
Cabinet Members Ministry / Portfolio Minister / Incumbent Deputy Minister(s) …
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…
ArticleTimeline 20 years of Democracy 1994 to 2014
1994 27 April,South Africa's interim constitution which was adopted in November 1993 came into effect on 27th April 1994 to administer…
ArticleLand Restitution in South Africa since 1994
Land restitution is one of the key issues since South Africa achieved democracy in 1994 and as such an overview of what has been achieved…
ArticlePublic Protest in Democratic South Africa
Since South Africa’s advent to democracy in 1994, public protests either service delivery protest, protest against undemocratic laws or…
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…
Article1973 Durban Strikes
Introduction On 9 January 1973, workers at the Coronation Brick and Tile factory, outside Durban, came out on strike. Immediately…
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…
ArticleMarikana Massacre - 16 August 2012
On 16 August 2012, the South African Police Service (SAPS) opened fire on a crowd of striking mineworkers at Marikana, in the North West…
ArticleTeachers League of South Africa (TLSA) conference in 1925
Background The establishment of the Teachers’ League of South Africa (TLSA) emerged out of increasing racial segregation in the Cape…
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…
ArticleA History of Abantu-Batho Newspaper 1912-1931
Newspapers or publications by African people played a critical role in giving them an alternative space to articulate their views. The…
ArticleLand: dispossession, resistance and restitution
Introduction The history of white colonial land dispossession began at the Cape with the expansion of the Dutch colonial settlement…
ArticleAfrican Peoples Democratic Union of Southern Africa (APDUSA)
The African People’s Democratic Union of Southern Africa (APDUSA) was launched in Duncan Village outside East London in March 1961. The…
ArticleCuba and the struggle for democracy in South Africa
The revolution in Cuba, culminating in Fidel Castro’s seizure of power on 1 January 1959, was from the beginning based on a non-racial…