History Matters

What started out as a simple memoir he was planning to leave his grandchildren one day has now developed into a book, written by Dr Sedick Isaacs, 72. Isaacs was a political activist and prisoner incarcerated on Robben Island in 1963, for 12 years. However, in 1969 his sentence was increased for operating a pirate [...]

This is an edited vertion of address by the ANC president, Jacob Zuma, at the memorial lecture for the organisation’s fourth president, Josiah Tshangana Gumede. We meet here during the most important month in the history of our country – April, our Freedom Month, when we celebrate the birth of democracy and freedom in South [...]

Published in South African Historical Journal Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t793706093 Click here to read or download pdf: Biko, Black Consciousness, and ‘the System’ eZinyoka: Oral History and Black Consciousness in Practice in a Rural Ciskei Village by Leslie Hadfielda Michigan State University, USA Online publication date: 25 May 2010

Rodney Warwick writes on another significant anniversary, ignored by the ANC Introduction No single internal military operation within this country’s history, matches the ferocity of the events on the Witwatersrand, now Gauteng, ninety years ago this week. But this important event in South African history – like the centenary of the Union of South Africa [...]

Mandela’s membership of the Communist Party: what needs to be reassessed? by Tom Lodge The evidence that Stephen Ellis refers to about Mandela’s membership of the Communist Party is pretty definitive. It is based upon recollections of party members some of whose testimony is derived from first hand experience. Joe Matthews was a member of [...]

The history of the Young Communist League (YCL) dates back to 1921, although the organisation observes 25 May 1922 as the date of its official formation. History reveals that there is evidence of YCL activities in Johannesburg and Cape Town in 1921. Edward Roux, who was to play a leading role in the affairs of [...]

WISER, University of the Witwatersrand Monday June 13 2011 Venue WISER Seminar Room* When Lewis Nkosi passed away on September 6, 2010 at the age of 73, South Africa lost an intellectual and literary voice as unique for its lucidity as its peerless range. Novelist, essayist, critic, playwright, editor, journalist, and scholar, Nkosi earned each [...]

 Nalini Naidoo Natal Witness 15 Nov 2010   It’s funny how celebrating a historical landmark can become fraught with anxiety. This could only happen in a country like South Africa where, it appears, nothing is simple. Then again, we cannot make light of these anxieties as we come from a past of divide and rule and [...]

JACOB DLAMINI – Business Day 11th June 2010 IT IS one of the many ironies of South African politics that the bitterest battles of our age have been waged within the ranks of the anti-apartheid movement itself — not between the movement and its foes. It is within the ranks of the African National Congress [...]