The 16th of December has long been a day disputed in the history of South Africa. For much of the Afrikaans-speaking population the date was a celebration of the Voortrekkers’ victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River in 1838 whereas black South Africans found the celebrations offensive, as the day represented the […]
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Chris Hani, an event that nearly saw the undoing of the very fragile peace negotiations in South Africa. It’s difficult to imagine so many years on, but Chris Hani was a hugely popular figure in South Africa, with some even believing that with him at the […]
Last week the country lost another of its great stalwarts of democracy with the passing of Kesval Moonsamy. Popularly known as ‘Kay’, Moonsamy was a member of a number of political organisations, becoming a trade union member at a very young age. Having started work at Rhodesian Timbers Limited when he was just 14 years […]
The years between the release of Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990 and the country’s first democratic elections in 1994 were a time of great political tension in South Africa. An estimated 14 000 people are said to have died in politically related incidents in those few years, double the amount of political deaths recorded from 1948 […]