history essay paper 1

Society and Politics

Art and culture, biographies.

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How To Search

Vlakplaas and the History of Apartheid's Death Squad

This day in history, find out who was born, who died and other significant events from this day in history.

2 November 1930

Selassie becomes emperor, history in pictures, significant or interesting images from history. each image will guide you to related content..

One of the organisers of the 1956 Women's March, Lilian Ngoyi

A young victim of the atrocities committed by Belgium in the Congo stands next to a missionary. 

Riot police play a game of soccer with youths in Nyanga on 27 August 1976.  Photo by John Paisley

A certificate of slavery for an infant named Sophie, dated 1827 Cape of Good Hope. 

Riot police attempt to block the way of workers leaving a May Day meeting at Khotso House in Johannesburg in May 1985. 

A family sits outside the front door of their District Six home in Cape Town in the 1970s, prior to their forced removal. Photograph by Jansje Wissema. 

Topics, timelines and articles that cover the social and political history of South Africa from prehistory to the present day

Latest articles.

Port Elizabeth Timeline 1799-1986

Africa: What’s in a name?

Second Anglo-Boer War - 1899 - 1902

Browse by topic, #feesmustfall - student protests.

Special Project: Contemporary Student  Movements, #FeesMustFall, #RhodesMustFall etc. 

Football in South Africa Timeline 1862-2012

Photography and the Liberation Struggle in South Africa

Fanakalo: the language of mining culture

Lives and stories of notable south africans and people closely related to our history. .

Also see our biography index .

Featured biographies

Tito Mboweni

Ashley James Kriel

Neville Wilson Curtis

Explore the histories of other african countries organised by region..

Our classroom feature includes the history curriculum lessons for grade 4 to 12, plus past exam questions and answers. The history topics are linked to articles on our main website.

Additional curriculum content for other subjects, such as Art and Culture and Life Orientation will be posted as the material is developed.

Please send us your comments.  It you are a teacher, feel free to share some of the resources that you and your colleagues have developed.

Topics and articles for school learners and teachers. These sections are based on the current curriculum

Search for the history of your city, town, suburb or village. view our  places page  to search for places of interest, monuments and centres or browse an alphabetical list.

Explore more places organised by province

KwaZulu-Natal

Western cape, eastern cape, northern cape, latest places.

De Hoop Nature Reserve

Onrus/t Rivier

Featured places.

Mkumeni Location, Flagstaff

Oviston Nature Reserve, Eastern Cape

Queenstown, now known as Komani.

Timelines show an overview of events and how they fit into the bigger picture. we have general timelines and timelines on specific topics, featured timelines.

Student Protests at Tshwane University of Technology - Timeline

Nokukhanya (Bhengu) Luthuli’s Life Timeline

Sophiatown timeline 1899-1955

Make history matter - donate to saho.

Towards a people's history