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Founding of the ANC
The African National Congress (ANC) is South Africa's governing political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP), since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. -
Congress Youth League Founded
Developed a manifesto in 1944 and published a program in 1948. By the end of the 1940s, the Youth League had gained control of the African National Congress. It called for civil disobedience and strikes in protest at the hundreds of laws associated with the new apartheid system -
Defiance Campaign
In December 1949, with the support of the ANC Youth League, a new leadership came to power in the ANC. Walter Sisulu was elected secretary-general and a number of Youth Leaguers were elected to the national executive, including Oliver Tambo , Sisulu's successor. The period 1950 -1952 began with a commitment to militant African nationalism and mass action and to tactics of boycotts, strikes and civil disobedience. -
Albert Luthuli Wins the Nobel Peace Prize
Albert Lutuli received his Nobel Prize one year later, in 1961. During the selection process in 1960, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided that none of the year's nominations met the criteria as outlined in the will of Alfred Nobel. According to the Nobel Foundation's statutes, the Nobel Prize can in such a case be reserved until the following year, and this statute was then applied. Albert Lutuli therefore received his Nobel Prize for 1960 one year later, in 1961. He was a Zulu. -
Sharpeville Massacre
On 21 March 1960 at least 180 black Africans were injured and 69 killed when South African police opened fire on approximately 300 demonstrators, who were protesting against the pass laws, at the township of Sharpeville, near Vereeniging in the Transvaal. In similar demonstrations at the police station in Vanderbijlpark, another person was shot. Later that day at Langa, a township outside Cape Town, police baton charged and fired tear gas. A liberation group informed the comminssioner of police. -
Nelson Mandella Sentenced to life in prison
Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island where he remained for the next eighteen of his twenty-seven years in prison. While in jail, his reputation grew and he became widely known as the most significant black leader in South Africa. -
Spear of the Nation Formed
Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) was launched as an armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC).
The formation of MK followed a series of events that made it necessary for the national liberation movements in South Africa to move towards a more significant challenge to the white minority government. The African National Congress (ANC), together with the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the members of the Congress Alliance, the South African Indian Congress. -
The Soweto Uprising
The Soweto riots of 1976 were the most brutal and violent riots that had taken place against the South African apartheid administration. During a reorganisation of the Bantu Education Department of the government, the South African apartheid government decided to start enforcing a long-forgotten law requiring that secondary education be conducted only in Afrikaans, rather than in English or any of the native African languages. -
Steve Biko dies in Police Custody
A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the anti-apartheid movement. While living, his writings and activism attempted to empower black people, and he was famous for his slogan "black is beautiful", -
Desmond Tutu wins the Nobel Peace Prize
Desmond Tutu received the 1984 Nobel peace prize for his nonviolent work against apartheid, the South African government's policy of racial separateness.
Objective - "a democratic and just society without racial divisions" Wanted: Equal civil rights for all. The abolition of South Africans passport laws. A common system of eduation. And The forced deportaion from South Africa to So-Called "Homelands" (Bantusans) -
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Nelson Mandela Becomes President of South Africa
Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela led his party in the negotiations that led to multi-racial democracy in 1994. As president, he frequently gave priority to reconciliation, while introducing policies aimed at combating poverty and inequality in South Africa. -
Nelson Mandela Released from Prison
In 1962 he was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and sentenced to life in prison. Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island. Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela led his party in the negotiations that led to multi-racial democracy in 1994.
