A-Z Biographies
Expanding the Narrative of South African art
Architects, fine-artists, photographers, sculptors etc.
Notable theorists, scientists & doctors
South Africa's great literary & philosophical minds
celebrities, sports stars, musicians, etc
This day in history
What happened on your birthday many years ago?
Extra Dates: 01 May - 07 May
1 May - International Workers’ Day. (GIED: Celebrating 10 years of Freedom, 2004).
1 May 1659 - Jan van Riebeeck establishes the Burgher Militia a few days before the Hottentot (Khoi-Khoi) rising at the Cape. (Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 2, p. 599. )
1 May 1772 - Sir Gilbraith Lowry Cole, governor of the Cape, is born. Sir Lowry’s Pass was built during his time of office. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1791 - The Rev. John Brownlee, founder of King William’s Town, is born in Scotland. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1813 - João Albasini, trader in SA, Bantu commissioner and White chief of the Magwamba tribe, is born in Portugal. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1841 - Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin, acting governor of the Cape who supervised the arrival and settling of the British Settlers and who founded Port Elizabeth, dies in Southampton, England. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau; Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 4, p. 66).
1 May 1859 - Willem Johannes Leyds, attorney-general of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR), is born in Java. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1860 - The seat of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR/Transvaal Republic) government is officially transferred from Potchefstroom to Pretoria and the town, founded in 1855, becomes the capital of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau; Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 9, p. 107)
1 May 1873 - The use of Dutch is officially allowed in the Cape parliament. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1873 - Livingstone’s African servant finds him dead on his knees beside his bed at Lake Bangweolo. His servants preserved his body as best as they could and carried him and all his belongings over 1 600 km to Zanzibar. (Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 7, p. 3; Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1873 - The first telephone exchange in SA is introduced in Port Elizabeth. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1882 - N.C. (Klasie) Havenga, private secretary of Gen. J.B.M. Hertzog and minister of finance in Dr. Malan’s cabinet, is born in Fauresmith, Orange Free State. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1883 - Nama chief Josef Fredericks cedes a strip of the Namaqualand coast to Heinrich Vogelsang for the establishment of a German commercial settlement. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1893 - William C. Oswell, White scout who saw the Victorian Falls for the first time with Livingstone, dies in Turnbridge Wells, England. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1896 - Gen. Mark Wayne Clark, commander of the 5th American Army in North Africa and Italy in World War 2, is born. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1907 - France declares its support for British interests in the Congo rather than those of Belgium. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0501.htm
1 May 1909 - American ex-president Theodore Roosevelt kills three lions whilst on safari in British East Africa (now Kenya). http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisweek/bl-tw04-4.htm
1 May 1925 - Edward, Prince of Wales, arrives in Cape Town on a visit to South Africa. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1933 - On proposal of Sir Pierre van Ryneveld a special service battalion is instituted in Pretoria to provide work for young men after the Depression. Companies are also established in Durban and Cape Town. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1950 - Eighteen Blacks are killed (sixteen shot by police and two suffocated in a burning cinema) and more than thirty injured in a day of tension throughout the Reef when the ANC called for a massive stay-away from work. (Joyce: The Rise and Fall of Apartheid; Coleman, M. (ed)(1998). A Crime Against Humanity: analysing the repression of the apartheid state, Johannesburg: Human Rights Committee, p. 262.)
1 May 1950 - Radhakrishna Roy Padayachie, Deputy Minister of Communications of the Republic of South Africa since 29 April 2004, is born.
1 May 1955 - The Trust Bank of Africa Limited is established in Cape Town. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
1 May 1961 - Tanganyika gains full internal self-government from Britain (technically under a League of Nations Trustee mandate), prior to becoming independent on 9 December 1961.
1 May 1962 - Prime Minister Vorster announces that Robert Sobukwe has been taken to Robben Island, where he will be detained indefinitely in terms of the General Laws Amendment Bill of 29 Apr.1963.
1 May 1966 - In response to the Yemen dispute, Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser threatens to invade Saudi Arabia.
1 May 1971 - The Tswana Legislative Assembly comes into being. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
1 May 1975 - The Minister of Bantu Administration and Development announces that the government has decided on far-reaching concessions for urban Africans involving home ownership and trading rights. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
1 May 1979 - The first interim report of the Wiehahn Commission is tabled in Parliament. Its recommendations include registration of Black trade unions, including migrant workers; abolition of the principle of statutory job reservation; retention of the closed shop; the creation of a National Manpower Commission and an Industrial Court to resolve industrial litigation. The report is welcomed in trade union and business circles. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
1 May 1986 - KwaNdebele: Police Act No 11 commences.
1 May 1989 - Dr David Webster, a social anthropologist at the University of the Witwatersrand and a leading anti-apartheid activist, is shot dead outside his home. (Coleman, M. (ed)(1998). A Crime Against Humanity: analysing the repression of the apartheid state, Johannesburg: Human Rights Committee, p. 250; Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
1 May 1990 - Cosatu describes the privatisation of public corporations as ‘theft’ in its May Day message to members. (South African Institute of Race Relations. (1990). Race Relations Survey 1989/90, Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, p. 329).
1 May 1990 - MK member Jackie Matjili is shot dead in Thokoza. (Coleman, M. (ed)(1998). A Crime Against Humanity: analysing the repression of the apartheid state, Johannesburg: Human Rights Committee, p. 253.)
1 May 1992 - SA signs an agreement with Zambia on the establishment of representative offices. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
1 May 1994 - International Workers' Day commemorates the historic struggle of working people throughout the world. Although May Day has been celebrated
unofficially in South Africa since the 1980s, May 1st only became an officially
recognised public holiday after the democratic elections of 1994.
1 May 1995 - A May Day rally is addressed by President Mandela at Umlazi. He is escorted from the stadium in an armoured car when shots are fired from a hill. He warns that grants to KwaZulu-Natal may be stopped if it resists government (as Chief Buthelezi threatened).
1 May 2004 - Londoners celebrate ten years of democracy with the first South African International film Festival (1-9 May), starting with ‘The Wooden Camera’, winner of a Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. http://www.news24.com/News24/HomeLite/
2 May 1885 - The Congo Free State is established by King Leopold II of Belgium. Considered the king's personal territory, it occupies most of the Congo River basin. In 1908 the Congo Free State was abolished and became the Belgian Congo, a colony controlled by the Belgian parliament. In 1966, the country was named Zaire, but was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997. http://www.andibradley.com/whatya/may02.htm
2 May 1902 - Jan Stephanus de Villiers (Jan Orrelis), SA composer and organist, dies in Paarl, Western Cape. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
2 May 1906 - Bambata Rebellion: The first skirmish in the Nkandla area takes place under Capt W. Park Grey. Four rebels are killed. http://rapidttp.com/milhist/vol081kg.html
2 May 1906 - Lord Alfred Milner, British colonial secretary and SA High Commissioner, leaves South Africa. (Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 7, p. 419).
2 May 1936 - Egyptian nationalists gain power in the first elections since Farouk succeeded to the throne. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0502.htm
2 May 1939 - King Farouk of Egypt is declared the spiritual leader, or Caliph, of Islam. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisweek/bl-tw04-4.htm
2 May 1947 - Passive Resister reports that the number of Resisters has reached 1 698. http://www.sahistory.org.za
2 May 1952 - The first regular jet flight (with a Havilland Comet) leaves London with thirty-six passengers to arrive eighteen hours later at Johannesburg. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
2 May 1954 - Bulelani Ngcuka, SA’s first National Director of Public Prosecutions is born in Middledrift, Transkei. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
2 May 1957 - ‘Die Stem van Suid-Afrika’ (The Call of South Africa) is unanimously accepted as only official anthem in Parliament. The English translation was accepted on 26 November 1957. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau; Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 3, p. 4).
2 May 1962 - Sathyadranath Rugunanan Maharaj (Mac), National Executive Committee member of the African National Congress, 1985, returns to SA with his first wife Ompragash from the United Kingdom. (Gastrow: Who’s Who in South African Politics).
2 May 1962 - Rightist terrorists in Algeria are implicated in the deaths of ninety-one Muslims.
2 May 1963 - General Law Amendment Act No 37 commences.
Section 17, the ninety-day detention law, authorises any commissioned officer to detain - without a warrant - any person suspected of a political crime and to hold them for ninety days without access to a lawyer.
2 May 1976 - SA signs a treaty with Israel amending the extradition treaty. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
2 May 1978 - PAC Central Committee announces in Dar es Salaam that its chairman, Potlako Leballo, is to retire due to health reasons. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
2 May 1979 - The Minister for Cooperation and Development, Dr. Piet Koornhof, announces that relevant urban Black leaders will be consulted about the position of Blacks outside the homelands. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
2 May 1979 - The Minister of Labour, S.P. Botha, says that the government accepts the Wiehahn Report in principle. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
2 May 1980 - The SA government prohibits Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall because Black children sing it as a song of liberty. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
2 May 1980 - Pope John Paul II begins his tour of Africa.
2 May 1984 - Four ANC members are abducted from Swaziland in a cross-border operation. (Coleman, M. (ed)(1998). A Crime Against Humanity: analysing the repression of the apartheid state, Johannesburg: Human Rights Committee, p. 134.)
2 May 1986 - Gertrud Theiler, zoologist, researcher and teacher dies in Still Bay, Western Cape. She was a founder member of the Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary in Pretoria. (Sonderling, N.E. (ed.) New Dictionary of South African Biography, v. 2).
2 May 1988 - A self-confessed SA spy of the security police in the ANC, Olivia Forsyth, who was held prisoner at ANC Quatro prison camp for seven months and spent another fifteen months under ANC guard in Luanda, evades her guards and takes refuge in the British embassy in Luanda. (South African Institute of Race Relations. (1990). Race Relations Survey 1989/90, Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, p. 144).
2 May 1990 - The Groote Schuur talks start (2-4 May) between the South African government and the ANC. They reach agreement on conditions for full-scale negotiations on ending political conflict in South Africa. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
2 May 1991 - President F. W. de Klerk announces plans to revise some provisions of the Internal Security Act of 1982. He also offers to include Black opposition leaders in his Cabinet and announces a ten-point plan to combat violence. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
2 May 1991 - In response to Pretoria's failure to meet the 30 April deadline, 364 political prisoners throughout South Africa start an indefinite hunger strike. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
2 May 1991 - The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) lifts South Africa's suspension from international ice hockey.
2 May 1996 - South Africa and China exchange letters granting each other most-favoured-nation status. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
3 May - World Press Freedom Day.
3 May 1781 – Voortrekker leader Piet Retief is baptised in Drakenstein, Western Cape. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
3 May 1785 - The Brederode, belonging to the Dutch East India Company and carrying a cargo of porcelain, tin and spices, runs aground on the rocks near Cape Agulhas and founders. Twelve crew members drown and eighty are saved. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
3 May 1835 - In reply to a letter by the Rev. John Ayliff, missionary amongst the Fingos (Mfengu), on behalf of this landless society, Sir Benjamin D’Urban accepts them as British subjects and promises them land in Government Notice No. 14, dated at Ndabakazi. Thus they become the first Bantu tribe in SA to come under White rule. (Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 7, p. 381).
3 May 1894 - Prof. François Ernst Johannes Malherbe, lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch and literary critic, is born in the district of Paarl, Cape Colony. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
3 May 1895 - South Zambesia and North Zambesia (Zambia) are united as Rhodesia Protectorate. http://www.vdiest.nl/Africa/zimbabwe.htmhttp://www.andibradley.com/whatya/may02.htm
3 May 1896 - Petrus Johannes Lemmer, composer of Afrikaans songs, is born in Hartbeesfontein, near Klerksdorp, Transvaal. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
3 May 1900 - Anglo-Boer War 2: General Lord Roberts departs from Bloemfontein and begins the 'March to Pretoria' with almost 44,000 men, 18,000 horses, and 1,200 field-guns. He leaves to the strains of “We are marching to Pretoria” which is heard for the first time. (Cloete: The Anglo-Boer War: a Chronology). http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisweek/bl-tw04-4.htm
3 May 1900 - Anglo-Boer War 2: A battle takes place between the British forces under Lord Roberts and the Boers under Gen. De la Rey at Brandfort OFS. De la Rey retreats at nightfall. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau; Cloete: The Anglo-Boer War a Chronology).
3 May 1906 - Bambata Rebellion: The Dundee-based troops leave the town and proceed to Nkandla. http://rapidttp.com/milhist/vol081kg.html
3 May 1906 - Turkey cedes the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
3 May 1921 - The second census of the Union of South Africa takes place. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
3 May 1933 - The first memorial stamps with surtax are issued in SA. They are known as the Voortrekker Memorial Stamps. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau.)
3 May 1936 - Mussolini announces that 400,000 Italians will be going to Ethiopia as settlers. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0503.htm
3 May 1941 - WWII: US supply ships finally reach the British Middle East army at the Suez Canal. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0503.htm
3 May 1953 - Mau Mau activists in Kenya kill nineteen Kikuyu ‘home guards’.
http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisweek/bl-tw04-4.htm
3 May 1958 - Henry Cornelius, SA born British movie director, dies. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
3 May 1961 - Defence legislation is amended to enable use of the armed forces for the suppression of internal disorder and reorganise the police so as to co-ordinate its command headquarters with that of the military.
3 May 1961 - Nationalist Party wins three by-elections with a larger majority than in the 1958 general election.
3 May 1962 - South Africa signs a multilateral procès-verbal extending the declaration on the provisional accession of the Swiss Confederation to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
3 May 1963 - Justice Sfiso Mkame, SA artist, is born in Durban. As a child he drew on sand walls. He received formal art training at the Open School and the Little E. Theatre in Durban. In 1986 he was a student teacher in screen-printing at the Community Arts Workshop. Mkame prefers the oil pastel and screen-print media. He exhibited in 1986, 1987 and 1988 and received a First Prize for drawing at the UZ African Arts Festival, 1987. (Sack, S. (1988). The Neglected Tradition, Johannesburg: Johannesburg Art Gallery, p. 115).
3 May 1972 - Onkgopotse Abram Tiro is expelled from University of the North (Turfloop). Student protests follow his expulsion. http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/special-chrono/black_%20consciousness.htm
3 May 1976 - The Parliamentary Internal Security Commission Bill is approved in the Senate. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
3 May 1978 - Three thousand members of the Congolese National Liberation Front (FNLC) invade Zaire’s Shaba Province from Angola. (Bute, E.L. & Harmer, H.J.P. (1997). The Black Handbook, London: Cassell.)
3 May 1985 - Cythna Lindenberg Letty, botanical artist who was commemorated in the botanical names Aloe lettae and Crassula lettae and author of Flowering plants of Africa and Wild Flowers of the Transvaal, dies in Pretoria. (Verwey, E.J. (ed)(1995). New Dictionary of South African Biography, v.1, Pretoria: HSRC.)
3 May 1988 - Business Day reports that President Botha declared in the House of Representatives in May that the ban on the ANC could not be lifted while the organisation was ‘totally linked with the Communist Party’. (South African Institute of Race Relations. (1989). Race Relations Survey 1988/89, Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, p. 586).
3 May 1988 - Representatives of South Africa, United States, Angola and Cuba meet in London (3-4 May) in search of a solution to the Angolan war and independence for Namibia.
3 May 1989 - President P.W. Botha announces that a general election is to be held on 6 September. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
3 May 1990 – 8 000 workers strike at Barangwanath Hospital, Johannesburg. (Meer, F. (ed)(1993). The Codesa file. Durban: Madiba Publishers, p. 27).
3 May 1994 - South Africa resumes full membership of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_in_South_Africa
3 May 2000 - Two Libyan men plead not guilty to charges that they were involved in the Lockerbie bombing of Panama flight 103 in 1988. The court hears that lawyers acting for Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed Al Megrahi, 48, and Al Khalifa Fhimah, 44, will produce evidence that will incriminate others for the world's worst ever airline bombing. http://www.andibradley.com/whatya/may03.htm
3 May 2004 - News24 reports that Iraq is the most dangerous place to be a journalist, followed by Cuba and Zimbabwe, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which released on Sunday a list of the ten most hazardous countries for the job. http://www.news24.com/News24/World/PressFreedomDay/0,,2-10-1604_1521105,00.html
4 May 1797 - Sir John Barrow, author and explorer of the interior of SA, arrives at the Cape and has to start immediately to resolve boundary disputes at Graaff-Reinet. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
4 May 1827 - John Hanning Speke, British explorer who discovered the origin of the Nile and the first European to see Lake Victoria, is born. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
4 May 1842 - Gov. George Napier wants to cut off the Voortrekkers from the harbour in Port Natal and sends Capt. Smith with 125 men by land to re-occupy the port, which was evacuated by the British in 1839. They camp at Congella, an old guard-post of Shaka. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
4 May 1843 - Natal is proclaimed a British colony. This date is given as 12 May in another source.
http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1517723,00.html
4 May 1860 - The Orange Free State signs a peace treaty with Moshesh at Wittebergen, near Winburg, after the first Basuto war. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
4 May 1902 - General Smuts, on his way to the national delegation at Vereeniging to start peace negotiations, meets with General Lord Kitchener at Kroonstad, OFS. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0504.htm
4 May 1903 - Hendrik Susan, SA orchestra leader and violist, is born. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
4 May 1903 - Louise Behrens, SA novelist and one of the first Afrikaans journalists, is born in the Orange Free State. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
4 May 1925 - Heloise Ruth First, journalist, academic, political activist and ‘listed’ communist, is born in Johannesburg. (Verwey, E.J. (ed)(1995). New Dictionary of South African Biography, v.1, Pretoria: HSRC.)
4 May 1947 - The Natal Indian Organisation (NIO) is formed by "moderate" Indians. http://www.sahistory.org.za
4 May 1942 - WWII East Africa: Allied forces land on Madagascar. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisweek/bl-tw04-4.htm
4 May 1949 - Hendrik Adolph Mulder (Willem Hessels), SA poet and leading Afrikaans literary critic, dies in Grahamstown. (Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 7, p. 637).
4 May 1960 - Robert Sobukwe, President of the Pan Africanist Congress, is sentenced to three years' imprisonment for incitement of Africans to urge the repeal of pass laws. He refuses to appeal, as he has refused the aid of an attorney, on the grounds that the court has no jurisdiction over him because it could not be considered either a court of law or a court of justice.
http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/mainframe.htm
4 May 1962 - The Transkeian Territory Authority approves the draft Constitution as a whole, after considerable controversy mainly concerning the composition of the Legislative Assembly. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
4 May 1965 - Units of the SADF are now being equipped with a rifle made completely in South Africa. It is the R1-7.62 mm rifle, developed from the Belgian FN rifle, with improvements. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
4 May 1966 - The court finds Abram Fischer guilty on all fifteen counts of the indictment, including alleged sabotage, Communist Party membership and being a contact between the South African Communist Party and its overseas committee in London. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
4 May 1972 - The Foreign Minister announces that South Africa and Lesotho have decided to establish reciprocal consular representation. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
4 May 1972 - The Transkei Legislative Assembly requests independence for the Transkei, subject to the inclusion of additional White areas. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
4 May 1973 - The Minister for Bantu Administration and Development hands over the symbols of authority to the Kwazulu Legislative Authority. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
4 May 1978 - South African forces attack SWAPO’s refugee camp Kassinga (Cassinga) in Angola in Operation Reindeer. (Bute & Harmer: The Black Handbook; Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau). http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/mainframe.htm
4 May 1978 - Police arrest the Azanian People’s Organisation’s (AZAPO) two principal leaders, Ishmael Mkhabela and Lybon Mabasa in Soweto. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
4 May 1980 - Nine people are killed at Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) during a stampede to attend a mass given by Pope John Paul II. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisweek/bl-tw04-4.htm
4 May 1983 - Victor Sidney Norton, journalist and first South African-born editor of the Cape Times, dies in Cape Town. (Sonderling, N.E. (ed.) New Dictionary of South African Biography, v. 2).
4 May 1988 - Representatives of South Africa, United States, Angola and Cuba meet in London (3-4 May) in search of a solution to the Angolan war and independence for Namibia. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
4 May 1990 - At the end of their talks, the ANC and the South African Government issue a joint statement, entitled "the Groote Schuur Minute", according to which a working group is established to address the issue of the release of political prisoners. Efficient channels of communication would be established between the Government and the ANC. (Meer, F. (ed)(1993). The Codesa file. Durban: Madiba Publishers, p. 27). http://www.andibradley.com/whatya/may03.htm
http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/mainframe.htm
4 May 1993 - At their annual meeting in Sweden, Nordic development ministers decided to continue support to the ANC. http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/mainframe.htm
4 May 1994 - In a statement congratulating ANC President Nelson Mandela on his election victory, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) invited South Africa to rejoin the organisation. http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/mainframe.htm
4 May 1994 – Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
4 May 1996 - Violence in KwaZulu-Natal spills over into the streets of central Durban and running gun battles ensue. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
4 May 1998 - The ATKV (Afrikaanse Taal en Kultuurvereniging) withdraws its special award to Madeleine van Biljon, because she admitted to not being a Christian. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
4 May 1998 - Worsie Visser (35), popular SA singer, is killed instantly when his plane crashes at Saldanha, West Coast. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
4 May 2001 - The MEC of Gauteng unveils a commemorative stone at the site of the White and Black concentration camps at Heidelberg. http://www.gautengonline.gov.za/bin/sports.pdf
4 May 2002 - An airliner carrying seventy-nine people crashes into residential blocks as it prepares to land at Nigeria’s Kano airport, killing 149 people and injuring 49. (Mail & Guardian, 9-15 Jan 2004, p. 8).
4 May 2007 – Cricket coach Bob Woolmer is cremated in a private ceremony attended only by close relatives in Cape Town. It is believed that he has been strangled on 18 April in his Jamaica hotel room shortly after Pakistan's shock World Cup defeat by Ireland.
No-one has yet been arrested in connection with his death, which overshadowed the cricket World Cup. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6626537.stm
5 May 1821 - France's Napoleon Bonaparte dies in exile on the island of St. Helena. (BBC history)
5 May 1866 - Britain proclaims sovereignty and dominion over Ichaboe and adjacent islands off the Namibian coast, now known as the Offshore Islands. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1518590,00.html
5 May 1897 - Sir Alfred Milner arrives as Governor of the Cape. (Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 7, p. 418.)
http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1518590,00.html
5 May 1897 - Port Elizabeth suffers the effects of a great flood. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1518590,00.html
5 May 1899 - High Commissioner of South Africa and governor of the Cape, Sir Alfred Milner, sends his famous ‘helots’ telegram to Mr Joseph Chamberlain, urging him to intervene in the foreigner problem in the ZAR (South African Republic). (Cloete, P.G. (2000). The Anglo-Boer War: a chronology, Pretoria: Lapa.)
5 May 1905 - In an attempt to defuse the escalating tension in Morocco, France allows Germany to use the port of Casablanca. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0505.htm
5 May 1925 - There is intense fighting between Abdul Krim's Riff rebels and French troops. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0505.htm
5 May 1942 - WWII: A combined British military and naval force land on Madagascar and by the afternoon the town of Diego Suarez is captured. http://www.andibradley.com/whatya/may05.htm
5 May 1953 - Constitutional commission recommends 5,000-year-old monarchy be ended and Egypt become a republic. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0505.htm
5 May 1957- Birth of actor Richard E. Grant in Swaziland. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0505.htm
5 May 1963 - Algeria's Foreign Minister Mohammed Khemisti dies three weeks after being wounded by an assassin's bullet. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1518590,00.html
5 May 1969 - P.W. Botha, the Minister of Defence, announces that an air-to-air projectile has been perfected by South Africa. http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/mainframe.htm
5 May 1974 - Tallal Khaled Kaddourah and Safik Hussein el-Anda, under death sentence in Greece for their part in the 5 August terrorist attack on Athens airport, are deported to Libya. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0505.htm
5 May 1976 - In the Parliamentary by-election in Durban North, the Progressive Reform Party’s candidate gains the party’s first seat in Natal. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
5 May 1976 - Dr Eschel Rhoodie, SA secretary of Information, in a sensational statement reveals that payments made by him from a secret fund had been approved by a cabinet committee. Another source gives the date as 6 June, but this seems to be the correct one. (Muller, C.F.J. (ed)(1981). Five Hundred years: a history of South Africa; 3rd rev. ed., Pretoria: Academica, p. 547.)
5 May 1983 - The Republic of South Africa Constitution Bill is placed before the House of Assembly. The Conservative Party opposes it, while the PFP abstains. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds) (1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
5 May 1984 - Over 7,000 people attend a rally in Pretoria to mark the foundation on 4 May 1984 of the Afrikaner Volkswag (People’s Guard), a cultural organisation led by Professor Carel Boshoff. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
5 May 1985 - Sipho Mutsi (20), COSAS member, dies in police custody during interrogation. Post –mortem reveals head injuries and sjambok weals. (Coleman, M. (ed)(1998). A Crime Against Humanity: analysing the repression of the apartheid state, Johannesburg: Human Rights Committee, p. 245.)
5 May 1986 - Capital Media (Pty) Ltd is founded and that makes the publication of the first Rekord/Record newspaper possible. (---, (2005). ‘Pretoria 1855-2005: Chronologie 1798-1935’, Bylaag tot Rekord.)
5 May 1987 - Two people are killed and twenty injured in a land mine explosion on a dirt road near Messina (Mussina) northern Transvaal. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
5 May 1987 - US consumer packaging giant American Brands sells off its last assets in South Africa - pump manufacturers Mono Pumps.
http://www.anc.org.za/anc/newsbrief/1997/news0430
5 May 1988 - The Weekly Mail reports that the Transkei-based Prisoners’ Welfare Programme (PWP) has listed details of forty pending law suits in the Transkei arising out of allegations of torture, assault and other police misconduct. (South African Institute of Race Relations. (1989). Race Relations Survey 1988/89, Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, p. 105).
5 May 1988 - Dr Viljoen answers in parliament in response to a speech by Mr Peter Gastrow MP (National Democratic Movement) on behalf of Peelton residents opposing the prospective incorporation into the Ciskei, that the Peelton area has formed part of the tribal area for more than a century and was only divided in two at the time of the independence agreement in 1981. Both the Ciskei administration and the central government had erroneously believed that the whole of Peelton had been incorporated. (South African Institute of Race Relations. (1989). Race Relations Survey 1988/89, Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, p. 87).
5 May 1988 - The Regional Services Councils Amendment Act is published in the Government Gazette. (South African Institute of Race Relations. (1989). Race Relations Survey 1988/89, Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, p. 510).
5 May 1989 - Following a personal apology from President P.W. Botha to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over the "blowpipe affair", three SA Embassy staff are ordered to leave Britain within seven days. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1518590,00.html
5 May 1990 - The terms under which the alliance between COSATU, the SACP and the ANC should work together to dismantle apartheid, decided on in May 1990, are set out at a COSATU central executive meeting.
(South African Institute of Race Relations. (1990). Race Relations Survey 1989/90, Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, p. 348).
5 May 1993 - Addressing a joint sitting of two houses of the British Parliament, ANC president Nelson Mandela urges Britain to invest in South Africa as soon as a date for non-racial elections is announced.
http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1518590,00.html
5 May 1993 - Apla claims responsibility for the murder of four police officers at Dobsonville, Soweto, bringing police deaths in the year to sixty-eight. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1518590,00.html
5 May 1994 - A twenty-year ban on big-game hunting is lifted in the Côte d'Ivoire in an attempt to raise tourist revenue. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0505.htm
5 May 1994 - United States President Bill Clinton announces the doubling of $600 million United States assistance to South Africa over the next three years.
5 May 1996 - Thousands of civilians flee Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, as civil war rages. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1518590,00.html
5 May 2000 - Sierra Leone rebels seize peacekeepers from Zambia, raising to more than 300 the number of UN personnel they are believed to be holding captive and dealing another blow to UN peacekeeping efforts in Africa http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1518590,00.html
5 May 2003 - Rwanda frees more than 22 000 detainees, most of whom were held in connection with the 1994 massacre of some 800 000 ethnic Tutsi and moderate Hutu by Hutu militias. Around 80 000 genocide suspects remain in prison, with many yet to stand trial. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1518590,00.html
5 May 2007 - A Kenya Airways jet that took off during a midnight storm crashes shortly after take-off with 114 (115?) on board after sending out a distress signal over remote southern Cameroon. There are seven South Africans on board. No survivors were found. (SABC News.) http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3143264&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
5 May 2007 - The Bulls convincingly beat the Reds 92-3 in a Super 14 match played on Loftus, Pretoria, following a 38-3 lead at half time. The Sharks beat the Lions 33-3 in Durban at the Absa Stadium, taking them into second place on the Super 14 points table.
http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/article.aspx?ID=453913
www.iht.com/articles
6 May 1818 - Henry Alexander (55), colonial secretary after Andrew Barnard, dies in Cape Town. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
6 May 1825 - Lady Anne Barnard (75), wife of colonial secretary Andrew Barnard and a chronicler of daily life in the colony in a series of letters, dies in London. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
6 May 1831 - Gezina Susanna du Plessis, wife of Pres. Kruger, is born. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
6 May 1852 -Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius visits Durban and is warmly received. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519188,00.html
6 May 1877 - Britain sends Russia a note warning it against attempted blockade of Suez or occupation of Egypt. (Pretoria News, 6 May 2004. Today in history).
6 May 1889 - Pres. Paul Kruger lays the foundation stone of the ‘Staatsgebou van die ZAR’ (Raadsaal) on Church Square, Pretoria. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
6 May 1890 - Magdalena Gertruide (Magda) Sauer, first woman in SA to practise as a qualified architect, is born in Kenilworth, Cape Town. (Verwey, E.J. (ed)(1995). New Dictionary of South African Biography, v.1, Pretoria: HSRC, p. 223.)
6 May 1902 - Anglo-Boer War 2: The Holkrantz massacre takes place. Qulusi-Zulu chief Sokhobobo takes an impi to recover cattle allegedly raided from him by Field-cornet Potgieter. The 300-strong impi armed with firearms and assegais, overwhelms the sleeping seventy-man force of Potgieter in a cave. Fifty-six Burghers are murdered and their bodies mutilated, while fifty-two Zulus are killed and forty-eight wounded. Boer survivors are convinced that the British instigated the attack. This incident was to have a profound influence on the peace negotiations. (Cloete: The Anglo-Boer War: a chronology).
6 May 1906 - British troops kill over sixty Zulus during a punitive expedition near Durban, Natal. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0506.htm
6 May 1922 - Elize Botha, first wife of former president P.W. Botha, is born in Senekal, OFS. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
6 May 1943 - WWII: Allied forces on their way to Tunis wipe out German 15th Panzer Division. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisweek/bl-tw05-1.htm
6 May 1951 - King Farouk of Egypt weds a seventeen-year-old commoner, Narriman Sadek. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0506.htm
6 May 1952 - King Farouk of Egypt claims to be a direct descendant of the prophet Mohammed. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisweek/bl-tw05-1.htm
6 May 1958 - Margaret Rheeder, found guilty of poisoning her husband, Benjamin Fredenman, is hung in Pretoria. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
6 May 1960 - The Government states in Parliament that 18,000 persons have been arrested and detained since the proclamation of the emergency.
6 May 1960 - Irene Charnley, Executive Director of Johnnic, trustee of several funds and winner of the Businesswoman of the Year Award 2000, is born. (Hayes, S. (ed)(2000). Who’s Who of Southern Africa 2001 …, Graighall: Jonathan Ball.)
6 May 1960 – The notorious ‘Panga Man’, who robbed and raped numerous people, is arrested. He was later executed. (---, (2005). ‘Pretoria 1855-2005: Chronologie 1798-1935’, Bylaag tot Rekord.)
6 May 1962 - United Nations representatives of the committee to investigate the conditions in South West Africa, Victorio Carpio (Philippines) and Dr. Martinez de Alva (Mexico), begin informal talks with Dr. Verwoerd and South African officials in Pretoria. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
6 May 1962 - Florence Josephine Zerffi, SA still life and landscape painter, dies in Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire, England. (Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 11, p. 580).
6 May 1964 -South Africa passes the Bantu Laws Amendment Bill. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519188,00.html
6 May 1974 - The British Lions rugby team leaves London to begin a controversial twenty-two-match tour of South Africa and Rhodesia. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood).
6 May 1975 - The government announces that its aim is to provide all Black children with free and compulsory education as soon as possible. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood).
6 May 1978 - Eschel Rhoodie, the Secretary for Information, reveals that he has been operating a secret fund for which he was accountable only to a three-member Cabinet Committee and which has never been approved by Parliament. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood). According to the following source, the date was 5 May 1978. (Muller, C.F.J. (ed)(1981). Five Hundred years: a history of South Africa; 3rd rev. ed., Pretoria: Academica, p. 547.)
6 May 1978 - South Africa is condemned by the United States of America for its recent raid into Angola. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0506.htm
6 May 1980 - The Advocate-General’s report confirms that the Herstigte Nasionale Party’s office telephones have been illegally tapped and calls intercepted. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood).
6 May 1980 - Black PEBCO activist Thozamile Botha breaks his banning order and escapes to Lesotho. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood).
6 May 1981 - A section of railway line is blown up near Hoedspruit, Northern Transvaal, in what is believed to be an ANC attack to coincide with Republic festival celebrations. (Horrell, M. (ed)(1982). Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1981, Johannesburg: South African Bureau of Race Relations, p. 78).
6 May 1981 - Libyan nationals and diplomats are expelled from the US. http://www.andibradley.com/whatya/may05.htm
http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0506.htm
6 May 1983 - The KwaNdebele Legislative Assembly passes a unanimous motion instructing the homeland’s Cabinet to begin independence negotiations with South Africa. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood).
6 May 1985 - Andries Raditsela (29), COSATU, CWIU, dies of head injuries after being violently confronted by police while producing documents to counter car theft accusations. (Coleman, M. (ed)(1998). A Crime Against Humanity: analysing the repression of the apartheid state, Johannesburg: Human Rights Committee, p. 245.)
6 May 1987 - The General Election results in 123 seats for the National Party, 22 for the Conservative Party, 19 for the Progressive Federal Party, one for the New Republic Party, and one Independent. Rightwing Conservative Party replaces the PFP as the official opposition in the House of Assembly. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood). http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519188,00.html
6 May 1988 - An ILO tripartite Conference on Action Against Apartheid, held in Harare, Zimbabwe, from 3-6 May, ends. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood).
6 May 1990 - P.W. Botha resigns from the National Party in protest against President F.W. de Klerk’s reform proposals. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood). http://www.andibradley.com/whatya/may05.htm
6 May 1990 - ANC secretary-general Alfred Nzo and SA Communist Party general secretary Joe Slovo address a rally near Soweto. Slovo tells the crowd that the kind of democracy preached by the government was "a democracy based on power of a White veto". http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519188,00.html
6 May 1991 - Minister of Law and Order Adriaan Vlok says about 120 police officers died in the course of their duties in the previous year, fifty-eight were seriously injured and more than 11 500 slightly injured. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519188,00.html
6 May 1991 - A White Paper of the Departments of Justice and of Correctional Services says South Africa has one of the highest prison populations in the world. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519188,00.html
6 May 1994 - South Africa signs agreements establishing diplomatic relations with Ghana, Mali and Senegal. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood).
6 May 1994 - Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali applauds the election process in South Africa as a peaceful expression of the people's aspiration to a better future.
6 May 1994 - Announcing the final results of the election, the Chairman of the IEC, Judge Johann Kriegler says that the April 26-29 elections were substantially free and fair. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
6 May 1994 - SA signs agreements establishing diplomatic relations with Ghana, Mali and Senegal. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
6 May 1996 - Presidents Joaquim Chissano and Nelson Mandela sign an agreement to allow South African farmers to settle and farm land in Mozambique. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
6 May 1997 - Zaire's President Mobutu Sese Seko leaves the rebel-threatened capital and flees to Gabon to meet African leaders.
http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519188,00.html
6 May 2003 - UN Security Council extends sanctions imposed on Liberia in 2001 for allegedly aiding rebels in Sierra Leone. The sanctions included embargoes on the import of arms and the export of diamonds. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519188,00.html
6 May 2004 - Concluding its investigation into the crash in the mountains near George in the Western Cape in which former SA cricket captain Hansie Cronje was killed in June 2002, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says: "The report indicates the probable causes of the accident to be human factor related, with weather and mechanical, as well as technological factors contributing." http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1523143,00.html
6 May 2007 - Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille is elected with overwhelming majority as head of the country’s official opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), receiving 786 (72.4 percent) of the 1085 votes cast by delegates at the party's federal congress in Midrand. Joe Seremane is re-elected unopposed to the position of chairperson. http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page66309?oid=89422&sn=Detail
7 May 1638 - Cornelis Goover and twenty-four men land at Warwijk’s Haven, Mauritius, to establish a Dutch settlement on the island. Their task was to produce vegetables for passing ships. (Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 7, p. 254).
7 May 1652 - The ships the ‘Walvis’ and the ‘Oliphant’, which were loaded too heavy to sail from the Netherlands with Jan van Riebeeck’s other three ships, arrive in Table Bay. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
7 May 1662 - Jan van Riebeeck and his family leave the Cape for Batavia on board of the ‘Mars’. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
7 May 1821 - Sierra Leone, Gambia and Gold Coast are taken over by British government to form British West Africa, administered from Freetown. Date is given as 17 October 1821 in another source. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519930,00.html
7 May 1837 - Karl Gottlieb Mauch, the first man to discover gold in SA, is born in Stetten, Wurtemberg. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau; Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 7, p. 246).
7 May 1845 - The Eastern Province Herald is founded in Port Elizabeth. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
7 May 1882 - The ‘Tweetoringkerk’ is inaugurated in Bloemfontein. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
7 May 1900 - The ‘Volksraad’ of the ZAR gathers for the last time in Pretoria and is addressed by Pres. Paul Kruger. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau; ---, (2005). ‘Pretoria 1855-2005: Chronologie 1798-1935’, Bylaag tot Rekord.).
7 May 1910 - Taubie Kushlick, SA actress and director, is born in Luckhoff, OFS. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
7 May 1922 - Britain is angered over Egyptian claims to sovereignty over Sudan.
http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0507.htm
7 May 1936 - Amy Mollison sets a new world record when she flies from England to Cape Town in 3 days 6 hours and 26 minutes. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
7 May 1939 - WWII: Germany and Italy announce a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.
http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519930,00.html
7 May 1942 - WWII: East Africa. Naval bases of Antsirañana and Diego Suarez, Madagascar are surrendered to the British by Vichy forces. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0507.htm
7 May 1943 - WWII: Final Allied Offensive, Tunisia. General Sir Harold Alexander’s 18th Army Group captures Bizerte and Tunis. All that remains of the German force is General Gustav von Vaerst's 5th Panzer Army on the Cape Bon peninsula. http://www.andibradley.com/whatya/may07.htm
http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisweek/bl-tw05-1.htm
7 May 1945 - World War II: Germany signs an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, to take effect the following day, ending the European conflict of World War II. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519930,00.html
7 May 1946 - British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, announces plans to withdraw British troops from Egypt, dependent upon agreement for a military alliance for the protection of the Suez Canal. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0507.htm
7 May 1947 - Mr Ben M. Skosana, former SA minister of Correctional Services, is born in Sharpeville. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
7 May 1956 - The Industrial Conciliation Act empowers the Minister of Labour to reserve any job on a racial basis and orders the dissolution of racially mixed trade unions.
7 May 1965 - Rhodesia's White electorate have abandoned their traditional party loyalty and voted overwhelmingly for Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front Party. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisweek/bl-tw05-1.htm
7 May 1965 - The Deputy Minister of Bantu Administration and Development, M.C. Botha, announces in Parliament that Local Authorities must issue permits to householders who wish to have more than one servant sleeping on their premises. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
7 May 1970 - Muhammad Siyad Barre, the Chairman Supreme Revolutionary Council (a military junta) orders the nationalisation of all foreign banks and oil companies in Somalia. http://africanhistory.about.com/library/thisday/bl-ThisDay0507.htm
http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519930,00.html
7 May 1975 - Prime Minister Vorster emphasises the need for continuing his policy of increasing détente in Southern Africa. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
7 May 1985 - International Conference on Women and Children under Apartheid, Arusha, starts.
7 May 1987 - The COSATU building in Johannesburg is seriously damaged by two bomb blasts. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
7 May 1990 - The Indemnity Bill of 1990 is passed.
7 May 1993 - Twenty-three of the twenty-six parties involved in the Multi-Party Talks at the World Trade Centre, adopt a Declaration of Intent on the setting of an election date for a transitional government. (Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.)
7 May 1993 - The ‘Afrikaner Volksfront’ is founded with Gen. Constant Viljoen as leader. (---, (2005). ‘Pretoria 1855-2005: Chronologie 1798-1935’, Bylaag tot Rekord.)
7 May 1994 - Legislators in Johannesburg take oaths of office and Blacks and Whites sit down together for the first time to govern South Africa. http://www.andibradley.com/whatya/may07.htm
http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519930,00.html
7 May 1996 - Only a few hours before the expiry of the deadline for the production of the final document, and after a period of intense negotiations, the main political parties reach agreement on a new constitution.
7 May 1997 - F.W. de Klerk disbands the NP task team, headed by Roelf Meyer,
7 May 1997 - Former Defence Minister Magnus Malan takes full responsibility for secret apartheid raids into neighbouring countries but says they were all state-sanctioned and legal.
7 May 1997 - Mobutu Sese Seko, Zaire's 66-year old dictator flies to Gabon to attend a regional leaders' meeting, denying that he was fleeing Laurent Kabila's approaching rebel forces. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519930,00.html
7 May 1998 - SA rugby is plunged into a crisis because Louis Luyt refuses to resign as president of the South African Rugby Football Union. (Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau).
7 May 2000 - Rebels in Sierra Leone use civilians as shields while fighting UN forces. http://www.news24.com/News24/On_this_day/On_this_day/0,,2-1602-1492_1519930,00.html
7 May 2006 - Former President Nelson Mandela invites the Protea cricket team to his Houghton home to congratulate them on their excellent performance in scoring the highest ever total of runs in a one-day match against New Zealand and their second and final test victory in the New Zealand tour. (SABC. News Bulletin).
7 May 2006 - Ms Stella Sigcau, Xhosa princess, third premier of Transkei for three months and minister of Public Works, dies of heart failure in a Durban hospital at the age of sixty-nine. (SABC. News Bulletin).
