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Adoption of the Freedom Charter by the Congress of the People
The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress and its allies - the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats and the Coloured People's Congress. The Charter was officially adopted on 26 June 1955 at a Congress of the People in Kliptown -
Women's March against the Pass Law
he first attempt to make black women in South Africa carry passes was in 1913 when the Orange Free State introduced a new requirement that women, in addition to existing regulations for black men, must carry reference documents. The resulting protest, by a multi-racial group of women, many of whom were professionals (a large number of teachers, for example) took the form of passive resistance - a refusal to carry the new passes. -
Treason Trial
In 1956, in response to the adoption of the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People, the Apartheid government in South Africa arrested a total 156 people for high treason. The penalty for this was death -
The Sharpeville Massacre
On 21 March 1960 at least 180 black Africans were injured (there are claims of as many as 300) 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. -
The Durban Strikes
On the morning of 9 January 1973, 2000 workers from the Coronation Brick and Tile Works marched to a nearby football stadium. Severe repression by the state in the 60s had seen the death of African unionism, but the actions of the Coronation workers in their quest for higher wages, were to revive this spirit in the chain of events that followed. The next day there was a stoppage at the A.J. Keeler transport company, spurring stoppages at other companies. -
The Student Uprising in Soweto
When high-school students in Soweto started protesting for better education on 16 June 1976, police responded with teargas and live bullets. It is commemorated today by a South African national holiday, Youth day, which honors all the young people who lost their lives in the struggle against Apartheid and Bantu Education. -
The Killing of Steven Biko by the South African Police
Died after being beaten by South African police during an interrogation. South African authorities claimed that Mr. Biko’s hunger strike caused his death. -
The release of Nelson Mandela from prison
On this day, Nelson Mandela was released unconditionally from prison after 27 years. Accompanied by his wife Winnie, Mandela left the Victor Verster prison (renamed Drakenstein Correctional Centre) on the outskirts of Paarl and was driven 60 km to Cape Town by African National Congress's (ANC) Rose Sonto along a route lined by thousands of supporters. -
The First Democratic Election
South Africa’s democratic system was endorsed by voters drawn from across the country’s racial divide in April 1994. There is little doubt that coming from a history of a racially divided society, people voted for their skin colour in 1994 over policies. -
Presentation of the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to President Mandela
After a series of international sanctions – and the end of the Cold War – a mostly peaceful transition from the Apartheid system started with a series of negotiations between the government party and the ANC between 1990 and 1993. Democratic elections were held in 1994, and an interim constitution was passed. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up by the newly elected parliament and was endorsed by opposition leader Nelson Mandela and other prominent South African figures.
