King Cetshwayo kaMpande, after whom Jan Smuts Highway in Durban is now named, is considered to be the last king of an independent Zulu kingdom. Apparently standing at nearly two metres tall, and weighing in excess of 150kgs, Cetshwayo showed his might by first taking control of his father’s kingdom while King Mpande was still alive, and then going … Read more
Last week we wrote about the book, Emperor Shaka the Great, which is finally being published in its original isiZulu. This week we thought that we would focus on its author, Professor Mazisi Kunene, freedom fighter, literary icon and poet. Kunene spent much of his adult life abroad, but never lost ties with his fellow activists back home, actively … Read more
This past Sunday marked the 105th anniversary of the founding of the ANC. Originally called the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), the political organisation was formed on the 8th January 1912, in response, in part, to the Natives Land Act which once passed into law would create separate reserves for black people, and prohibit … Read more
Many of the major streets in Durban have been renamed to honour heroes of the liberation struggle. Aliwal Street is renamed after Samora Machel – who was a Mozambican military commander, revolutionary socialist leader and eventual President of Mozambique. Machel led the country to independance in 1975 until his death in 1986, when his presidential aircraft crashed … Read more
When we think of South African struggle heroes names like Oliver Tambo, Steve Biko and Walter Sisulu come to mind, but there were also many women who played a very significant role in the fight against apartheid, names that we should be able to call to mind just as easily. One such name is Nhlumba Bertha Mkhize, after whom Victoria Street is … Read more
On the 9th August 1956 thousands of women of all races marched to Union Buildings in Pretoria. Their aim was to deliver a petition to the then Prime Minister, J.G. Strijdom, objecting to the pass laws that required black Africans to carry a range of documents, including a photograph, employment records, tax payments and criminal records, that enabled the … Read more