The recorded history of South Africa only goes back from the time of the Explorers Vasco Da Gama and Bartholomew Diaz in the 15th century, and the eventual establishment of a trading station at the Cape of Good Hope when the Dutch East India Company sent Jan Van Riebeeck to build a settlement with the [...]
Archive for category Famous South Africans and History
Paul Kruger (Stephanus Johannes Paulus) was the last President of the South African Republic and regarded by many as the greatest figure produced by Afrikanerdom. He came from a family of German immigrants. Born in the Eastern Cape in 1825, it is believed that he was born on the farm Bulhoek near Steynsberg but later [...]
Richard “Dick” Phillip King is a name that is memorable in South African history. One of 13 children he was born in Chatham England on the 28th November 1813 and together with his parents came to South Africa as part of the 1820 settlers program. The family first settled in Albany in the Cape Colony
Sir George Albu was a celebrated Mining magnate of German-Jewish descent who was born in Brandenburg, Germany in 1857 and together with his brother Leopold immigrated to South Africa in 1876.
One of the foremost personalities in South African history was the statesman and empire builder Sir Cecil John Rhodes. Rhodes was born in England on July 5th 1853 in the town of Bishop’s Stortford.
Sir Ernest Oppenheimer was a South African mining and industrial magnate. He was born in the 1880 at Friedberg in Hesse, Germany and arrived in London when he was only a young man, to join his older brother Louis at the firm of Anton Dunkelsbuhler who was a relative. Dunkelsbuhler was a well known diamond [...]
The Witwatersrand is a word in Afrikaans which means “The Ridge of white waters”. It is a range of hills in the Gauteng province South Africa that contains most of the worlds gold reserves. These rich gold bearing reefs stretch from 40 miles east of Johannesburg to 90 miles west and even further into the [...]
Born in Klerksdorp in the Transvaal Province in 1931 Desmond Tutu was an only son with two sisters. His Mother worked as a cleaner and although Desmond dreamed of becoming a physician, his family could not afford the cost for him to train so he chose to become a teacher like his Father.
The story of Donald Woods, South African Journalist, political activist and friend of Steve Biko.
The story of one of the greatest hero’s of South Africa who,together with his horse, died while saving lives from a sinking ship during a terrible storm.
The Boer War is also known by many other names. It has been called the Second Boer War, or the Anglo Boer War or even the South African War.
The life of Nelson Mandela from a boy in a village in the Transkei, to becoming the first Black President of South Africa.
The life of South African Businessman Harry Oppenheimer
Read about President F.W De Klerk’s early life and his political moves to free Nelson Mandela and end apartheid in South Africa
The first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, Louis Botha fought in the Boer War and in the First World War. He was born in Natal in 1862 and became Prime Minister in 1907
The story of the historical battle of Blood River between the Zulus and the Voortrekkers
The Great Trek of colonists from the Cape, South Africa in the 1800’s and the reasons for it
The story of how Natal was discovered by the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama while looking for a new route to India
