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Today in History
 
31 October, 1996

Following the refusal by the African National Congress (ANC) to seek amnesty for its past human rights abuses, Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Archbishop Desmond Tutu, threatens to resign. Tutu was appointed to head the TRC on 29 November 1995. Tutu went on record to say that the ANC''s refusal to cooperate is defeating the whole process of reconciliation and he sees no reason for him to lead something, of which the ruling party has no regard for. On 10 November 1996, he met with the ANC delegation and concluded that all anti-apartheid activists should apply for amnesty. However, the ANC still maintained that reconciliation does not require its members to justify measures taken against the apartheid government.

Source:

South African History Online



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25 September 2004
Former anti-apartheid activist, Allan Boesak accuses ANC
25 September 1977
Steve Biko, Black Consciousness Movement Leader, is buried
25 September 1974
'Viva Frelimo' rallies, organised by the BPC and SASO, take place even though they were banned by Government
24 September 1995
First celebration of National Heritage Day
24 September 1990
Winnie Mandela charged with kidnapping
24 September 1987
The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) is launched
23 September, 1985
Murder trial of "Sharpeville Six" opens
23 September, 1913
Women protest against passes in the Free State
23 September, 1992
Goldstone Commission investigate the Bisho Massacre
22 September, 2008
Parliament convenes to consider the resignation of President Thabo Mbeki
22 September, 1995
Local government elections thrown in disarray
22 September, 2004
Teboho Mokgalagadi wins gold in the Paralympic Games
21 September 2004
SA athlete Ernst van Dyk is hard done by at Paralympic games
21 September 1992
Mandela and de Klerk agree to restart talks
21 September 1988
COSATU conference prohibited and organisers restricted.
20 September 1990
ANC and IFP to meet over violence
20 September 1989
F.W. De Klerk is inaugurated
20 September 1978
South African Prime Minister, John Vorster resigns
19 September 1985
Supreme Court changes ruling on forced removals, traditionally
19 September 1983
Dr Yusuf Dadoo, socialist movement activist and politician, dies in exile
19 September 1980
Mafeking (Mafikeng) is surrendered to Bophuthatswana
18 September 1999
South Africa win the most medals at the 7th All African Games
18 September 1992
Mass funeral for the victims of Bisho massacre
18 September 1980
National Party refuses to serve on Buthelezi Commission of Inquiry
17 September 1999
Mbeki receives an Honorary Doctorate
17 September 1987
Religious leaders hold talks with the ANC
17 September 1983
Methane gas explosion kills 68 mine workers
16 September, 2004
President Mbeki opens the second sitting of PAP
16 September, 1985
Frontline states call on RSA government to release Mandela and end Apartheid
16 September, 1985
Mine disaster kills 177
15 September 2000
The 2000 Summer Olympic Games or Millennium Games, hosted by Australia, were officially opened in the capital Sydney. Australia won the right to host the games in 1993 when it was selected over Beijing, Berlin, Istanbul and Manchester.
15 September 1901
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15 September 1835
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14 September 2004
Fraud and Corruption on the rise in SA
14 September 1991
Major political organisations sign the National Peace Accord calling for the laying down of arms to create an environment conducive for negotiations
14 September 1918
Spanish Flue strikes South Africa, causing the death of 140 000
13 September 1997
Mother Teresa is buried
13 September 1990
Migrant workers ransack Phola Park
13 September 1979
The SA government grants 'Independent' status to Venda
12 September 2004
Ray Simons dies
12 September 1988
Presidents of Mozambique and South Africa meet
12 September 1977
Steve Biko dies in detention
11 September 1990
Political prisoners are released
11 September 1906
Indian campaigner, Mohandas Gandhi leads Satyagraha Passive Resistance Campaign
11 September 1902
Workers embark on strike action
10 September 1921
Newspaper editor John Tengo Jabavu dies
10 September 1960
Bishop Ambrose Reeves returns to South Africa
10 September 1938
Springboks lose to the Lions
9 September, 1997
F.W. de Klerk delivers his farewell address to Parliament
9 September, 1994
Protest by former liberation fighters
9 September, 1985
American President Ronald Reagan agrees to limited sanctions on SA
8 September, 1990
Mandela threatens armed struggle
8 September, 1998
Mpush Makambi wins IBO champion title
September, 1986
Diplomatic office of the ANC in Stockholm is bombed
6 September 1945
Bhekisani Manyoni, artist, is born in Greytown
6 September 1939
SA joins World War II
6 September 2000
United Nations World Summit starts
5 September 1909
Yusuf Dadoo, political activist, is born
5 September 1969
Vorster appoints a Commission of Inquiry
5 September 1911
Sir Abe Bailey, Rand mine magnate and politician, marries Mary Westenra, pioneer aviatrix
4 September 1994
Bafana Bafana beats Madagascar
4 September1991
ANC rejects National Party proposal for a new constitution
4 August 1996
Josiah Thugwane wins gold at Olympics
3 September 1984
Tricameral Parliament inaugurated
3 September 1958
Verwoerd becomes Prime Minister and NP leader
3 September 1919
Smuts becomes Prime Minister
2 September, 2001
Heart specialist Dr. Chris Barnard dies
2 September, 1958
Hendrik Verwoerd becomes Prime Minister
2 September, 1879
Britain concludes peace with the Zulu nation
1 September, 2004
Independent Democrats benefits from floorcrossing rule
1 September, 2004
SASOL explodes again
1 September, 1969
Col. Muammar Gaddafi seizes power in Libya
31 August 1979
Prime Minister Botha visits Soweto
31 August 2001
World Conference on Racism starts in Durban
31 August 1990
Soweto agrees to pay rent
30 August 2002
First Fietas Festival to celebrate the legacy of the community
30 August 1988
SA troops withdraw from Angola
30 August 1971
Maluzi Gigaba is born
29 August 2004
Olympic games end in Athens
29 August 1994
South Africa signs SADC treaty
29 August 1988
Students at Durban
28 August 1923
Gifted writer and actor William Modisane is born
28 August 1996
Black empowerment makes headway
28 August 1987
RSA introduces more press restriction
26 August, 1985
Zola Budd breaks a world record
26 August, 1990
Ramaphosa and Motlatsi are arrested
26 August, 1960
State of emergency declared after Sharpeville Massacre is lifted
25 August, 1964
Kenneth David Kaunda wins Zambian elections
25 August, 1980
Zimbabwe becomes a member of the United Nations (UN)
25 August, 1971
Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi calls for National Convention
24 August 1998
The trial of Dr Allan Boesak on charges of theft and fraud starts
24 August 1990
State of emergency declared in 27 townships
24 August 1960
SA Police Commissioner, Lt. Gen. H.J. du Plooy to take drastic actions against police who call Africans “Kaffir”
24 August 1958
Former South African Prime Minister Strijdom dies
23 August 1993
The Motsuenyane Commission finds the African National Congress (ANC) guilty of torture in its camps
23 August 1992
Verwoerd's grandson joins ANC
23 August 1987
Student Activist Caiphus Nyoka is killed
23 August 1933
Mahatma Gandhi is released from Indian jail
22 August 1996
ANC makes submission to the TRC
22 August 1978
Former Kenyan President, Jomo Kenyatta, dies
22 August 1894
Natal Indian Congress is formed
21 August 1998
Guilty verdict against PW Botha
21 August 1982
Swazi King Sobhuza II dies
21 August 1961
Kenyan political activist Jomo Kenyatta released from jail
20 August 1994
Vuyani Bungu wins IBF World Boxing Title
20 August 1991
The United Democratic Front (UDF) was formed in August 1983, and was one of the most prominent anti-apartheid movements, comprising of over 400 workers', church, civic and student organisations.
20 August 1892
The Transvaal National Union is established
19 August, 1985
Archbishop Tutu snubs P. W. Botha
19 August, 1998
TRC releases documents revealing plot to kill UN Secretary
19 August, 1970
The Chinese Community in South Africa is granted 'White' status
18 August, 1988
P. W. Botha refutes possibility of Black majority rule
18 August, 1977
Stephen Bantu Biko is arrested
18 August, 1964
South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games
17 August 1996
Ruth Perry is elected to lead Liberia and becomes Africa's first woman head of state
17 August 1992
SADC treaty is signed in Namibia
17 August 1887
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17 August 1887
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16 August 1924
The first radio licence in SA is issued to Dr J. van Rensburg of Carnarvon
16 August 1990
Mandela and De Klerk hold emergency talks
16 August 1997
The South African soccer team, Bafana Bafana registered a momentous victory against the national team of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
14 August 1998
Winnie Mandela sued by the government
14 August 1968
Students support the appointment of Archie Mafejeg
14 August 1882
Cetshwayo, travels to London to request that he should be restored as a king of the Zulu Kingdom
13 August 1927
Fidel Castro, president of Cuba from 1976 to 2008, is born
13 August 1970
ANC revolutionary propaganda leaflets exploded in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.
13 August 1976
SA pledges support for a negotiated settlement in Rhodesia
12 August, 1998
Pres Mandela's testimony in SARFU affairs set aside
12 August, 1952
Walter Sisulu arrested under the Suppression of Communism Act.
12 August, 1990
Allan Boesak resigns from the church
11 August, 1982
SADF raid Southern Angola
11 August, 1950
3 students from Johannesburg are the first to climb 'Devil's Tooth'
11 August, 1963
ANC activists bribe warder and escape from prison
10 August 1949
Gill Marcus, former Deputy Minister of Finance from 1996-1999, Manager of Spoornet and current Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, was born in Johannesburg.
10 August 1985
Dr. Allan Boesak was arrested and appeared in court on charges of trying to enter a Black township without permit, but charges were subsequently dropped.
10 August 1965
Karen Muir became the youngest official world record-holder in swimming history when she recorded 1min 8.7sec for the 110 yards backstroke at the Derby Baths, Blackpool, England.
9 August 2000
Mbeki unveils Women's Monument at Union Buildings
9 August 1987
The National Union of Mineworkers start South Africa's longest wage strike
9 August 1956
20 000 women march to the Union Buildings in protest of Pass Laws
8 August 2004
Four men were killed instantly when a car swerved to avoid a second, which was spinning on the Odi race track, and ploughed into spectators watching from the sidelines.
8 August 1990
The Rand Supreme Court sentences Jerry Richardson to death for the murder 14-year-old Stompie Seipei.
8 August 1960
69 Africans were killed when South African police opened fire on demonstrators
7 August 1947
Mosibudi Mangena, the National Minister of Science and Technology and President of the opposition party Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) was born in Tzaneen, Limpopo Province.
7 August 1988
Angola, Cuba and South Africa allegedly signed a cease fire treaty
7 August 2004
The NNP joins the ANC
6 August 1990
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 the African National Congress (ANC).
6 August 1983
A limpet mine exploded outside the Temple of Israel synagogue in central Johannesburg, the mother 'shul' of the Johannesburg Jewish Reform Congregation.
6 August 1960
The United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Mr Dag Hammarskjöld, asked the UN Security Council to lay down rules which would allow UN forces to enter Katanga without interfering with Congo’s internal affairs
4 August, 1996
Josiah Thugwane wins gold at Olympics
4 August, 1914
Work is stopped at the Kimberley mine
4 August, 1967
Military conscription for all white males in South Africa is enforced
3 August 1956
In 1821, the British Government took control of the British trading forts. In 1844, Fanti chiefs on the Gold Coast (as Ghana was then known) signed an agreement with the British that led to the colonial status for the coastal area.
3 August 1956
Ghana demands independence from Britain
3 August 1986
In protest of the system of apartheid, economic sanctions against South Africa had been advocated from the 1960s onwards.
2 August 1976
The University of the Western Cape had been a important site of student protest throughout the 1970s.
2 August 1989
Mass Democratic Movement (MDM) begins their Defiance Campaign.
2 August 1926
Former Colonial Prime Minister John Merriman dies
1 August 1936
The Berlin Games are infamously known as Hitler's Olympics after he used the event for propaganda to promote his National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi) and white supremacist ideology.
1 August 1936
The SABC is officially launched
1 August 1834
The struggle for the emancipation of slaves throughout the British Empire was known as the abolitionist movement.
31 July 1894
Chief Malaboch of the Bahananwa people refused to leave his traditional mountain kingdom of Blouberg as ordered by the Transvaal Republic (ZAR) Government
31 July 1879
The first cable connection between SA and Europe, via Aden, was launched.
31 July 2004
Don Mattera, widely known as Bra Zinga, announced that he was withdrawing from public performances.
30 July 1988
Mary-Anne D'Oliveira Netto Serrano (21) was killed in a bomb explosion in the Wimpy Bar at the Benoni Plaza, Benoni on the East-Rand.
30 July 1987
On 30 July 1987, a car bomb was detonated outside the headquarters of Witwatersrand Command army base in Quartz Street, Johannesburg
30 July 1976
Emil Solomon "Solly" Sachs was born in Lithuania, and immigrated to South Africa with his family in 1914.
29 July, 1945
Xhosa author Samuel Mqhayi dies
29 July, 1988
Winnie Mandela's Soweto home reported burnt down
29 July, 1979
The apartheid government reportedly pays compensation for death of Steve Biko
28 July 2005
The suspected mastermind of the bomb attacks in London on July 7 hid in South Africa for several weeks before being arrested in Zambia
28 July 2004
Simon Mann pleads guilty in a Zimbabwean Court to attempting to purchase dangerous weapons
28 July 1998
The four murderers of Amy Biehl, American Fullbright exchange student, are granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
27 July 1999
The Natal Law Society has apologised posthumously to passive resistance icon, Mahatma Karamchand Gandhi, 105 years after a racist decision barred the young lawyer from practising.
27 July 1996
The 1996 Atlanta Olympics marked the 100 year celebration of the Olympic Games. The event, unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was marred by a terrorist bomb explosion.
27 July 1953
The undeclared Korean War ended after three years of fighting between North Korean and Chinese Communists against the United Nations (UN) forces (mainly South Korean and American).
26 July 2004
Born in the predominantly Indian community of Cato Manor near Durban
26 July 1996
Bantu Holomisa was dismissed as Deputy Environment and Tourism Minister after revealing that the African National Congress
26 July 1977
The 'Committee of 10' formed by prominent Soweto residents, issued a programme for the election of a new community board to have total autonomy in Soweto, including powers to levy taxes and to control education, the police and local elections.
25 July 1992
Summer Olympics opened in Barcelona, Spain.
25 July 1990
On 25 July 1990 government security forces detained approximately forty members of the African National Congress (ANC) and South African Communist Party (SACP)
25 July 1987
The body of Eric Mntonga, co-director of the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for South Africa (IDASA) in the border region, was found on a dirt road near King William's Town in the Eastern Cape
24 July 1980
The biggest strike by the migrant municipal workers took place in Johannesburg, the largest and most industrialised city in South Africa.
24 July 1986
Zambian President, Kenneth Kaunda publicly rebuked Britain's foreign secretary, Geoffrey Howe, accusing him and President Reagan of supporting South Africa’s apartheid government.
24 July 1999
Benni McCarthy of Bafana Bafana, accepted a contract of R38, 5 million to play for the Spanish club Real Club Celta de Vigo.
23 July 1996
Penelope Penny Heyns was born on 8 November 1974 in Springs, Gauteng Province. Heyns began swimming at a young age and displayed great skills.
23 July 1989
On 23 July 1989 a blast occurred opposite the Athlone Magistrate's Court and police complex which took the lives of two African National Party (ANC) activists.
23 July 1954
The then African National Congress (ANC) Secretary-General, Walter Sisulu, was served with two notifications in terms of the Suppression of Communism Act (Act 44 of 1950) .
22 July 1994
A bloodless military coup occurred in Gambia when five junior military officers led by Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh overthrew the government of Sir Dawda Jawara.
22 July 1991
The African National Congress (ANC), in an emergency meeting, called for the dismissal of Law and Order Minister Adriaan Vlok and Defence Minister Magnus Malan
22 July 1988
On 22 July 1988 Zollie Malinga, Bulenani Ngcuka, Omar Badsha, Jonathan, Shapiro, Rehana Rossour, Veronica Simmers, Saleem Mowzer, Nconde Balfor and Nams Wessels were released from detention.
21 July, 1967
Chief Albert Luthuli, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of the ANC, is killed in Groutville
21 July, 1999
South African athlete, Sergio Motsoeneng, admits to cheating in Comrades Marathon
21 July, 1981
Umkhonto We Sizwe, military wing of the ANC, claims responsibility for power station blast
20 July, 1969
South African invention lands on the moon!
20 July, 1985
The First State of Emergency
20 July, 1992
SA Olympic team leaves for Barcelona
19 July 2000
The sale of diamonds in some African countries has been linked to the funding of African rebel groups, which have in turn funded some of Africa's most vicious civil wars.
19 July 1997
Liberian rebel leader Charles Taylor ascended to presidential power in a peaceful election following a seven-year civil war, launched from neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire in 1989.
19 July 1991
In an interview with the New Nation, Felix Ndimene alleged that the Selous Scouts of Pietersburg and Five Reconnaissance Regiment (5RR)
18 July 2008
Mandela's name resonates with the struggle for independence and social, economic, political and institutional rights of Black people.
18 July 1998
Nelson Mandela first married in 1944. He and his wife Evelyn had 2 children and divorced in 1957
18 July 1918
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the small village of Mvezo, in the district of Qunu near Umtata, Transkei
17 July 2004
Former President Nelson Mandela, speaking in a meeting of international dignitaries in Bangkok, Thailand, said he could not receive a better birthday gift the next day than a commitment by the world to take action against Aids.
17 July 1964
The paper 'Leader' announced that African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela has been awarded the Joliot Curie Gold Medal for Peace the previous week.
17 July 1950
The history of broadcasting in South Africa can be traced back to 1923, when the first wireless broadcast was made in Johannesburg.
16 July 2006
Mluleki George, SA deputy defence minister, attended the 90th commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood in France, which raged from 15 to 20 July 1916.
16 July 1989
South Africa's largest labour federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), held its third annual congress from 12-16 July 1989.
16 July 1982
On 16 July 1982 the first State President of the Republic of South Africa, Charles Robberts (Blackie) Swart,died in Bloemfontein.
14 July 1999
On 26 July 1909, the SS Waratah, with 211 passengers and crew departed from Durban bound for Cape Town, and disappeared without a trace.
14 July 1965
Ndazana Nathaniel Nat Nakasa was awarded the The Niemann Fellowship to study journalism at Harvard University in the US but the government rejected his application for a passport.
14 July 1904
Paul Kruger (Stephanus Johannes Paulus) was born on 10 October 1825 in the Steynsburg district.
13 July 1986
Commonwealth Games officials in London ruled that two South African born athletes, Zola Budd and Annette Cowley, could not participate in the Commonwealth Games as athletes for England.
13 July 1969
Thembekile “Thembi” Mandela, the eldest son of Nelson Mandela and Evelyn Mase was killed in a car accident while his father was serving life sentence on Robben Island.
13 July 1963
The government of India announced that it was cutting India's last remaining link with South Africa by refusing landing and passage facilities to South African aircraft.
12 July 1988
The Star reported that two men, Elliot Nkuma and Joseph Mahlalela were sentenced to death for the necklace murder of M. Mpapne that took place in 1986.
12 July 1998
On 9 July 1998 President Nelson Mandela visited England.
12 July 1954
In 1954 the Minister of Justice C.R. Swart issued African National Congress (ANC) President Chief Albert Luthuli with two banning orders.
11 July 2007
On 11 July 2007, South African actor Bill Flynn passed away, allegedly due to a heart attack.
11 July 2006
Ashwell Prince was appointed as South Africa's first Black Test cricket captain to lead the Protea team in Sri Lanka.
11 July 2004
Each year on 11 July, countries around the world commemorate World Population Day. This day was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme in 1989.
10 July 1991
The International Cricket Council (ICC) agreed to grant full membership to the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA), which would allow South African players to participate in test matches by the end of 1991.
10 July 1986
The South African Police (SAP) and the South African Defence Force (SADF) ambushed and killed six alleged Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) members on the Breslau Road near Alldays.
10 July 1956
Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu, soldier of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), who was executed by the state agents in Pretoria Central Prison, was born in Mamelodi, east of Pretoria
9 July 2011
After five decades of unrest and civil war, South Sudan was granted independence on 9 July 2011 with the town of Juba as a capital.
9 July 2000
Police fired tear gas at unruly fans during a World Cup qualifying soccer game between Zimbabwe and South Africa, setting off a stampede that killed twelve people.
9 July 1988
A Venda schoolteacher, Mr Mkosi Mavhina, was found hanging from a tree 20km from his home.
8 July, 2004
SA to host future Pan African Parliament
8 July, 1989
Minister Kobie Coetsee on meeting between Botha and Mandela
8 July, 1899
Cape Colony Prime Minister opposes War
7 July 1998
Brigadier Theuns Swanepoel ("Rooi Rus"), one of the most feared interrogators of the South African Security Police, dies in Roodepoort.
7 July 1992
In South Africa's first ever FIFA sanctioned match, Bafana Bafana, South Africa's national soccer team, beat Cameroon 1-0 in an international friendly game
7 July 1976
Dora Bloch, one of the elderly British hostages of hijacked Flight 139 (an Air France A-300B Airbus, hijacked from Athens on 26 June) was reported as still missing.
6 July 1987
Dr. Federik van Zyl Slabbert leads a group of fifty-two mainly Afrikaans-speaking intellectuals, to meet with the banned African National Congress (ANC) in Dakar, Senegal.
6 July 1977
Makhaya Ntini, South African cricket player, was born on 6 July 1977 in Mdingi, near King William's Town, in the Eastern Cape.
6 July 1976
The minister of Bantu Education, M.C. Botha, announced that the South African Government had annulled the regulation that Black secondary school pupils be instructed equally in English and Afrikaans.
5 July 2004
Poppie Bereng, who worked as a phlebotomist for the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) in Bloemfontein, was appointed permanently on this date, but refused to sign the offer of employment when she learned that the SANBS racially profiled blood donations
5 July 1991
After a triumphant global tour Nelson Mandela was unanimously elected as president of the African National Congress (ANC) at the party's national conference held in Durban
5 July 1990
On 5 July 1990, Teboho “Tsietsi” Mashinini died under strange circumstances in Conakry, Guinea.
4 July 2004
The eldest person in South Africa and allegedly eldest in the world, Granny Moloko Temo, of Mogodi Village between Dendron and Bochum in Limpopo Province, celebrated her 130 th birthday with her community and well wishers.
4 July 1973
The South African government introduced this bill in the wake of wide-spread labour unrest to set up a limited system of collective bargaining rights for Blacks.
4 July 1789
Fearon Fallows, the first Astronomer Royal at the Cape, was born to John and Rebecca Fallows on 4 July 1789 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in England.
3 July 1969
Twelve Africans on trial at the Supreme Court in Grahamstown, accused of having conspired to take over a town and kill Whites, were acquitted on the charge.
3 July 1990
Liberian President, Samuel Kanyon Doe offered to resign in response to rebel incursions in his country.
3 July 1992
Thirty-one years after being expelled, South Africa had its membership of the Football International Federation Association (Fifa) reinstated on 3 July 1992.
2 July 2010
On 2 July 2010 the Ghanaian soccer team’s dreams of becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup came to an end after they were defeated by Uruguay on penalties.
2 July 2005
On 2 July 2005, South African tennis player, Wesley Moodie, and Australian, Stephen Huss, won the Wimbledon Men's double title.
2 July 1988
On 2 July 1988, Lester Dumakude, commander of an Umkhonto we Sizwe special operations unit, detonated a car bomb by remote control outside Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg.
1 July, 1938
South African Press Association is established
1 July, 1968
SA signs Nuclear Non
1 July, 1960
Democratic Republic of Somali is formed
30 June 2011
National Arts Festival celebrates 37 years in Grahamstown
30 June 1974
The South African athlete of international stature, Hezekiel Sepeng, was born in Potchefstroom. Sepeng's running talent was spotted in one of J.P. van der Merwe's coaching clinics in the township outside Potchestroom.
30 June 1921
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB), established as the Central Bank of the Union of South Africa in terms of the Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920
28 June 2002
On 28 June 2002 the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) tabled a national HIV/AIDS treatment plan in the National Economic, Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).
28 June 1995
After the first South Africa democratic election, the country was demarcated into nine provinces. Some of these provinces were given geographical names, like Northern Transvaal and Eastern Transvaal.
28 June 1942
Martin Thembisile Hani (Chris), Chief of Staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, military arm of the African National Congress (ANC) and General-Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP) since December 1991
27 June 2005
The Supreme Court of Appeal refused to allow the Western Cape education MEC, Cameron Dugmore, to compel an Afrikaans-medium school, Mikro, in Kuils River, Cape Town, to change its language policy.
27 June 1996
The Minister of Local Government in Kwazulu-Natal applied to the Supreme Court to have voting in four rural areas declared null and void and for polling to be repeated in those areas.
27 June 1977
Djibouti is a very small country located on the horn of Africa. It is so small that it has an estimated population of less than a million, one of the least populous in Africa. France, which had colonized the country, named it French Somaliland.
26 June 1993
Troops of the right-wing Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB), led by Eugene Terre'Blanche, stormed the World Trade Centre near Kempton Park where the Congress for a Democratic South Africa (Codesa) was in session.
26 June 1955
Executives of the African National Congress (ANC), South African Indian Congress (SAIC), South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), Coloured People's Congress (CPC) and the Congress of the Democrats (CoD) met in Tongaat on 23 June 1955.
26 June 1952
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 civil disobedience.
25 June 1982
The Durban Supreme Court cancelled the state's announcement of 18 June 1982 that it has repossessed the Ingwavuma region of KwaZulu, on the grounds that the government did not meet its legal obligation to consult fully with the KwaZulu authorities before making its announcement.
25 June 1955
The historic multi-racial convention called The Congress of the People started in Kliptown, near Johannesburg.
25 June 2003
On 25 June 2003, the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism approved the construction of a prototype pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) at the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station in the Western Cape.
24 June, 1995
Springboks beat New Zealand in Rugby Wold Cup final match
24 June, 1969
SA player Thabo Mngomeni is born
24 June, 1976
Nyanga school Principal's office burnt
23 June, 1980
Confrontation inevitable if President's Council fails
23 June, 1835
Port Natal is renamed Durban
23 June, 1994
UN welcomes SA back
22 June, 1971
Banned PAC Leader, Robert Sobukwe, is refused an exit permit to leave SA
22 June, 1946
Gandhi demands end to White 'hooliganism'
22 June, 2005
Phumizile Mlambo-Ngcuka is appointed as SA Deputy President
21 June 1992
African National Congress (ANC) President Nelson Mandela announced that he was suspending all talks with the Government in the wake of the killings in Boipatong.
21 June 1939
Dr Essop Goolam Pahad, Minister in the Presidency of the Republic of South Africa since 17 June 1999, was born in Schweizer-Reneke, Western Transvaal (now North-West Province).
21 June 1927
Afrikaner nationalists have rebelled against plans to have a Union Jack (the British flag) in the centre of the national flag.
20 June 2004
On 4 December 2000, the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) declared the 20 June as World Refugee Day.
20 June 2002
The United States (US) shut down its embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, after a terrorist threat. Following the threat, the US and British governments warned their citizens to postpone their travelling to East Africa, especially to Kenya.
20 June 1950
Sam Kahn, leader of the Communist Party of South African (CPSA) and natives' representative in parliament, announced in parliament that the party has disbanded.
19 June 1965
The South African government instructed its ambassador to The Hague to inform the Dutch government of its displeasure over a grant of 100,000 guilders being made to the Defence and Aid Fund for assistance to the victims of apartheid.
19 June 1991
The African National Congress (ANC) activist, Mziwonke 'Pro' Jack was gunned down next to his home in Cape Town.
19 June 1976
Three days after the 1976 Students' Revolt the Government banned 123 people for their involvement.
18 June 2011
"I am an African. I owe my being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land.
18 June 1979
Former minister of labour and a moderate member of the National Party, Marais Viljoen, was inaugurated as South Africa's fifth state president after he had been elected on 4 June 1979.
18 June 1942
President of South Africa and African National Congress president, Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki, was born in Idutywa in the Transkei to political activists Epainette and Govan Mbeki.
17 June 1991
For almost 350 years, Black people in South Africa had been subject to exceedingly unjust laws designed to subjugate them and incorporate their lands into the British Empire
17 June 1976
Following the 16 June 1976 Soweto protest and the killing and injuring of student protesters by the indiscriminate use of firearms by the police, the government was faced with a looming crisis.
17 June 1976
Following the onset of the Soweto uprising the previous day, Parliament met in an Extraordinary Session at the request of the leader of opposition, Colin Eglin.
16 June, 1976
Soweto students march against government's language policy
16 June, 2011
The Day of the African Child
16 June, 2002
The first museum is opened in Soweto, and is named after Hector Pieterson, one of the first casualties of the 16 June 1976 Soweto uprising
14 June 2005
President Thabo Mbeki sacks Deputy President Jacob Zuma. Mbeki makes the announcement during a special joint sitting of the two houses of parliament, almost two weeks after Zuma was implicated in corruption
14 June 1996
In a long-anticipated move the recently appointed Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel announced the government's macro-economic strategy, called Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR)
14 June 1985
Thamsaqa 'Thami' ka Mnyele was a talented graphic artist and a political activist. Due to his political activities, Mnyele was forced to leave his family in Alexander, becoming exiled in Botswana.
13 June 2005
South African engineer, Nuno Gomes, entered the Guinness Book of Records for mankind’s deepest dive ever on 13 June 2005.
13 June 1996
At a regional peace summit initiated by Church leaders and held in Durban, Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini urged his followers to stop killing each other.
13 June 1975
Robert Sobukwe, former leader of the banned Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), although still under a banning order, was admitted to practice as an attorney in Kimberley.
12 June 2005
On 12 June 2005, Rain Queen Makobo Modjadji VI died in a hospital in Polokwane, Limpopo Province.
12 June 1979
Former Pan African Congress (PAC) director of Foreign Affairs and representative to the United Nations, David Sibeko, was murdered by a militant stance faction in the PAC.
12 June 1963
The exceptionally cold stretch we have experienced in the country during the last days of May 2007, brings to mind 12 June 1963
11 June 1977
The University of Stellenbosch announced that it was to open its doors to Black, Coloured and Asian students for all post-graduate degrees and would also accept non-White undergraduates for courses not offered at their own universities.
11 June 1988
On 11 June 1988, the British Anti-Apartheid Movement (BAAM) held an 11-hour rock concert at Wembley Stadium in London to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela on his 70th birthday on 18 July.
11 June 2011
For the first time in the history of the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA),the World Cup is staged in Africa.
10 June 1982
Newspaper proprietors and editors of all the main South African newspapers, both English and Afrikaans
10 June 1977
Following the outbreak of pandemonium in South Africa and the use of violence by security forces in dealing with the issues in suppressing the aspirations of the peopl
10 June 1966
In June 1966, Ugandan Prime Minister, Milton Obotea nnounced the proposed division of the province of Buganda into four districts.
9 June, 1976
Students in Soweto on rampage
9 June, 1967
Military service becomes compulsory for White South African men.
9 June, 1964
UN Security Council urges SA government to end Rivonia Trial
8 June 2011
The Oceans are the heart of planet earth as it moderates the weather, provides a potentially unlimited food supply and vast stores of dissolved metals.
8 June 1971
The first meeting of the Student Wages Commission was held at the Bolton Hall, Durban.
8 June 1552
The Portuguese ship São João went down near the mouth of the Mzimvubu River (at the present Port St. Johns) with 600 people on board.
6 June 1995
A year after democratic elections, the newly set up Constitutional Court under presidency of Justice Arthur Chaskalson, abolished the death penalty.
6 June 1960
The system of Black authorities and the reforms brought about in the agri­cultural sphere were not unreservedly accepted in the homelands.
6 June 1890
Chief Magadu Bhambatha, who was held responsible for the Impi Yamakhanda (poll tax) uprising that was popularly known as the Bambatha rebellion became chief of the AmaZondi people.
5 June 1988
At its Special Congress in May, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) called for three days of national protest against the Labour Relations Amendment Bill (LRA) and restrictions on political organisations.
5 June 1981
On 5 June 1981, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (USA) reported that 5 gay men in California were suffering from a rare pneumonia (Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia or PCP)
5 June 1918
On 5 June 1918 disaffected Afrikaners were brought together in a new organisation called Jong Suid-Afrika (Young South Africa). In 1919 the organisation changed its name to Afrikaner Broederbond (Afrikaner Brotherhood).
4 June 1977
A year after the 1976 Soweto Student Uprising, the former Secretary of the South African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC) and current Tshwane Metropolitan Council Mayor
4 June 1969
The denial of South Africa's involvement in arms dealing with the former Rwandan Army came seven years into sanctions placed on South Africa by the United Nations.
4 June 1961
The Iraq Foreign Minister, Hassim Jawad, announced that his country will not recognise the government of South Africa because of its apartheid policies.
3 June 1998
Two brothers, Hendrik and Petrus du Preez appeared before Judge Faan Hanke in Bloemfontein High Court in connection with the murder of two soldiers, Michael Leisanyane and Gilmore van Wyk of Tempe military base near Bloemfontein.
3 June 1978
Security Police Chief, Brigadier C.F. Zietsman, announced that about 4,000 South African exiles were undergoing guerrilla training in Mozambique
3 June 1940
On 4 June 1940, the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk ended as German forces captured the beach port.
2 June, 1990
Mandela meet De Klerk in Pretoria
2 June, 1935
The South African cricket team beats England for the first time on English soil
2 June, 1959
ANC leader Chief Albert Luthuli is banished by the Apartheid Government for five years
1 June, 2002
Former SA Cricket Captain, Hansie Cronje, dies
1 June, 1980
SASOL plant under attack
1 June, 2006
UN spokesman comments on Mugabe's eviction campaign
31 May 1994
On 31 May 1994, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaouku told reporters at the Commonwealth Headquarters in London.
31 May 1989
Arguably the grandest marathon in the world, athletes flock to South Africa from all over the world every year to take part in the race.
31 May 1891
Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius after whom Pretoria was named, died in 1853 at his Magaliesburg home.
30 May 1983
The Appeal Court handed down a landmark decision in the case Rikhoto v. East Rand Administration Board (ERAB), granting him the right to permanent urban status.
30 May 1981
On 30 May 1981, South Africa played its first rugby test match against Ireland at Newlands stadium in Cape Town.
30 May 1975
The Minister of Justice, James Thomas (Jimmy) Kruger, declared the Christian Institute to be an affected organisation under the Affected Organisation's Act of 1974.
29 May 1976
On 29 May 1976, the South African Electricity Supply Commission (ESKOM) announced its decision to order two nuclear power reactors from France.
29 May 1984
Former South Africa Prime Minister, P.W Botha visited eight European countries, Portugal, Great Britain, West Germany, Belgium, France, Austria, Italy and Switzerland.
29 May 1976
On 29 May 1976, the South African Electricity Supply Commission (ESKOM) announced its decision to order two nuclear power reactors from France.
28 May 1901
Allegedly Zulu Paramount Chief Dinuzulu (Dinizulu) refused British instructions to take up arms against the Boer republics during the Second Anglo-Boer War.
28 May 1984
Linguist, educationist and teacher, Ernest Sedumedi Moloto, who served as chairman of both the Tswana Language Committee of SA and the Botswana National Language Committee, died in Mamelodi, Pretoria.
28 May 1995
Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (EBF) or the Ebola virus as it is also known is a virus that kills its host by attacking the lining of the cells and coagulating the blood in the human body.
27 May 1997
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was plunged into a crisis when the Editor-in-chief of television news, Joe Thloloe, announced his resignation due to irreconcilable differences with Group Chief Executive, Zwelakhe Sisulu.
27 May 1963
Jomo Kenyatta, leader of the Kenyan liberation movement and Mau Mau rebellion against British control was elected as first Prime Minister of a self-governing Kenya, he was inaugurated on 1 June 1963.
27 May 1900
In May 1900, at the height of the South African War (1899-1902), Field Marshall Lord Roberts and his forces crossed the Vaal River heading to Pretoria.
26 May, 1994
President Nelson Mandela announces his intentions to promote national unity
26 May, 1962
South Africa is exonerated by the UN delegation
26 May, 1966
Zola Budd, former SA athlete and World Record holder, is born
25 May, 1960
Violent clashes about the Transkei territorial authorities continues
25 May, 1994
United Nations lifts arms embargo on South Africa
25 May, 1963
The Organisation of African Unity is formed and Africa Day is declared
24 May 1921
The first Comrades Marathon was run by Vic Clapham, ex World War One veteran and his forty-seven friends, who initiated it as a reunion.
24 May 1921
In 1921, in a battle lasting less than 30 minutes between police and Israelites, followers of prophet Enoch Mgijima, more than 180 people were killed.
24 May 1915
On 24 May 1915, soon after it had been decided to establish a Dutch newspaper, the name of the newspaper, De Burger ("The Citizen"), was decided on.
23 May 1994
After the first fully democratic elections, South Africa was officially admitted as 53rd member of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) at a summit, held in Tunis, Tunisia.
23 May 1981
The State theatre in Pretoria opened in 1981 as a non-profit government funded company. The Japanese- influenced building is actually a complex of theatres.
23 May 1951
Sefako Mapogo Makgatho, a teacher, politician and journalist, who was born in Pietersburg (now Polokwane) district in 1861, died in Riverside, Pretoria.
22 May 2003
South Africa national soccer team, Bafana Bafana played England star-studded team in a friendly international match at Absa Stadium in Durban. The match was to mark South Africa's campaign to host World Cup finals in 2010.
22 May 1996
Former South African Defence Force (SADF) Chief Tienie Groenewald was acquitted by the Durban Supreme Court on all charges related to the 1987 KwaMakhuthu Massacre.
22 May 1945
The South African Bureau of Standard (SABS) was established in terms of Act 24 of 1945. The Act was revised on several occasions and is currently effective as Act 29 of 1993.
21 May 1936
On this day in history, and international conference was held to implement legislation to protect the African elephant and rhinoceros.
21 May 1978
Moses Kotane, the South African Communist Party and African National Congress stalwart passed away in Moscow, Russia where he was hospitalised after a long illness he suffered since 1968.
21 May 1985
During the raid on the Cabinda oil refinery, Angola, on the 21 May 1985, Capt. Wynand du Toit was taken captive, and two other South African commandoes were killed. The rest of the commando unit evacuated successfully.
20 May 1987
Two bombs exploded at the Johannesburg magistrate's court. The first, a minor explosion that acted as a decoy, was followed by a second more powerful charge minutes later.
20 May 1983
On the afternoon of 20 May 1983, two African National Congress (ANC) cadres, Freddie Shangwe and Ezekial Maseko, drove to Church Street in Pretoria and parked their vehicle in close vicinity of the building which housed the South African Air Force (SAAF) headquarters.
20 May 1966
Within the old South Africa, 10 homelands were created. The 'separate development' policies (Apartheid) of H.F. Verwoerd resulted in the 'awarding' of 'self-government' to four of these 10 homelands including an area known as the Transkei in 1963.
19 May 2000
Thabo Mbeki is honoured
19 May 1930
The roots of White women's suffrage in South Africa began with the founding of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1899. The goal of this organisation was to campaign against the trade in alcohol, which they considered the greatest contributor to moral decay.
19 May 1659
With the coming of the Dutch settlers, the Khoikhoi faced a stronger demand for their cattle. Trade disputes and charges of theft caused great tension between colonists and the Khoikhoi who feared that the settlement of free burghers
18 May, 1991
The ANC threatens to suspend constitutional talks
18 May, 1903
Milner proposes conditional voting rights for 'non-Whites' in SA
18 May, 1912
Walter Sisulu, co-founder of the ANCYL and Umkhonto we Sizwe, is born
17 May 2011
The 17 May, is World Telecommunications Day (WTD). It commemorates the founding of the (ITU) International Telecommunications Union on 17 May 1865.
17 May 1994
Present day Malawi became the British colony of Nyasaland in 1890, after aggressive diplomatic conflict with Germany. In 1964, Britain released the colony and it became Malawi, with Kamuzu Banda sworn is as the country's first president.
17 May 1995
The South African parliament approved legislation to set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995.
16 May 1977
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of Nelson Mandela, was banished to a dusty Afrikaner dominated town of Brandfort in the Free State where she was unceremoniously dumped at house 802 with her youngest daughter, Zinzi.
16 May 1976
Pupils at Phefeni Secondary School started boycotting classes in protest against the use of Afrikaans as medium of instruction in certain subjects in schools.
16 May 1971
The South African Prime Minister B.J. Vorster declared that if the positive signs of cooperation with the rest of Africa are interpreted accurately, South Africa could become the leading state in Southern Africa.
15 May 2004
On 15 May 2004, the president of the Federation of International Football Association's (FIFA), Joseph "Sepp" Blatter, announced that South Africa would host the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
15 May 1997
National Party (NP) leader F W de Klerk's failure to accept that the former NP government's policies had given security forces a licence to kill was devastating, according Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) chairman Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
15 May 1970
South Africa suffered heavily in the international sports arena as result of its apartheid policy.
14 May 1973
Patrick Laurence, journalist of the Star, was charged with contravening the Suppression of Communism Act of 1950 by publishing a statement made by Robert Sobukwe, the former president of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).
14 May 1997
Speaking before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for a second time, F.W. de Klerk repeats his assertion that murder and torture had never been part of government policy.
14 May 1991
Winnie Nomzamo Mandela, ANC activist and later president of the African National Congress Women's League (1993) and deputy minister of arts and culture (1994) was sentenced to six years for her 'complicity' in the kidnapping and beating of four youths.
13 May, 1960
Dipuo Peters is born
13 May, 1996
President Mandela reshuffles Cabinet Ministers
13 May, 1991
Winnie Mandela is found guilty
12 May 1996
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed that he was resigning as African National Congress Secretary-General, as well as from Parliament. Speculation around Ramaphosa's resignation was because of a belief that he has been overlooked by Nelson Mandela
12 May 1972
SASO adopts the Alice Declaration
12 May 1968
Academic and ANC politician Z.K. Matthews dies
11 May 1997
The Chairman of the Pan-Africanist Congress and disciplinary committee announces that former party President and Robben Island detainee Clarence Makwetu has been expelled party for three years
11 May 1984
South Africa's longest serving White political prisoner, David Kitson, was released, seven months short of completing his twenty-year sentence for sabotage.
11 May 1959
Professional soccer is introduced in SA when the National Football League is founded
10 May 1996
Deputy President F.W. de Klerk announced that the National Party was to withdraw from the Government of National Unity on June 30.
10 May 1963
When the apartheid government introduced the General Law Amendment Act, the South African Security Police, or Special Branch, were given the authority to arrest anyone they suspected of involvement in an act against the State.
10 May 1950
Life Magazine was founded in in 1883 and was published for 53 years as a general interest light entertainment magazine.
9 May 2004
Well-known SA musician, Brenda Fassie died at the Sunninghill Hospital, Johannesburg. The artist was hospitalized on April 26 and fell into a coma until she passed away thirteen days later.
9 May 1966
Bram Fischer, the former political activist was arrested in 1964 for being a member of the illegal organisation Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA).
9 May 1960
At a meeting of Commonwealth Heads' of Government, Commonwealth leaders discussed SA's apartheid policy.
8 May 2004
Each year Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is celebrated on 8 May. This is to commemorate those who volunteer their time in assisting these organisations in caring for vulnerable communities.
8 May 1996
The adoption of the South African Constitution on 8 May 1996 was one of the turning points in the history of the struggle for democracy in South Africa.
8 May 1925
When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, it consisted of the Transvaal, the Orange Free State, Natal and the Cape Province.
7 May, 1985
International Conference on Women and Children under Apartheid starts
7 May, 1987
COSATU headquarters Johannesburg is sabotaged
7 May, 1936
British female pilot Amy Johnson lands in Cape Town and sets a new flight record
6 May 1889
Church Square, which was initially called Market Square, was home to the first church built in Pretoria, which burnt down in 1882.
6 May 1958
Margaret Rheeder, found guilty of poisoning her husband, Benjamin Fredenman, was hung in Pretoria.
6 May 1975
The government announces that its aim, is to provide all Black children with free and compulsory education as soon as possible.
5 May, 1985
Sipho Mutsi dies in police custody
5 May, 1983
The RSA Constitution Bill goes before the House of Assembly
5 May, 1925
Afrikaans declared an official language of South Africa
4 May, 1983
Victor Sidney Norton, journalist and the first South African
4 May, 1960
Robert Sobukwe is sentenced to three years' imprisonment
4 May, 1925
Ruth First is born
3 May 1991
World Press Freedom Day is observed on 3 May. This day was the culmination of a UNESCO seminar held in Windhoek, Namibia from 29 April 1991 to the 3 May 1991.
3 May 1988
Representatives of South Africa, the United States (US), Angola and Cuba met in London (3-4 May) in search of a solution to the Angolan war and independence for Namibia.
3 May 1781
Piet Retief was one of the leaders of the Great Trek that introduced Afrikaner settlement to the interior.
2 May 1990
The Groote Schuur talks between the South African government and the African National Congress (ANC) were held on 2, 3 and 4 May 1990.
2 May 1980
Pope John Paul II began his first tour of Africa, including visits to Zaire (presently known as the Democratic Republic of Congo), Congo, Kenya, Ghana, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso ) and the Ivory Coast.
2 May 1954
Bulelani Ngcuka, born in Middledrift, Eastern Cape on 2 May 1954, is a former African National Congress political activist and a lawyer.
1 May, 1995
Nelson Mandela is escorted out of Umlazi stadium
1 May, 1995
First celebration of May Day in South Africa
1 May, 1989
Anti-apartheid activist Dr. David Webster is assassinated
30 April, 1930
Josiah Gumede is succeeded by Pixley ka Isaka Seme as ANC president
30 April, 1958
Mbhazima Shilowa, former premier of Gauteng, is born
30 April, 1982
P.W. Botha and Kenneth Kaunda in a historic meeting
29 April, 1994
First democratic election results for SA
29 April, 1829
Freedom of press is established at the Cape
29 April, 1961
Nelson Mandela is acquitted of high treason.
28 April, 1994
IEC extends election dates
28 April, 1978
The Azanian People's Organisation is formed
28 April, 1990
Father Michael Lapsley, an Anglican priest, is injured by a letter-bomb
27 April, 1994
The first democratic election is held in South Africa
27 April, 2011
Freedom Day is celebrated in South Africa
27 April, 1961
Sierra Leone gains independence from Britain
26 April, 1679
The Castle of Good Hope is the oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa.
26 April 1999
The Chernobyl computer virus, perhaps the most destructive so far, damages hundreds of thousands of computers around the world.
26 April 1994
Four years after the unbanning of the liberation movements and release of political prisoners, SA held its first multi-racial elections.
25 April 1977
The South African government for the first time allowed twenty local journalists, five correspondents of international news agencies and two official photographers to visit the prison on Robben Island where 370 men, convicted under security legislation, were held.
25 April 1996
Political parties in parliament tabled more than 300 amendments to the constitutional legislation
25 April 2004
The Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who arrived in Pretoria for the 10th anniversary
24 April, 1976
Benjamin Tyamzashe receives an honorary degree
24 April, 2001
Jacob Zuma launches the CIDB
24 April, 1993
Oliver Tambo dies in Johannesburg
23 April 1977
Mugabe announces the merging of ZANU and ZAPU
23 April 1997
AWB leader, Eugene TerreBlanche, is convicted of attempted murder and assault
23 April 1984
Discovery of the AIDS virus is publicly announced
22 April 1960
1 575 people are detained under a state of emergency
22 April 1935
Sathyandranath Ragunanan (Mac) Maharaj, political activist and first SA Minister of Transport in the democratically elected government in 1994, was born in Newcastle, Natal
22 April 1819
The nine Frontier or Xhosa Wars re-shaped and dominated 19th Century South African History, and took place in the Eastern Cape between the Xhosa and European settlers
21 April 1980
The Coloured schools' boycott began as result of students' dissatisfaction with the South African educational and political systems.
21 April 1982
A Group Areas Amendment Bill, introduced on 7 March 1982 and enacted on 21 April, maintained the existing commitment to the principle of separate residential areas, schools and amenities for different races, but excluded sports venues from its provisions.
21 April 1937
Benjamin Mzimkulu (Ben) Macala was born in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State. As a young boy he tended cattle on a farm in the Free State and drew on rocks with stones. He was largely self-taught, although he studied for a few months under Cecil Skotnes at Jubilee Art Centre in 1964.
20 April 1999
South African Judge Edwin Cameron reveals his HIV status
20 April 1994
The State President F.W. de Klerk issues a proclamation adopting the new national flag and National Anthem of SA
20 April 1979
The Federation of South African Trade Unions is founded
19 April 1963
On 19 April 1963, African National Congress (ANC) leader Walter Sisulu forfeited R6000 bail and went underground.
19 April 1960
The South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) was founded in Windhoek, South West Africa (presently Namibia) on 19 April 1960 by Herman Toivo ja Toivo.
19 April 1906
The Bambatha Rebellion took place near Greytown in KwaZulu-Natal.
18 April 1658
On 18 April 1658, six years after the Dutch East India Company established its colony at the Cape, the first formal school was opened.
18 April 1658
On 18 April 1658, six years after the Dutch East India Company established its colony at the Cape, the first formal school was opened.
18 April 1980
Rhodesia gained independence after ninety years as a British colony, taking the new name Zimbabwe.
16 April 1981
The S. A government seizes the passport of Bishop Desmond Tutu
16 April 1958
The last general election of the Union of South Africa
16 April 1990
Nelson Mandela says "thank you" to the world
15 April, 1996
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission begins
15 April, 1954
Walter Sisulu acts against Sophiatown forced removals
15 April, 2000
First victim of the land invasions in Zimbabwe, David Stevens, is murdered
14 April 2004
South Africa held its third democratic elections on 14 April 2004. A total of 20.6 million People were registered to vote
14 April 1990
Nelson Mandela admits to the torture of dissident guerrillas
14 April 1986
Desmond Tutu is elected Archbishop
13 April 2011
The death of Andries Tatane in service delivery protest in the Free State sparks national outrage
13 April 1996
Ramaphosa announces his decision to leave parliament
13 April 1985
Mass funeral for those killed at Sharpeville commemoration
12 April 1993
Thousands protest the killing of Chris Hani
12 April 1969
Lucas Radebe is born
12 April 1942
Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa and of the ANC, is born.
11 April 2001
Ellis Park soccer stampede kills 43
11 April 1961
Nigeria imposes sanctions on South Africa, and implements a total trade boycott
11 April 1948
Manilal Gandhi leads a resistance group across the Natal
10 April, 1993
Chris Hani, the SACP secretary-general, is assassinated
10 April 1978
Transkei breaks all diplomatic ties with the Republic of South Africa
10 April, 1999
Bafana Bafana loses to Gabon at Odi Stadium
9 April, 1860
Emily Hobhouse, humanitarian and pacifist during the Anglo
9 April, 1679
First census conducted at the Cape
9 April, 1960
Assassination attempt on Verwoerd
8 April, 1991
Peace talks between ANC and IFP are called off
8 April, 1954
South African poet Vincent Oliphant is born
8 April, 1987
Three people are killed in a cross
7 April, 1999
The TRC refuses amnesty to Hani's killers
7 April, 1997
The ANC leader in the KwaZulu Natal midlands, Sifiso Nkabinde, is expelled from the ANC
7 April, 1884
Charlotte Maxeke born on 7 April 1847
6 April, 1959
The PAC is formed
6 April, 1994
ANC dismisses proposals to postpone elections
6 April, 1979
MK hero cadre Solomon Kalushi (Khala) Mahlangu is executed
5 April 1999
President Nelson Mandela earned worldwide praise for his role in persuading Libya to hand over two suspects accused of placing a bomb on Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie in Scotland in 1988, killing altogether 270 people
5 April 1986
Lucky Kutumela, journalist and member of the Azanian Peoples Organisation (AZAPO) and Media Workers association of South Africa (MWASA) succumbed to his injuries at Pietersburg (now Polokwane) hospital after being severely assaulted
5 April 1959
The formation of the Pan African Congress (PAC) came as a result of indifferences within the ranks of the African National Congress.
4 April, 1980
ANC attack on Booysens Police Station
4 April, 1939
Hugh Masekela, South African musician, is born
3 April 1968
On 3 April 1968, South Africa Prime Minister B.J. Vorster announced that five ‘non-White’ South African University Colleges will be released from their association with the University of South Africa (UNISA).
3 April 1973
The basic concept of cellular phones began in 1947, when researchers began to examine crude mobile (car) phones. These researchers realized that by using small cells (range of service area) with frequency reuse they could increase the traffic capacity of mobile phones substantially.
3 April 1930
Born in 1891(some sources say 1894), Tafari Makonnen, or Haile Selassie, as he was later known, was born the son of Ras Makonnen Wolde Michael, the Governor of the region of Harrar. He is credited for modernising Ethiopia
2 April 1987
Nnoseng Ellen Kate Kuzwayo made history when she became the first black woman to receive an honorary degree from the University of the Witwatersrand on 2 April 1987.
2 April 1918
In December 1863 about 30 leading inhabitants of Stellenbosch gathered in the Reading Room in Dorp Street to discuss the provision of advanced education.
2 April 1879
The Anglo-Zulu War Battle of Gingindlovu takes place. The Battle of Gingindlovu took place shortly after the Battle of Kambula and Rorkes drift.
1 April, 1955
ANC launches mass boycott of Bantu Education
1 April, 1965
ANC member, Henry Fazzie sentenced to 20 years in jail under the Sabotage Act
1 April, 1961
Robben Island is turned into a prison
1 April 1961
Robben Island is turned into a prison
1 April 1922
The South African Naval Service is founded
1 April 1863
First Tramway Company in Cape Town commences operations, with a horse
31 March, 1946
Indians march in Durban to protest against the Ghetto Act
31 March, 1993
President de Klerk warns General Bantu Holomisa
31 March, 1694
Sheik Yusuf arrives at the Cape of Good Hope
30 March, 1966
National Party wins general election
30 March, 1960
State of Emergency follows Sharpeville massacre
30 March, 1951
The Group Areas Act comes into effect
29 March, 1990
ANC and IFP joint peace rally is called off
29 March, 1933
Dr Stanley Mogoba is born in Polokwane
29 March, 1982
Journalist and political activist Selby Msimang dies
28 March, 1960
Natives are making bonfires of their "passes" in Johannesburg
28 March, 1996
Mandela reshuffles the cabinet
28 March, 1996
IFP commemorates Shell House shootings.
27 March, 1876
The Cape Times appears for the first time
27 March, 1985
Beyers Naudé and Allan Boesak arrested for leading a protest march
27 March, 1995
Winnie Mandela is dismissed from government
26 March, 1902
Cecil John Rhodes (48) dies in Muizenberg
26 March, 1990
NP government abandons segregated education
26 March, 1998
US President Bill Clinton arrives in Cape Town
25 March 1994
The ANC leads a march through central Durban, attended by up to 100,000 people, to demand their voting rights.
25 March 1939
Former Chief Justice Pius Nkonzo Langa is born
25 March 1961
Nelson Mandela is appointed the Secretary of the National Action Council.
24 March, 1991
Twelve people are killed in Daveyton
24 March, 1995
De Klerk calls for stringent safety measures
24 March, 1593
The Santo Alberto is wrecked
23 March, 1959
Conservationist and entrepreneur Rufus Maruma is born
23 March, 1966
South African Communist Party leader Abram Fischer is sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of communism
23 March, 1984
Dorothy Nyembe is released from jail
22 March, 1956
Martin Luther King is arrested for his role in a bus boycott
22 March, 1979
President Vorster challenges Dr Rhoodie
22 March, 1999
S.A. beats New Zealand by 3
21 March 1996
The killing of eleven people at Donnybrook, Kwazulu-Natal on the 21 March 1996 can be considered as part of the ongoing rivalry between supporters of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the African National Congress (ANC).
21 March 1966
This day was proclaimed by the United Nations Organisation's General Assembly in 1966. It came about as a result of the Sharpeville Massacre, which took place on this day in 1960.
21 March 1960
On 21 March, 1960, a breakaway organisation from the African National Congress (ANC), the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) staged an anti-pass demonstration outside Sharpeville police station near Vereeniging.
20 March, 1982
The Conservative Party is formed
20 March, 1993
South African artist, Gerard Sekoto, dies
20 March, 1999
The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA) disbands
19 March, 1975
The Labour Party holds the majority on the Coloured Persons' Representative Council
19 March, 1993
Three people murdered at Eikenhof
19 March, 1998
Makhaya Ntini represents South Africa at Newlands
18 March, 1974
Connie Mulder announces banning off WCC officials from SA
18 March, 1979
Government admits responsibility for Mdluli's death
18 March, 1922
The Rand Revolt Ends
17 March, 1992
F.W. de Klerk announces Whites-only referendum results
17 March, 1999
Allan Boesak guilty on charges of fraud
17 March, 1820
The first 1820 British Settlers arrive in South Africa.
16 March, 1959
Tito Mboweni, Head of the Reserve Bank is born
16 March, 1956
The Riotous Assemblies Act Commences
16 March, 1892
James Sebe Moroka is born
15 March, 1922
The Rand Revolt strikers' stronghold at Fordsburg Square falls to the government
15 March, 1946
The Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act is introduced
15 March, 2001
Department of Transport launches Be Legal campaign
14 March, 1982
A bomb blast rocks the ANC London office
14 March, 2005
A prison warder is killed in Groote Schuur Hospital
14 March, 2005
SA struggles to fight HIV/AIDS pandemic
13 March, 1980
Lillian Ngoyi dies
13 March, 2002
The Angolan government announces a unilateral ceasefire
13 March, 2004
Former Cabinet Minister Dullah Omar dies
12 March, 1868
Basutoland (now Lesotho) becomes British territory
12 March, 1990
Mandela and Tambo meet in Sweden
12 March, 2005
Pioneer tomato farmer Bertie van Zyl is buried in Mooketsi
11 March, 1996
Gen. Magnus Malan appears in court
11 March, 1978
The apartheid government agrees to eliminate racial segregation in theatres but not in cinemas
1 March, 1870
King Moshoeshoe dies
10 March 1926
South African artist Michael Zondi is born
10 March 1984
ANC mounts a sabotage attack on fuel depot in Ermelo
10 March 1994
Lucas Mangope leaves Mmabatho due to uprising
9 March, 1831
The French Foreign Legion is founded
9 March, 1998
COSATU withdraws from Parliamentary session on budget
9 March, 1998
Robert McBride is arrested in Mozambique
8 March, 1917
First celebration of International Women's Day
8 March, 1986
Moses Mabhida dies in Maputo
8 March, 2004
15 suspected mercenaries, many of them South African, are arrested in Equatorial Guinea
7 March, 1902
Gen. De la Rey captures Lord Methuen
7 March, 1952
WW2 veteran Job Masego dies
7 March, 1964
Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, Dr Albert Hertzog, confirms that television would not be introduced in South Africa
6 March, 1957
Gold Coast (Ghana) gains independence
6 March, 1982
F.W. de Klerk, Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs, elected as new leader of the Transvaal National Party
6 March, 2006
Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Woods, becomes the first South African film to receive an Oscar
5 March, 1928
Enoch Mgijima dies
5 March, 1990
South Africa sends troops to Ciskei
5 March, 1916
SA troops invade East Africa in their confrontation with German forces in World War I
4 March 1990
The release of Nelson Mandela on 11 February 1990 was a catalyst that sped up the change in the political dispensation in South Africa. On 4 March 1990 343 political prisoners on Robben Island went on a hunger strike demanding their release in order to strengthen the bargaining positions of the ANC.
4 March 1980
The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) won the first free elections in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe, president of ZANU since 1977, became prime minister
4 March 1963
Former secretary-general of the African National Congress (ANC), Walter Sisulu, was convicted of having incited a stay-at-home of African workers in protest of the Republic of South Africa Constitution Act of 1961.
3 March 2004
Angered by the manner in which Haiti's President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was allegedly forced to flee his country, the fifteen-nation Caribbean Community said it would not provide troops for the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Force in Haiti
3 March 1973
South Africa signs CITES treaty on international trade in endangered species of wild flora and fauna
3 March 1939
The ‘Timeless Test’ starts in Durban
2 March, 1866
The Stellenbosch Gymnasium is founded
2 March, 1987
Ladysmith Black Mambazo wins a Grammy
2 March, 1994
IFP agrees to participate in 1994 elections
1 March, 1849
The Cape Agulhas lighthouse begins operating
1 March, 1922
Wits attains full University status
1 March, 1994
Walvis Bay is handed over to Namibia
29 February, 1988
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested
29 February, 1940
Hattie McDaniels Wins An Academy Award
29 February, 1824
Prussian Nobility Establishes Berlin Missionary Society
28 February, 1956
Separate Representation of Coloured Voters Act is passed
28 February, 1992
SA signs diplomatic relations with Russia
28 February, 1998
SA team loses to its Egyptian counterpart
27 February, 1991
Agreement to reincorporate Ciskei is reached
27 February, 1978
Robert Sobukwe, first PAC president, dies
27 February, 1996
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma welcomes Cuban doctors
26 February, 1965
Western countries continue to provide arms to South Africa despite UN sanctions
26 February, 1910
Gandhi supports APO's Day of Mourning
26 February, 1996
Adriaan Vlok applies for amnesty
25 February, 1990
Mandela addresses ANC rally in Durban
25 February, 1994
The Women's National Coalition Conference starts
25 February, 1937
SA artist, Daniel Sefundi Rakgoathe is born
24 February, 1992
De Klerk announces referendum date
24 February, 1992
ANC promulgates its constitutional proposals
24 February, 1976
The first indications of protest over Afrikaans in Soweto schools
23 February, 1945
Allan Boesak is born
23 February, 1997
Dispute over SA military integration
23 February, 1998
Botha pleads not guilty to contempt charges
22 February, 1857
Baden Powell is Born
22 February, 1996
Black pupils arrive at school escorted by Police Officers
22 February, 1997
New ANC National Working Committee is elected
21 February, 1858
Walter Benson Rubusana, founding member of the ANC, is born
21 February, 1995
Inkatha Freedom Party boycotts parliament
21 February, 2001
Miriam Makeba is nominated for a Grammy
20 February, 1993
President F. W. de Klerk ring cabinet changes
20 February, 1984
SA poet Sydney Vernon Peterson dies
20 February, 1950
The Population Registration Bill is read for the first time
19 February, 1990
Nelson Mandela was issued with his first passport after being released from prison
19 February, 1993
African National Congress (ANC) and government decided to go ahead with the necessary reforms paving a way for a multiparty democratic election to be held in April 1994.
19 February, 1970
Head of the Bureau of State Security (BOSS) General H. Van Den Bergh,, briefly appeared on Rhodesian (now known as Zimbabwe) TV, telling viewers that anti-apartheid protests overseas were cautiously planned by communists linked to the South African Communist Party (SACP) and leftists in exile.
18 February, 2005
A Xhosa film wins Golden Bear award
18 February, 1982
Outrage at the kidnapping of student leader Lengene
18 February, 1953
Jeff Radebe is born
17 February, 1998
Tony Johnstone wins Alfred Dunhill PGA golf tournament.
17 February, 1998
Tony Johnstone wins Alfred Dunhill PGA golf tournament
17 February, 1983
Zim's interior minister Joshua Nkomo is dismissed
17 February, 1951
Patricia de Lille Born in Beaufort West
16 February, 1989
UDF Disowns Winnie Mandela
16 February, 1988
Chris Heunis meets Enos Mabuza of KaNgwane
16 February, 1959
Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba
15 February, 1968
International Olympic Committee re-admit South Africa
15 February, 1886
Mafeking is established
15 February, 1839
Third Voortrekker Town Established
14 February, 1995
Official inauguration of the Constitutional Court
14 February, 1994
Zulu King Zwelithini threatens to establish a separate Zulu state
14 February, 1933
Hertzog and Smuts to form a coalition
13 February, 1995
Madikizela Mandela is accused of misuse of funds
13 February, 1961
Patrice Lumumba, former Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is shot
13 February, 1713
Smallpox Epidemic Strikes the Cape
12 February, 1980
The Quail Commission report is released
12 February, 1880
Ermelo is founded
12 February, 1951
Kwame Nkrumah is released from jail
10 February, 2008
TUKS is 100 years old
10 February, 1991
Over 17 million arrested under pass laws
10 February, 1987
Shift in US Foreign Policy Toward Apartheid State
9 February, 2002
Princess Margaret dies
9 February, 1978
Winnie Mandela receives a 6 months' sentence
9 February, 1955
The Star Condemns Forced Removals In Sophiatown
8 February, 1981
Mozambique stresses its continued support for the ANC
8 February, 1975
Drum Magazine calls for the release of all political prisoners
8 February, 1881
Boers defeat British in the battle of Ingogo (Anglo-Boer War 1)
7 February, 1986
Dr Frederik van Zyl Slabbert resigns from parliament
7 February, 1983
Cedric Mayson is charged with treason
7 February, 1969
White entrepreneurs to be given contracts in the 'homelands'
6 February, 1901
San involvement in the Battle of Chrissiesmeer
6 February, 1979
P.W. Botha offers to resign
6 February, 1838
Zulu King Dingane orders the killing of Piet Retief's men
5 February 1999
President Nelson Mandela delivered his last major address to parliament at the opening of the ultimate session of the first democratically elected parliament.
5 February 1970
A disciplined and perfect off-spinner, John Traicos one of international cricket's most unusual members, made his Test debut - for South Africa vs Australia at Durban in their final series before their banishment from Test cricket.
5 February 1963
In an attempt to destabilise the country and cause an uprising against the Apartheid government, members of Poqo, the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania's military wing kill a White family in their caravan while they camp on the Bashee River
February 4, 1997
The New South African Constitution takes effect.
February 4, 1974
Abram Onkgopotse Tiro, founder of the South African Student Organisation is killed by a parcel bomb in Botswana.
February 4, 1920
The first air flight from England to South Africa takes place.
3 February, 1992
De Klerk and Mandela receive UNESCO peace prize
3 February, 1960
Macmillan's winds of change' speech in Parliament
3 February, 1848
Britain annexes territory between the Orange and Vaal Rivers
2 February, 1990
The Harms Commission terms of reference are laid out
2 February, 2007
First National Bank (FNB) cancels its R20 million anti-crime initiative.
2 February, 1990
South Africa's President F.W. de Klerk promises to free Nelson Mandela and legalizes ANC and 60 other political organisations
1 February, 1991
President F.W. de Klerk promises repeal of apartheid laws
1 February, 1974
SASO leader, Abram Tiro is assassinated
1 February, 1920
The South African Air Force is established
31 January, 2007
Ma Tambo dies in Johannesburg
31 January, 1985
President P W Botha offers Nelson Mandela conditional release from prison
31 January, 1964
The University of Port Elizabeth is founded
30 January, 1987
Carte Blanche is denied permission to quote Oliver Tambo
30 January, 1948
Mohandas (aka Mahatma) Karamchand Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu nationalist in New Delhi, India
30 January, 1899
Dr Max Theiler, SA's First Nobel Laureate is born
29 January 1991
A summit meeting was held in Durban between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). The meeting was addressed by Zulu Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi and ANC Deputy President Nelson Mandela
29 January 1986
Yoweri Moseveni after five years in the bush, was sworn in as the new Ugandan Head of State. He ruled the country for a decade without having been elected to power.
29 January 1957
The Durban College of Education is founded
28 January 2005
Gift Of The Givers Foundation logo Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, national co-ordinator of the Gift Of The Givers Foundation, announced in Johannesburg that the foundation would fly forty tons of food, medical supplies and water into Somalia immediately after getting a go-ahead from the United Nations
28 January 1997
Four apartheid-era police officers, including police Colonel Gideon Nieuwoudt who appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) admitted their role in the 1977 killing of Steve Biko
28 January 1942
Five power stations are blown up by pro-Axis saboteurs in an attempt to destabilise the Rand gold mines.
27 January, 1980
Robert Mugabe returns to Rhodesia after being in exile for five years
27 January, 1961
Arrests in Pondoland
27 January, 1914
Women Draw up a Petition against Pass Laws
26 January, 1991
Rebels overrun the Somalian capital of Mogadishu
26 January, 1999
Chairman of the IEC resigns
26 January, 2005
Cape High Court suspends pebble bed modular reactor at Koeberg
25 January, 1914
Durban mass meeting endorses Smuts and Gandhi agreement
25 January, 1980
Three ANC guerrillas seize a bank and twenty–five hostages
25 January, 1965
Abram Fischer fails to arrive in court
24 January, 1960
Riots erupt in Cato Manor
24 January, 1964
SA Government spoil Chief Albert Luthuli's chance of Rectorship
24 January, 1979
Dr Connie Mulder resigns as a result of his involvement in the Information Scandal
23 January, 1879
The British successfully thwart the Zulu attack at Rorke's Drift
23 January, 1998
P.W. Botha appears in court
23 January, 2007
Presley Chweneyagae, star of the Oscar winning movie Tsotsi, is arrested for fraud in Pretoria
22 January, 1992
Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk are awarded the Unesco Peace Prize
22 January, 1981
Percy Qoboza, editor of the Post, states that it is difficult to see how a credible newspaper for Blacks can be created in South Africa
22 January, 1874
Founder of South African Library for the Blind (SALB), Josephine Wood is born
21 January, 1990
Nelson Mandela condemns the Lockerbie bombing
21 January, 1960
Coalbrook mine disaster kills more than 400
21 January, 2006
Tshwane Metro's 5th anniversary celebrations held at Church Square
20 January, 1879
British troops establish their camp at Isandlwana
20 January, 1939
The highest temperature in the shade is recorded in the Cape
20 January, 1986
Bishop Tutu receives Martin Luther King Award
19 January, 1999
Colin Chauke is captured
19 January, 1999
Devastating storm hits Mount Ayliff, Eastern Cape.
19 January, 1940
Former Finance Minister Barend du Plessis is born
18 January, 1967
Lesotho addresses political exiles in the country
18 January, 1902
Gideon Scheepers executed
18 January, 1989
President P.W. Botha suffers a stroke.
17 January, 1852
The Sand River Convention, under which Britain renounces all claims to authority beyond the Vaal River, is signed.
17 January, 1988
Percy Qoboza dies
17 January, 1961
Patrice Lumumba is killed
16 January, 1994
Clarence Makwetu announces the PAC's suspension of its armed struggle
16 January, 1990
Paedophile Gert van Rooyen and mistress die in Pretoria
16 January, 1971
The first Cape to Rio yacht race takes place
15 January, 1929
Martin Luther King, Junior, an African-American clergyman who orchestrated social change through non-violent methods is born
15 January, 1813
Judges of the Black Circuit return to Cape Town
15 January, 1876
The first Afrikaans newspaper, 'Die Afrikaanse Patriot', is published in Paarl.
14 January, 1933
Albert Nzula dies in Moscow
14 January, 1999
Benny Lategan is shot dead
14 January, 1971
Britain proposes the sale of arms to South Africa
13 January, 1953
Derek Hanekom is born
13 January, 1963
The South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee is founded
13 January, 1979
Eschel Rhoodie's assets frozen
12 January, 1916
P.W. Botha is born
12 January, 1988
Sithembele Zokwe is assassinated
12 January, 1879
The first battle of the Anglo-Zulu war takes place
11 January, 1903
Alan Paton is born
11 January, 1974
First sextuplets in the world to survive their infancy are born in Cape Town
11 January, 1996
Thabo Mbeki announces judicial inquiry
10 January, 1988
Obed Amon Mwanza of Zimbabwe is killed
10 January, 1993
Bafana Bafana wins against Botswana
10 January, 1900
Lord Roberts arrives at the Cape
9 January 1993
The African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) presents five demands to be met during the year in order to facilitate South Africa's first democratic elections.
9 January 1973
Around 2 000 workers in the Coronation Brick and Tile factory in Durban downed tools after the employers rejected their demand for a wage increase from R8,97 to R30 per week.
9 January 1951
The international peace keeping body, the United Nations (UN), which had replaced the League of Nations in 1945, opened its headquaters two years after construction work at UN Plaza in New York, USA, had started.
8 January, 1806
The Battle of Blaauwberg takes place
8 January, 1912
The SANNC (later ANC) is founded in Bloemfontein
8 January, 1992
Harry Gwala is awarded Isitwalandwe/Seaparakoe
7 January, 1959
Peter Mokaba is born in Polokwane
7 January, 1919
Industrial and Commercial Workers Union is founded under Clements Kadalie
7 January, 1919
Bantu Women's League protests against pass laws
6 January, 1896
Cecil John Rhodes is forced to resign
6 January, 1995
Joe Slovo dies of cancer at the age of 68
6 January, 2005
Makgatho Mandela dies
5 January, 1965
Mac Maharaj, Laloo Chiba, Raymond Nyanda and Andrew Masondo arrive on Robben Island prison
5 January, 1976
Start of daily television transmissions
5 January, 1985
US Senator Edward Kennedy visits SA
4 January, 1978
Daniel Arap Moi is elected President of Kenya
4 January, 1953
Protest against pass laws in Langa
4 January, 1948
The Flag of the Union of South Africa is hoisted on Prince Edward Island
3 January, 1892
JRR Tolkien born in Bloemfontein
3 January, 1987
Rev Allan Hendrikse and 150 Supporters Swim at a Whites Only Beach in Port Elizabeth.
3 January, 1993
Joseph Skosana is killed
2 January 1985
Moses Josiah Madiba, author, educationist and first Black chancellor of the University of the North, died in Seshego, Pietersburg (now Polokwane) district.
2 January 1968
Renowned surgeon, Dr Chris Barnard, performed his second heart transplant operation at Groote Schuur Hospital a month after his first transplant. Hamilton Naki was part of the team that assisted him.
2 January 1837
Voortrekker leaders Andries Hendrik Potgieter and Gerrit (Gert) Maritz, both Potgieter and Maritz led their troops to Western Transvaal where they attacked Mzilikazi for the Matabele (Ndebele) on the Voortrekkers at Vechtkop (Vegkop)
1 January 1986
South African Government closed its borders with Lesotho, cutting off fundamental food and fuel supplies. The relationship of the South African and Lesotho in the 1970s and early 1980s was fraught with friction.
1 January 1972
For the first time in the history of the South African Police (SAP), policewomen were enlisted as 'full members of the force'.
1 January 1922
Transvaal coal miners embarked on a strike because of a wage cut of 5/- per shift. On 10 January 1922 White mine workers on the Rand gold mines followed their example, because they rejected a proposal that a regulation concerning the ratio of Whites to Blacks
31 December 2003
Eight British tourists, five men and three women, were killed on their way to the Royal Natal National Park when their bus swerved to avoid a pedestrian on the R74 between Harrismith and Bergville and crashed.
31 December 1989
On 31 December 1989, ex-mutineers in exile considered resigning from the African National Congress (ANC). This came after the suppression of political and cultural renewal by the ANC and the banishment of nine members of the ANC
31 December 1959
Forced removals from Sophiatown had started in 1955 and by 1963 the demolition of the existing houses started.
30 December 1986
The American oil company Exxon became the first major international oil company to withdraw its investment from South Africa because of the country's Apartheid policy.
30 December 1969
The International Monetary Fund announces that it will agree to purchase gold from South Africa, subject to certain conditions.
30 December 1831
The Gramstown Journal, one of South Africa's important and influential early newspapers, ran from 1831- 1920. From its early days its editorial slant voiced the interests of English settlers in the Eastern Cape.
29 December 1980
In the Rand Supreme Court, Justice Coetzee, refused to lift the banning order on four Black newspapers
29 December 1978
Rev. Allan Hendrickse was elected leader of the Coloured Labour Party of South Africa at its thirteenth Congress in Bloemfontein.
29 December 1976
The Minister of Bantu Education M.C. Botha announced that the government moved towards the introduction of free and compulsory education for Black pupils.
28 December 1989
On 28 December 1989, a document officially banning nine members of the African National Congress (ANC) was circulated at Dakawa in Tanzania. The nine members were from different ANC communities in Dakawa.
28 December 1985
Political activist and civil rights campaigner widely respected by Blacks, Molly Blackburn, was killed in a car accident near Humansdorp, Eastern Cape.
28 December 1943
Politician and businessman Oscar Dhlomo was born at Putellos, Umbumbulu, Natal. Dhlomo served in the homeland government of Kwa-Zulu under the leadership of Mangosuthu Buthelezi as Minister of Education and Culture.
27 December, 1932
South Africa abandons the Gold Standard, sparking a period of economic expansion
27 December, 1919
Dr Joosub Ebrahim is born
27 December, 1838
Voortrekker commando is ambushed by the Zulu army in the Battle of the White Umfolozi
26 December, 1918
Prime Minister of Transkei George Matanzima is born
26 December, 1995
Paul Adams becomes SA's youngest Test Cricket player
26 December, 2004
Hundreds of thousands of people killed as tsunamis devastate large swathes of South and Southeast Asia, coming as far as South Africa
25 December, 1819
Struggle icon Makana drowns
25 December, 1992
Helen Joseph dies
25 December, 1995
Christmas Day Massacre
24 December 1989
Charles Taylor enters Liberia to unseat President Samuel K Doe.
24 December 1926
Richard Maponya is born in Lenyenye in the then Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo)
24 December 1651
The three ships, Drommedaris, Reijger and Goede Hoop, carrying Jan van Riebeeck and his party, leave Texel in the Netherlands on their way to the Cape.
23 December, 1960
Zinzi Mandela is born
23 December, 1962
Kwame Nkrumah orders release of political prisoners
23 December, 1932
SA experiences a monetary crisis due to the heavy drain of gold from the country during the Great Depression
22 December, 1993
SA signs diplomatic relations with Vietnam
22 December, 1973
Trade unionist, Barend Erasmus dies
22 December, 1953
Twenty-four Kikuyu tribesmen are sentenced to death for the Lari massacre in Kenya
21 December, 1976
Trial of nine BPC and SASO leaders ends
21 December, 1915
Miners strike at the Van Rhyn Deep mines
21 December, 1964
SA signs treaty with Great Britain on the supply of military equipment to South Africa
20 December, 1988
Amichand Rajbansi is fired from Parliament
20 December, 1991
CODESA 1 convenes in Johannesburg
20 December, 1965
Arthur Elias Letele, medical doctor and prominent ANC leader who went into exile in Basutoland, dies
19 December, 1992
SADF officers dismissed
19 December, 1982
ANC attacks Koeberg nuclear power station
19 December, 1997
Sugarboy Malinga wins the WBC title
18 December, 1946
Steve Biko, a pioneer of the Black Consciousness Movement, is born
18 December, 1887
SA painter Frederick Timpson I'Ons (85) dies
18 December, 1991
Buthelezi boycotts first session of CODESA
17 December, 1996
United Nations appoints Kofi Annan as secretary
17 December, 1949
ANC adopts the Programme of Action
17 December, 1903
First aeroplane flight takes place
16 December, 1913
Women's Memorial is unveiled in Bloemfontein
16 December, 1995
Pirates win the African Champions Cup
16 December, 1990
ANC Consultative Conference comes to an end
15 December, 1963
Walter Sisulu's appeal is dismissed
15 December, 1985
Six people are killed in an ANC landmine explosion
15 December, 1933
Donald James Wood journalist and Anti apartheid activists is born
14 December, 1912
Prime Minister Louis Botha resigns because of conflict with Hertzog
14 December, 1999
Clarence Mlokoti is shot dead by hijackers
14 December, 1972
The last Apollo Moon mission returns to Earth
13 December, 1941
Simon Petros Matseke, prominent in African social and political life, dies in Pretoria
13 December, 1988
The Trust Feed Massacre
13 December, 1990
Oliver Tambo returns from exile
12 December, 1984
UDF leaders are charged with treason
12 December, 1996
Organisations forward applicants for amnesty to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
12 December, 2004
King Mswati III buys another luxury car
11 December 1986
Matthews Mapumolo, an ANC member, dies in police custody after he had been confronted at home in Swaziland by a group of armed men.
11 December 1963
The first of the 'Bantustans' or 'homelands' came into existence when the Minister of Bantu Administration and Development, De Wet Nel, opened the Transkei Legislative Assembly at Umtata. Chief Kaiser Matanzima was installed as Chief Minister.
11 December 1961
Albert Luthuli delivers his Nobel Lecture after receiving the Peace Prize the previous day. Luthuli was the first South African to receive the Nobel Prize for Peace.
10 December 1984
Archbishop Mpilo Desmond Tutu, world renowned preacher and strident voice against apartheid, first Black Secretary General of the South African Council of Churches, first Black Archbishop of the Anglican Church in South Africa, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
10 December 1961
Albert John Mvumbi Luthuli, president of the then banned African National Congress (ANC), was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960 for advocating non-violent resistance to racial discrimination in South Africa.
10 December 1948
The UN adopts and proclaims the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The day is recognised and celebrated as International Human Rights Day.
9 December, 1913
South African artist Gerard Sekoto is born
9 December, 1961
Tanzania gains independence
9 December, 1995
Francois Botha wins International Boxing Federation (IBF) title
8 December, 1991
Chris Hani is elected SACP Secretary
8 December, 1991
The South African Football Association (SAFA) is founded
8 December, 1993
Winnie Mandela is elected ANCWL president
7 December, 1941
Japanese attack American Naval Forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
7 December, 1988
Mandela is moved to Victor Verster prison
7 December, 1978
The Erasmus Commission's report implicates Rhoodie, Mulder and van den Bergh in SA's infamous 'Information Scandal'
6 December, 1906
Self government is granted to the Transvaal
6 December, 1928
Clarence Mlami Makwetu is born
6 December, 1990
ANC stage marches in major cities
5 December, 1934
Italy invades Ethiopia
5 December, 1956
Police swoop down on the homes of Congress of the People leaders across the country, the arrests led to the Treason Trial
5 December, 1999
Ernie Els wins the Nedbank Golf Tournament
4 December, 1996
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa is approved
4 December, 1981
Lesotho's Foreign Affairs Minister reveals details of agreement with Pik Botha
4 December, 1893
Allison Wessels George (Mhlongo) Champion is born
3 December, 1955
Bruce Fordyce is born
3 December, 1971
King Goodwill Zwelithini is installed
3 December, 1967
Dr Chris Barnard performs the world's first human heart transplant
2 December, 1998
Mandela and Tshwete go to Constitutional Court
2 December, 1961
Britain refuses Uganda's request for independence
2 December, 1949
International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
1 December, 1834
Slavery is abolished at the Cape
1 December, 1988
World Aids Day is internationally observed for the first time
1 December, 1986
Dr Ribeiro and his wife are gunned down
30 November, 1866
Dr Robert Broom, SA paleontologist who discovered the "Mrs Ples" skull, is born
30 November, 1954
D.F. Malan retires as Prime Minister
30 November, 2004
Patricia de Lille testifies at Schabir Shaik's trial
29 November, 1929
Pretoria branch of Transvaal University College becomes Pretoria University
29 November, 1980
P W Botha proposes a constellation of States
29 November, 1995
Desmond Tutu is appointed TRC chairperson
28 November, 1904
The first woman to be executed in South Africa
28 November, 1988
Rajbansi threatens not to co-operate with the James Commission
28 November, 2004
South Africa receives top honors from the International Rugby Board
27 November, 1984
Anti-Apartheid demonstration held outside the South African embassy in Washington, USA
27 November, 1997
UDF distances itself from Madikizela
27 November, 1986
Three Delmas trialist released
25 November, 1982
SA government fails to integrate KaNgwane into Swaziland
25 November, 1992
ANC Constitutional proposals are disclosed
25 November, 1957
Mining Magnate Oppenheimer dies
24 November, 1983
Carl Niehaus is sentenced to 15 years in prison for high treason having worked for the ANC underground
24 November, 1997
TRC gathers evidence against Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
24 November, 2005
South African President Thabo Mbeki hails Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for making history by becoming Africa's first elected woman president in post-war elections
23 November, 1982
Lesotho and Swaziland threatened with sanctions
23 November, 1988
P. W. Botha grants reprieve to the "Sharpeville Six"
23 November, 2004
Tutu issues warning against BEE and Government policies
22 November, 1962
Violence erupts in Paarl
22 November, 1994
South Africa signs agreement with Switzerland to support the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP)
22 November, 1995
The First Draft of the Constitution is published
21 November, 1986
SA President P.W Botha meets with leaders of independent homelands
21 November, 1996
PW Botha refuses to testify before the TRC
21 November, 2004
Millions of Zim refugees cross into SA
20 November, 1964
Trial of South African Communist party members begins
20 November, 1988
UN passes resolutions on South Africa
20 November, 1923
SA author, Nadine Godimer, is born
18 November, 1988
The Big Three are convicted of treason
18 November, 1993
Multi-party delegates endorses the Interim constitution
18 November, 2004
African Statistics Day is observed
17 November, 1952
Cyril Ramaphosa is born
17 November, 1973
The Democratic Party is founded
17 November, 1994
Restitution of Land Rights Act is signed
16 November, 1855
David Livingstone reaches the Victoria Falls
16 November, 1973
Beyers Naude refuses to testify before the Schlebusch Commission
16 November, 1989
SA beaches are opened to all racial groups
15 November, 1938
Ronnie Kasrils is born
15 November, 1997
Bafana Bafana loses to Germany
15 November, 1931
Sculptor Lucas Sithole is born in KwaThema
14 November, 1994
Mk soldiers threaten armed struggle
14 November, 1998
New Afrikaner Political Party
14 November, 2005
Magnus Malan and Constand Viljoen deny knowledge of mass graves
13 November, 1998
Zimbabwe's Agriculture Minister Kumbirai Kangai issues orders for the seizure of 841 White-owned farms as part of the government's controversial programme to resettle thousands of Black peasant farmers.
13 November, 1980
Medical Association agrees to investigate Steve Biko's death
13 November, 1977
Bishop Desmond Tutu resigns as Bishop of Lesotho Anglican Church
12 November, 1996
A memorandum of understanding between RSA and Malaysia
12 November, 1980
Minister announces compulsory education for Black children
12 November, 1938
Steve Tshwete is born
11 November, 1993
Abolition of Internal Security Act
11 November, 1997
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) heard three days of testimony concerning the role of the business sector during the apartheid era
11 November, 1965
Rhodesian Prime Minister, Ian Smith, issues a Unilateral Declaration of Independence
10 November, 1989
Three White members of the African National Congress (ANC) are sentenced to long prison terms
10 November, 1991
The SA Cricket team is re-admitted to international cricket
10 November, 2005
Constructors make mass grave finding in Namibia
9 November 1927
Carel Boshoff, former chairman of the Afrikaner Broederbond, is born
9 November, 1993
Homeland leader Qqozo stands trial
9 November, 2004
Mbeki and his entourage arrive in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
8 November, 1922
Dr. Chris Barnard, medical practioner who performed the first heart transplant, is born
8 November, 1974
Penny Heyns, South African swimming star, is born.
8 November, 1989
Mandela meets PAC leader Jeff Masemola
7 November, 1917
Helen Suzman is born
7 November, 1990
National Party wins two-horse-race by-election in Randburg
7 November, 1994
Former MK members are dismissed from SANDF
6 November 1986
General Motors (GM), the American owned automobile industry in South Africa, pulled out of the country amidst a series of disputes and strikes from workers fearing for their future.
6 November 1964
Vuyisile Mini a trade unionist and Mkhonto we Sizwe (MK) activist was hanged for his role in the MK and anti-apartheid resistance. He was responsible for the organisation of metal workers at a time when the government had increased its repressive measures against Black trade unions
6 November 1913
On his journey to South Africa in 1893, Mohandas Gandhi had first -hand experience of the discrimination faced by people of colour. His response to this was the establishment of the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) in 1894. Within three years of his arrival in South Africa, Gandhi had become a political leader
5 November, 1991
The Congress Of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) called a two-day nation-wide strike to demonstrate their opposition to the government's intention to impose Value Added Tax (VAT) on basic foodstuffs, health care and essential services
5 November, 1984
Thelma Gutsche a South African scholar, historian and film critic dies in the Cape. Thelma Gutsche was born to Dr and Mrs J Gutsche in Somerset West in the Cape Province in 1915.
5 November, 1984
A stay-away by Black workers in the industrial areas of the Witwatersrand and the Vaal Triangle is called by Black unions and civic groups in protest over increases in rent and utility charges and over the unlawful arrests of Black leaders.
4 November, 1873
Battle of Bushman's Pass takes place
4 November, 1977
UN Security Council bans arms sales to South Africa
4 November, 1998
Anti-smoking legislation is passed
3 November, 1884
First Black-owned newspaper is published
3 November, 1964
South African pop queen, Brenda Fassie, is born
3 November, 2004
President Thabo Mbeki congratulates his US counterpart
2 November, 1930
Selassie becomes emperor
2 November, 1990
A South African spy is released from jail
2 November, 1995
Former Minister of Defence and others are charged with murder
1 November, 1936
Golfing legend Gary Player is born
1 November, 1972
Four Indian leaders are sentenced under Terrorism Act
1 November, 1995
ANC wins local elections
31 October, 1980
Draft laws are gazetted
31 October, 2006
Former South African Prime Minister, P.W Botha, dies
30 October, 1991
Date is set for constitutional talks
30 October, 1996
SA judge jails former state assassin Eugene de Kock for more than 200 years
30 October, 1998
Presidential Job Summit is held
29 August, 1795
The Reverend Abraham Faure is born
29 August, 1994
South Africa signs SADC treaty
29 August, 1976
Prime Minister Vorster in June 16 admission
28 October, 1985
State of Emergency enters 100th day
28 October, 1982
Beyers Naudé is served with his second banning order
28 October, 1961
Walter Sisulu and others are arrested for attending a party
27 October, 2004
COSATU delegates are left at Beitbridge
27 October, 1990
The ANC Youth League is re-established at Orlando stadium in Soweto
27 October, 1988
Salman Rushdie's visit is still on
26 October, 1998
F.W de Klerk challenges TRC findings
26 October, 1989
Transkei announces plans to unban ANC and PAC
26 October, 1976
Transkei gains complete independence
25 October, 1999
J.M. Coetzee wins the Booker Prize
25 October, 1993
South Africa is invited to rejoin Commonwealth of Nations
25 October, 1987
IFP declares attacks on UDF self defence
24 October, 1977
Report on Steve Biko's death
24 October, 1970
UN condemns the evil policy of apartheid
24 October, 1929
The New York Stock exchange collapse
23 October, 1984
SADF seals off Vaal townships
23 October, 1958
The apartheid government establishes a Department for Coloured Affairs' (CAD)
23 October, 1996
Mandela confirms the appointment of first Black Chief Justice
22 October, 1999
South African boxers win two world titles
22 October, 1941
Dr Ben Ngubane is born
22 October, 1922
Thomas Titus Nkobi is born
21 October, 2003
Vanessa Brereton, former human rights lawyer, admits that she was an Apartheid spy
21 October, 1982
Barbara Hogan sentenced for High Treason
21 October, 1899
The New Zealand Mounted Rifles leave Wellington for the South African War
20 October, 1999
Jackie Selebi is set to lead SAPS
20 October, 1995
Nuclear weapons allegations
20 October, 1820
Cape of Good Hope Royal Observatory is founded
19 October, 2005
The NPA does not pursue charges against Wouter Basson, former chemical weapons expert of the SADF
19 October, 1986
Samora Machel, president of Mozambique, dies in a plane crash
19 October, 1977
Apartheid Government declares 19 organisations unlawful
18 October, 1990
Nomsa Mapongwana is assassinated
18 October, 1966
Rand Afrikaans University is established
18 October, 1952
Violence erupts during Defiance Campaign
17 October, 1991
United Front launch in jeopardy
17 October, 1973
Egyptian and Israeli forces in fierce fights
17 October, 1945
Graça Machel is born
16 October, 1988
ANC agrees to facilitate SA rugby's return to international games
16 October, 1984
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
16 October, 1952
Albert Luthuli is elected president
15 October, 1993
Waluz and Derby-Lewis are sentenced to death
15 October, 1990
SA Parliament repeals The Separate Amenities Act of 1953
15 October, 1989
Five ANC leaders are released from prison
14 October, 1997
Appearance of former ministers before the TRC
14 October, 1997
Renewal of land acquisition programme in Zimbabwe
14 October, 1983
Moses Mabhida receives awards
13 October, 1962
Helen Joseph is put under house arrest
13 October, 1913
Thambi Naidoo mobilises the Indians
13 October, 1867
Diamonds are discovered in South Africa
12 October, 1995
Local elections receive go- ahead
12 October, 1991
Nelson Mandela announces intentions on nationalisation policy
12 October, 1991
ANC's economic plans
11 October, 1996
Magnus Malan's trial ends
11 October, 1899
The second Anglo-Boer war, also known as the South African war, breaks out
11 October, 1886
Standard Bank becomes the first bank to opens its doors on the Witwatersrand
10 October, 1989
F.W. de Klerk announces the release of political prisoners
10 October, 1978
New Prime Minister P.W. Botha appoints cabinet ministers
10 October, 1975
Elizabeth Taylor remarries Richard Burton in Botswana
9 October 2004
6th Partnership Against AIDS anniversary is celebrated. The keynote address was presented by former Deputy President Jacob Zuma.
9 October 1985
A National Day of Prayer was peacefully observed, despite fears of violence between youth and security forces in Soweto and other major townships.
9 October 1963
The Rivonia Trialists are charged with sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the state
8 October 1990
De Klerk and Mandela issues a statement regarding violence
8 October 1962
On 8 October 1962, Solomon Linda, the singer and composer of Mbube, which became the pop hit as 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', died without receiving royalties for his work.
8 October 1934
Kadera Asmal, political activist, human rights lawyer, former Minister of Education (1999-2004) and of Water Affairs and Forestry (1994-1999); is born in Stanger, Natal (now Kwa-Dukuza).
7 October, 2001
US invasion of Afghanistan
7 October, 1991
Mourners are shot at Ntuli's funeral in Thokoza
7 October, 1931
Archbishop Mpilo Desmond Tutu, chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is born in Klerksdorp, Transvaal
6 October, 2005
Train commuters set trains on fire in Germiston
6 October, 1999
The SA Agricultural Union changes its name to Agri SA
6 October, 1994
SANDF soldiers strike
5 October, 1960
White SA citizens hold referendum to decide if SA should become a republic
5 October, 1990
Buthelezi snubs ANC and homeland leaders
5 October, 1975
Winnie Mandela speaks out against Terrorism Act
4 October, 1974
Oliver Kgadime Matsepe, Northern Sotho novelist and poet, dies
4 October, 1989
Lobbying against SA debt rescheduling unsuccessful
4 October, 1993
European Community lifts sanctions against SA
3 October, 1991
Nadine Gordimer wins Nobel Prize for Literature
3 October, 1973
Vorster supports changes to Black labour
3 October, 1935
WW2: Italy invades Ethiopia
2 October, 1869
Mahatma Gandhi, pioneer of the SA Passive Resistance movement and leader who led India to Independence is born
2 October, 2003
Writer J.M. Coetzee is awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize for Literature
2 October, 1991
Pik Botha visits Beijing to strengthen relations with China
30 September, 2004
A blaze destroys Wanderers
30 September, 1986
First Black US ambassador is sent to South Africa
30 September, 1975
Winnie Mandela released from banning order and house arrest
29 September, 2004
Evidence found at Barberton confirms theory of life on earth as early as about 3.4 billion years ago
29 September, 1998
SABC personality Nic Swanepoel dies
29 September, 1978
B.J Vorster steps down as Prime Minster
28 September, 1992
150 political prisoners including McBride and Nondula are released
28 September, 2003
Pope John Paul II appoints 31 cardinals, three from Africa
28 September, 1978
P.W. Botha becomes Prime Minister
27 September, 2005
Brett Kebble is shot dead
27 September, 1992
Buthelezi says Zulus would continue carrying cultural weapons
27 September, 1986
South African multi-title holder, Brian Mitchell wins the WBA title
26 September, 2004
Nelson Mandela is voted the greatest South African
26 September, 1934
Winnie Mandela is born
26 September, 1905
Albert Einstein publishes Special Theory of Relativity
25 September, 2004
Former anti-Apartheid activist Allan Boesak accuses ANC
25 September, 1977
Steve Biko, Black Consciousness Movement Leader, is buried
25 September, 1907
The railway line between Cape Town and George is opened.
24 September, 1996
Enoch Sontonga is honoured posthumously
24 September, 1990
Winnie Mandela charged with kidnapping
24 September, 1987
The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) is launched
21 September, 2004
International Day of Peace Vigil is observed
21 September, 1992
Mandela and de Klerk agree to restart talks
20 September, 1989
F.W. De Klerk is inaugurated
20 September, 1978
South African Prime Minister, John Vorster resigns
20 September, 1886
First mines are proclaimed in Johannesburg
19 September, 1988
The Progressive Teachers' Congress is secretly launched
19 September, 1983
Dr Yusuf Dadoo, socialist movement activist and politician, dies in exile
19 September, 1976
Ian Smith of Rhodesia and Henry Kissinger meet in Pretoria
18 September, 1999
South Africa win the most medals at the 7th All African Games
18 September, 1992
Mass funeral for the victims of Bisho massacre
18 September, 1961
UN Secretary General is killed in a plane crash
17 September, 1987
Religious leaders hold talks with the ANC
17 September, 1995
Pope John Paul II celebrates a papal mass in South Africa
17 September, 1999
Mbeki receives an Honorary Doctorate
16 September, 2004
President Mbeki opens the second sitting of PAP
16 September, 1996
Col Eugene de Kock testifies in Court
16 September, 1963
The UN Special Committee on Apartheid reports on SA
15 September, 2000
The Opening Ceremony of 2000 Olympic Games takes place
15 September, 1984
Botha appoints Hendrikse and Rajbansi into his Cabinet
15 September, 1914
De la Rey is shot dead
14 September, 2003
The Sunday Times political journalist is suspended
14 September, 1998
McBride is conditionally released from prison
14 September, 1988
The Pope arrives in Lesotho
13 September, 1997
Mother Teresa is buried
13 September, 1993
Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, shake hands after concluding the Declaration of Principles for Peace between Palestinian Arabs and Israelis
13 September, 1942
Charles Nqakula , Minister of Safety and Security and Chairperson of the SACP, is born
12 September, 1977
Steve Biko dies in detention
12 September, 1988
Presidents of Mozambique and South Africa meet
11 September, 1996
Mining agreement on wages and working conditions is signed
11 September, 1950
General J.C. Smuts (80), former prime minister of SA, dies
11 September, 1906
Indian campaigner, Mohandas Gandhi leads Satyagraha Passive Resistance Campaign
10 September, 1984
Detention orders issued to 7 UDF members
10 September, 1921
Newspaper editor John Tengo Jabavu dies
10 September, 1938
Springboks lose to the Lions
7 September, 2004
AZAPO, SOPA, and BPC announce a merger agreement
7 September, 2004
South Africa mourns the passing of Beyers Naudé, apartheid struggle stalwart and Afrikaner cleric
7 September, 1986
Cleric and anti-apartheid activist, Mpilo Desmond Tutu is ordained as Archbishop of Cape Town
6 September, 2000
United Nations World Summit starts
6 September, 1966
SA Prime Minister H. F. Verwoerd stabbed to death
6 September, 1939
SA joins World War II
5 September, 2006
Putin visits South Africa
5 September, 1984
P.W. Botha becomes SA's first Executive President
5 September, 1909
Yusuf Dadoo, political activist, is born
4 September 1994
Bafana Bafana beats Madagascar in the African Cup of Nations Qualifying Group 5 match
4 September 1984
The Deputy Mayor of Sharpeville, Sam Dlamini was hacked to death by a mob of youth, and doused in petrol and burned. The riots were in protest against rent increases and poor education facilities.
4 September 1887
Christoffel Coetzee de Villiers (37), compiler of South African genealogical registers, dies
3 September 1984
Members of Parliament convened in Cape Town to promulgate a new South African constitution with a three tier parliament.
3 September 1984
Boipatong, Bophelong, Evaton, Sebokeng and Sharpeville, five Black townships in the area known as the Vaal Triangle explodes into what some have described as a 'smouldering human rage'.
3 September 1905
Johannes Nkosi, martyr for the Communist Party of South Africa, is born.
25 August, 1980
Zimbabwe becomes a member of the United Nations (UN)
25 August, 1971
Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi calls for National Convention
24 August, 1993
The African National Congress is found guilty
24 August, 1990
State of emergency declared in 27 townships
24 August, 1958
Former South African Prime Minister Strijdom dies
23 August, 2006
Report on rape in Khayelitsha
23 August, 1993
The Motsuenyane Commission finds the(ANC) guilty of torture in its camps
23 August, 1992
Verwoerd's grandson joins ANC
22 August, 1996
ANC makes submission to the TRC
22 August, 1984
Tri-cameral elections boycotted
22 August, 1894
Natal Indian Congress is formed
21 August, 1982
Swazi King Sobhuza II dies
21 August, 1961
Kenyan political activist Jomo Kenyatta released from jail
21 August, 1998
Guilty verdict against PW Botha
20 August, 1981
Anti-SAIC political rally ends in Lenasia
 
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