The Day of Reconciliation is a public holiday in South Africa held annually on 16 December. The holiday came into effect in 1995 after the end of apartheid,with the intention of fostering reconciliation and national unity for the country. Recognising the need for racial harmony,the government chose the date for its significance to both Afrikaner and indigenous South African cultures. The celebration of the Day of Reconciliation can take the form of remembering past history,recognising veteran's contributions,marching,and other festivities.
Govan Archibald Mvunyelwa Mbeki was a South African politician,military commander,Communist leader who served as the Secretary of Umkhonto we Sizwe,at its inception in 1961. He was also the son of Chief Sikelewu Mbeki and Johanna Mahala and also the father of the former South African president Thabo Mbeki and political economist Moeletsi Mbeki. He was a leader of the South African Communist Party and the African National Congress. After the Rivonia Trial,he was imprisoned (1963–1987) on charges of terrorism and treason,together with Nelson Mandela,Walter Sisulu,Raymond Mhlaba,Ahmed Kathrada and other eminent ANC leaders,for their role in the ANC's armed wing,Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK). He was sometimes mentioned by his nickname "Oom Gov".
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa,and provides 19 radio stations (AM/FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state-owned enterprises.
Chris Hani,born Martin Thembisile Hani,was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of uMkhonto we Sizwe,the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). He was a fierce opponent of the apartheid government,and was assassinated by Janusz Waluś,a Polish immigrant and sympathiser of the Conservative opposition on 10 April 1993,during the unrest preceding the transition to democracy.
Yossel Mashel Slovo,commonly known as Joe Slovo,was a South African politician,and an opponent of the apartheid system. A Marxist-Leninist,he was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Communist Party (SACP),a leading member of the African National Congress (ANC),and a commander of the ANC's military wing uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK). Slovo was a delegate to the multiracial Congress of the People of June 1955 which drew up the Freedom Charter. He was imprisoned for six months in 1960,and emerged as a leader of uMkhonto we Sizwe the following year. He lived in exile from 1963 to 1990,conducting operations against the apartheid régime from the United Kingdom,Angola,Mozambique,and Zambia. In 1990,he returned to South Africa,and took part in the negotiations that ended apartheid. He became known for proposing the "sunset clauses" covering the 5 years following a democratic election,including guarantees and concessions to all sides,and his fierce non-racialist stance. After the elections of 1994,he became Minister for Housing in Nelson Mandela's government. He died of cancer in 1995.
Bonisile John Kani,,is a South African actor,author,director and playwright. He is known for portraying T'Chaka in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain America:Civil War (2016) and Black Panther (2018),Rafiki in The Lion King (2019) and Colonel Ulenga in the Netflix films Murder Mystery (2019) and Murder Mystery 2 (2023).
Rhodes University is a public research university located in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province.
Events from the year 1962 in South Africa. This year is notable for its internal and international resistance campaigns against the country's Apartheid legislation. Umkhonto we Sizwe,the militant wing of the African National Congress,made its first sabotage attacks in 1961,and Nelson Mandela traveled to Ethiopia to rally support for Umkhonto and justify the attacks. Nelson Mandela was sentenced to jail for 5 years upon returning to South Africa for illegally leaving the country. The international sporting community also showed its displeasure with the government's laws. FIFA suspended South Africa in 1962 for fielding an exclusively-white South African national football team,forcing South African football authorities to add black players to the team. The government,in turn strengthened methods of enforcing Apartheid,and the Robben Island prison was made a political prison in 1962.
The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA),formerly known as Poqo,was the military wing of the Pan Africanist Congress,an African nationalist movement in South Africa. In the Xhosa language,the word 'Poqo' means 'pure'.
St John's College is a private Anglican day and boarding school situated in Houghton Estate in Johannesburg,South Africa. It was founded in 1898,by Rev. John Darragh,and comprises five schools:College,Preparatory,Pre-Preparatory and The Bridge Nursery,as well as a co-educational sixth form. St John's College is a member of the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa.
Snuki Joseph Zikalala is the president of the African National Congress (ANC) Veterans' League in South Africa,and former managing director of news and current affairs of the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
Pierre Francois de Vos is a South African constitutional law scholar. He holds the Claude Leon Foundation Chair in Constitutional Governance at the University of Cape Town. Before taking up that position in July 2009,he taught at the University of the Western Cape. He is popularly known for his blog,Constitutionally Speaking,which he has written since November 2006. In October of 2024,he was accused of disseminating child pornography. De Vos's twitter account contained a video of a "Chinese virgin young boy" being sexually abused.
Timothy Modise is a South African veteran journalist,broadcaster,public speaker and philanthropist. Boasting over thirty years in broadcast media and journalism,Modise has worked for various radio and TV stations of the SABC,M-Net,Primedia,BBC and Power FM across different formats from music,current affairs and talk shows. He was inducted in the Radio Hall of Fame in 2011.
There have been many political assassinations in post-apartheid South Africa. In 2013 it was reported that there had been more than 450 political assassinations in the province of KwaZulu-Natal since the end of apartheid in 1994. In July 2013 the Daily Maverick reported that there had been "59 political murders in the last five years". In August 2016 it was reported that there had been at least twenty political assassinations in the run up to the local government elections on the 3rd of August that year,most of them in KwaZulu-Natal.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is a South African communist and black nationalist political party. It was founded by expelled former African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema,and his allies,on 26 July 2013. Malema is president of the EFF,heading the Central Command Team,which serves as the central structure of the party. It is currently the fourth-largest party in the National Assembly.
There is a growing List of social movements in South Africa,amongst these is the youth-led non-partisan InkuluFreeHeid Organisation. The majority of social movements have a particular focus on the housing crisis in urban area while others range from focusing on HIV/AIDS,working conditions,unemployment,access to service delivery and issues of democracy,transparency and accountability.
Rhodes Must Fall was a protest movement that began on 9 March 2015,originally directed against a statue at the University of Cape Town (UCT) that commemorates Cecil Rhodes. The campaign for the statue's removal received global attention and led to a wider movement to "decolonise" education across South Africa. On 9 April 2015,following a UCT Council vote the previous night,the statue was removed.
John Matisonn is a South African political journalist and author. He was one of the founding councillors of South Africa's Independent Broadcasting Authority and from 1986 to 1991 was the South Africa correspondent for National Public Radio in the United States.
Chris Hani,General-Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP),was assassinated by right-wing extremist Janusz Waluśon 10 April 1993. The assassination,later tied to members within the Conservative Party,occurred outside Hani's home in Dawn Park during a peak period of progressive anti-apartheid momentum in South Africa. After the assassination,racially fuelled riots drew international attention to the instability of the political division within South Africa,leading to an inclusive national democratic election in April 1994,won by the African National Congress (ANC). Waluśand his accomplice Clive Derby-Lewis were both sentenced to death after their arrests in 1993;the sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment.
Daluxolo Christopher Mpofu is a South African lawyer,politician,and former businessman who was the National Chairperson of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) from 2014 to 2019. He served on the Judicial Service Commission from 2017 to 2022 and formerly served as chief executive officer of the South African Broadcasting Corporation from 2005 to 2009.
