This Day In History

On 31 July 1879, the first cable connection between South Africa and Europe, via Aden, was launched.  It was laid by the British electrical engineer Charles Tilston Bright as part of his project to…

In April 1894, Chief Malaboch (Mmaleboho, Mmaleboxo) of the Bahananwa (Xananwa) people refused to leave his traditional mountain kingdom of Blouberg as ordered by the Transvaal Republic (ZAR)…

On 31 July 1969 Albertina Sisulu, the wife of Walter Sisulu who was serving a life sentence Robben Island had her banning order renewed for another five years after the expiry of a previous one…

Federation of South African Women (FSAW or FEDSAW) President and the first person to be banned under the 1976 Internal Security Act, Fatima Meer, was banned again for a further five years. Her first…

In February 1990, President F.W. de Klerk appointed Mr Justice Louis Harms, a Supreme Court judge, to investigate into alleged hit-squads. On 11 February 1990, the SA Defence Force (SADF) admitted to…

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) expressed concern about stability in Manzimhlope, the KwaZulu-Natal lower south coast region, following the murder of IFP politician Sqoloza Xolo, who was blamed for…

During the final poetry performance at the Urban Voices Festival, South African poet, journalist and former gangster who turned community activist, Don Mattera, widely known as Bra Zinga, announced…

A special official funeral service for Rivonia trialist and MK cadre, Wilton Z. Mkwayi, attended by Acting President Phumzile Mlambo-Ncuka, was held in King William's Town.  He was awarded this…

Polio is a water-born disease that affects the nervous system and causes paralysis, deformation and sometimes death. This disease often affects young children, most recently in Sub-Saharan Africa…