- Peter Abrahams, 1919-2017
- Africa is a Country blog: "Pan-Africanism was Peter Abrahams' Country, " February 13, 2017. By Tyler Fleming. (New York)
- The Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica): "Literary icon Peter Abrahams is dead," January 19, 2017
- The New York Times: "Peter Abrahams, a South African Who Wrote of Apartheid and Identity, Dies at 97," January 22, 2017
- Sunday Times (Johannesburg): "Peter Abrahams, writer who exposed pre-apartheid racism," January 29, 2017.
- Africa South Art Initiative (Cape Town, South Africa)
ASAI--a collaborative platform for writing art history from below: "...produces new and necessary resources on art and artists in Africa, and makes these resources accessible, mostly online."
--
Highlights from publications -and-
exhibitions
--
3rd Text Africa: an open access, peer-reviewed journal on visual arts and culture.
- AFRILEX: African Association for Lexicography (via University of Pretoria, South Africa)
- African National Congress (South Africa)
The ANC website offers an extensive archive of online speeches, complete books, biographical summaries, photographs, and other documents by leading and historical figures from the ANC archives and from those in South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle in general, as well as selected speeches by prominent world leaders in support of the struggle.
- "The ANC and South Africa: The Past and Future of Liberation Movements in the World-System" (1996) by Prof. Immanuel Wallerstein Binghamton University, State University of New York. (via Economic and Political Weekly, Mumbai, India)
5 pages in PDF format. Keynote address at the Annual Meeting of the South African Sociological Association, Durban, South Africa, July 7-11, 1996.
- African Rock Art Digital Archive South African Rock Art Digital Archive (Rock Art Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa)
- AFROPOP Worldwide on South African Popular Music (Brooklyn, New York)
- South Africa: articles, background, discographies, web links, and interviews
- Anti-Apartheid Movement: Forward to Freedom--The History of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, 1959-1994 (Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, UK)
A companion web site to the AAM archival collection held by the Bodleian Library at Oxford, featuring excerpts in text, image, and video formats. "...tells the story of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement and its campaigns to support the people of South Africa in their fight against apartheid. The AAM also campaigned for freedom for Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Angola, and against South Africa’s attacks on its neighbours."
- ARIA: Annual review of Islam in Africa. – Cape Town: Centre for Contemporary Islam, Department of Religious Studies, University of Cape Town, 1998-2012.
- Contemporary African Art from or in South Africa
- Artthrob: Contemporary Art in South Africa (Cape Town ; Johannesburg ; Durban, South Africa)
A web-zine offering articles and reviews on art trends in South Africa, links to news on current and recent exhibitions; plus related websites. "ArtThrob is South Africa's leading contemporary visual arts publication, reporting on the national arts scene and the involvement of South African artists in the international art world."
- Art Africa. (Online) --Johannesburg, South Africa: Art South African Magazine, 2022-
"Writing Art History Since 2002": current and recent articles from this magazine, in open access since May 2022.
- Axis Gallery -- African Artists (Dr. Gary van Wyk and Lisa Brittan, New York)
"...Founded in 1997 as the only US gallery promoting both 'traditional' and contemporary art from
Southern Africa...Today, Axis Gallery shows contemporary art by African artists at its Williamsburg gallery and other venues. Axis has adopted a more project-oriented program, including artist residencies, international cultural collaborations, and training opportunities."
--See especially:
Exhibitions -- Current and "Deep Archive"
- Bonani Africa 2010--Festival of Photography, January 2010, South Africa (via SAHO--South African History Online, Pretoria and Cape Town, South Africa)
- "Claiming Art / Reclaiming Space : Post-Apartheid Art from South Africa" -- Exhibition at the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC)
The exhibition is open from June 20 to September 26, 1999. See also the
NMAfA Home Page.
- de arte. (Online): journal of the Department of Art History and Fine Arts, 2001 to present. -- Pretoria : Unisa Press, published for the Department of Art History and Fine Arts, University of South Africa.
Selected full articles and tables of contents only...from Sabinet.
- Durban Art Gallery (Durban, South Africa)
"The Durban Art Gallery collections include everything from current and historical art and artefacts of KwaZulu-Natal to English masterpieces, from anonymous carvings, clay pots and beadwork to the works of celebrated South African artists like Andrew Verster and Penny Siopis. The Gallery celebrated its centenary in 1992."
- Jack Shainman Gallery (New York) -- Southern African Artists
- MOMA--Museum of Modern Art: "Impressions from South Africa, 1965 to Now," March 23--August 14, 2011 The Paul J. Sachs Prints and Illustrated Books Galleries. (New York)
- Pelmama -- Johannesburg, South Africa
(via The Haenggi Foundation, Inc., Basel, Switzerland)A website that celebrates the works of South African contemporary artists, with sample images and background summaries on dozens of artists. 'Pelmama -- is an acronym for the "Pelindaba Museums of African and Modern Art", a project initiated by The Haenggi Foundation Inc., Johannesburg, an association not for gain established in 1978, following on the Soweto riots.'
- "In Pictures: Gerard Sekoto -- father of South Africa's modern art, June 9, 2013" (BBC News Online, British Broadcasting Corporation, London, UK)
An online gallery of images of selected paintings by Sekoto, with brief text about the artist (1914-1993).
- Homage to Lucas Sithole: 1931-1994 (The Haenggi Foundation, Inc., Johannesburg, South Africa and Basel, Switzerland)
This promotional website includes some sample images of the sculptures of Lucas Sithole, information about works for sale, as well as biographical notes. 'Lucas Sithole was the first black artist in South Africa to have a retrospective show in a public museum and a university gallery.'
- Stevenson Gallery Michael Stevenson (Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa)
The website of this well-known private gallery, open since 2003, features images from current and past exhibitions, artists' biographies and lists of their exhibitions,
exhibition catalogues, and useful related information.
- Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art (MOCAA) (Cape Town, South Africa)
Since its
opening in September 2017, this new institution claims to be the largest museum for African contemporary art on the continent. "Zeitz MOCAA collects, preserves, researches, and exhibits 21st century contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora."
--See especially:
Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions and Events -and-
Art and Artists
- Amazwi --South African Museum of Literature (Makbanda, Grahamstown, South Africa)
"The National English Literary Museum was founded with a small collection of South African manuscripts by the late Professor Guy Butler of Rhodes University in the 1960s...officially renamed Amazwi South African Museum of Literature by the Minister of Arts and Culture in March 2019. The museum now has a mandate to collect literary artefacts relating to the literatures of all South African languages."
- Athol Fugard, Playwright (Iain Fisher, The Netherlands)
A brief biographical sketch of this well-known South African writer-director, commentaries on Fugard's plays, and a host of links to related web pages and sites.
- Stephen Biko on the Internet
- Books LIVE (Cape Town, South Africa)
A general book news and events portal for South Africa and the wider world.
- Brenda Fassie, 1964-2004
- Dennis Brutus, 1924-2009
- Global Voices Online: "South Africa : A Glowing Tribute to Dennis Brutus," by Njeri Wangari, Jan 6, 2009 (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
- H-AfrLitCine Discussion Network: Obituary and commentaries by Ken Harrow, Patrick Bond, & others, December 26, 2009 (H-Net, Humanities and Social Sciences Online, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan)
- Mail & Guardian. (Online): "Poet and protester Dennis Brutus dies," Dec 27 2009 (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- Northwestern University Libraries--Archives: Finding Aid for Dennis Brutus Papers, 1960-1984 (Evanston, Illinois)
- South African History Online (SAHO): Dennis Brutus, 1924-2009 (Pretoria, South Africa)
- CASAS--The Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa)
- ***Note: In 2018, CASAS was incorporated into the Department of Linguistics at the University of the Western Cape. The site includes an extensive listing of print publications [for sale in South Africa] and research program news. "The major area of current involvement of CASAS is the classification of African Languages on the basis of mutual intelligibility. This work is part of the CASAS Harmonization and Standardization of African Languages Project. Study areas like archaeology, prehistory, anthropology and ethno-musicology are of interest."
- CASAS Home Page (2018--)
- Children's Literature Research Unit, University of South Africa (Pretoria, South Africa)
This site includes a bibliography of children's books, and works on the history and criticism of children's literature in English and Afrikaans.
- Chimurenga. (Online) --Cape Town, South Africa: Chimurenga Magazine, RedhotMoondog Media, 2002-
This publication is the electronic version of a quarterly magazine on music and popular culture in South Africa and global Africa. "CHIMURENGA magazine is. streets villages pages. & sometimes even pagers. It's an advertising-free revue of arts.culture.politics and the relations that these enjoy around Africa. It is another kicking initiative by the Pan African Market aka Kalakuta Republique."
- Church of the Province of Southern Africa (CPSA Publishing Committee, Cape Town, South Africa)
This is the official site of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, with general information about the church's activities, a directory of dioceses, and an archive of discussions.
- Columbia University Libraries, Columbia Center for Oral History: South Africa -- Oral Histories and Archival Collections (New York, USA)
- Yusuf Mohamed Dadoo: South Africa's Freedom Struggle - Statements, Speeches, and Articles. Ed. by E.S. Reddy. (1990). -- New Delhi : Namedia Foundation and Sterling Publishers ; London : Kliptown Books ; South Africa : South African Communist Party.
A collection of online texts by one of the leaders of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
- A Decade of Democracy: Witnessing South Africa, April-November 2004 Exhibition (via National Center for Afro-American Artists, Boston, Massachusetts)
- International Conference on "A Decade of Freedom: Celebrating the Role of the International Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa's Freedom Struggle," 10-13 October 2004, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
This site still provides access to downloadable copies of the conference papers.
- DISA: Digital Innovation South Africa (University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa)
- Originally called "Digital Imaging Project of South Africa": The site offers a free access to selected periodicals and other publications focusing on the socio-political history of South Africa, particularly the struggle for freedom during the period from 1950 to the first democratic elections in 1994.
- "DISA: insights of an African model for digital library development" by Dale Peters and Michele Pickover (2001) D-Lib magazine. (Online) ; Vol. 7, no. 11 (November 2001).
- Mayibuye: the journal of the African National Congress. Archive, 1967-1994. -- [Marshalltown, South Africa: ANC, 1967-1994]
- The New African: the radical monthly. Archive: 1962-1969.
"...[first] published in January 1962. The four founders, Randolph Vigne, Neville Rubin, James Currey and Timothy Holmes wrote copiously - leaders, articles and reviews - often under pseudonyms The first subscribers to the periodical were drawn from the Liberal Party circle [in South Africa]. Contributors to those early issues were mostly South Africans, with a few from Britain and only three from elsewhere. The magazine’s character, largely English-speaking South African and liberal, was forward looking in the post- Sharpeville time of hope, and original in its commingling of culture and politics."
- District Six Museum Online (Cape Town, South Africa)
This site offers general information about the museum and its collections. "In 1989 ex-residents of District Six envisaged a museum to commemorate the area and honour the people who fought against the forced removals and Group Areas Act. On 10 December 1994, the District Six Museum opened with its first exhibition 'Streets - Retracing the Past'. The Museum provides a space for the community to come together and share their experiences and retrace their memories."
- John Langalibalele Dube, 1871-1946
- Nokutela Mdima Dube, 1873-1917
- 43rd Durban International Film Festival, July 21-30, 2022 (Durban, South Africa) --via University of KwaZulu-Natal
- Economic History Society of Southern Africa (University of Stellenbosch, Matieland, South Africa)
- Fak'ugesi 2022--African Digital Innovation Festival and Conference, October 13-21, 2022, Braamfontein, South Africa
"Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival is a non traditional electronic arts or media festival. In this its objective is not only to showcase existing work, but allow the festival to become a location for making and interrogating digital cultures."
- The Ruth First Papers (Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, UK)
In partnership with the UWC-Robben Island Mayibuye Archives and the Centro de Estudos Africanos, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique.
"It will consist of at least 5,000 pages, digitised and presented as academically rigorous clusters of material, and will electronically publish two of her books currently out of print. This resource will be freely accessible worldwide, accompanied by a website with secondary material including conference items and short academic essays about First’s life and work."
- For their triumphs and for their tears: women in apartheid South Africa. (Online). By Hilda Bernstein (1975 ed.). -- London : International Defence and Aid Fund. --via Internet Archive
The complete online book about South African women's lives and their struggle against apartheid.
- Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre, University of KwaZulu-Natal at Westville, South Africa
An extensive listing of holdings--the bulk of which is concerned with Indians (and other South Asians) in South African history, with some on Luthuli and other Africans...featuring online documents--including research papers, MA and Ph.D. theses, bibliographies; plus, related links.
- Nadine Gordimer, 1923-2014
- Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana): Guide to the Nadine Gordimer Papers in the Lilly Library
- Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg): "Anti-apartheid writer Nadine Gordimer dies," July 14, 2014
- The New York Times (New York): "Nadine Gordimer, Novelist Who Took on Apartheid, is dead at 90," July 14, 2014
- Nobel Prize in Literature 1991--Nadine Gordimer (The Nobel Foundation, Stockholm, Sweden)
--See also: April 2005 Interview
--Plus: "Nadine Gordimer and the South African Experience" by Per Wästberg (2001)
- Postcolonial & postimperial literature in English: Nadine Gordimer (Prof. George P. Landow and his students at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island)
- South African History Online (Cape Town): Nadine Gordimer
- University of Utah, The Tanner Lectures on Human Values: "The Essential Gesture: Writers and Responsibility," by Nadine Gordimer. Delivered at The University of Michigan, October 12, 1984. (Salt Lake City, Utah)
- SAHMS--South African Hindu Maha Sabha (Durban, South Africa) Since 1912.
- H-SAFRICA Discussion Network Home Page (H-Net Humanities & Social Sciences OnLine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan)
"H-SAFRICA is the H-Net discussion list dealing with the culture and history of South Africa."
- The indigenous sculptural arts of South Africa. By Herbert E. Roese. -- United Kingdom: The author; via One.Tel.Net, 2001. [Originally published in 1998 by Bambolse Press, Kumasi, Ghana.]
- ILAM--International Library of African Music, Rhodes University (Grahamstown, South Africa)
The site includes information about the library, research and teaching programs, related links, and publications--including:
African music journal. (Online), 1954-2008. "Founded in 1954 by Hugh Tracey, ILAM is the greatest repository of African music in the world. A research institution devoted to the study of music and oral arts in Africa, it preserves thousands of historical recordings going back to 1929 and supports contemporary fieldwork."
--Search the
ILAM catalog
- Islam in South Africa
- Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: History of Muslims in South Africa: A Chronology (1993) by Ebrahim Mahomed Mahida.
-- Durban, South Africa: Arabic Study Circle, 1993. 83 pages in PDF format
--See also: Islam--Various Aspects
- Islamic Council of South Africa (Cape Town, South Africa)
- Islamic Focus (Bukhara Publications and Media, Port Elizabeth, South Africa)
Since 2003, this site has offered to South Africa's Islamic communities a source of information on religious and social activities, an official newsletter and other publications, etc.
- Muslim Judicial Council (SA) Established in 1945. (Cape Town, South Africa)
- Muslim views. (Online) -- Cape Town, South Africa: The Compass NPC, 2019--
Originally launched in print in September 1986: A monthly news magazine "...to provide information, comment and analysis and to advocate universal values and social justice."
- Jewish Communities in South Africa
- Johannesburg review of books, The. (Online) -- [Johannesburg, South Africa]: The Review, 2017-
"...publishes reviews, essays, poetry, photographs and short fiction from South Africa, Africa and beyond...also produce[s] audio clips and short videos related to literary goings-on."
- JWTC--Johannesburg Workshop in Theory and Criticism (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa)
- Jomba 2024: 26th Annual Contemporary Dance Experience, August 27--September 8, 2024, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban (Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa)
- The Journalist: "Pioneers" (South Africa)
[Begun in August 2014], the Journalist is a media project which seeks to bring context to stories, including this archive of biographical portraits of great South African writers and journalists. "...with the principle aim of unearthing the history buried away by the erstwhile apartheid, in a bid to obliterate the legacy built by Africans, particularly in the literary world."
- 2024 Jozi Book Fair--"Literature and Solidarity in the Time of Crisis", October 18-20, 2024, Newtown Park, Johannesburg, South Africa Co-sponsored by the National Library of South Africa and Bohlale ba Basebetsi, Khanya College--Education for Liberation.
- Ahmed Kathrada, 1929-2017
- Mail and Guardian. (Online): "Tributes pour in for 'giant of the struggle' Ahmed Kathrada," March 28, 2017 (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- News24.com: Round-up: Tributes Honoring Ahmed Kathrada," March 28, 2017 (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- Polity.org.za: "Ahmed Kathrada Obituary, March 28, 2017 (Creamer Media, Johannesburg, South Africa)
- South African History Online: Ahmed Kathrada (Cape Town, South Africa)
- Khanya College--Education for Liberation (Johannesburg)
"...an independent, non-governmental organisation...established in 1986, the primary aim of Khanya College is to assist various constituencies within working class and poor communities to respond to the challenges posed by the forces of economic and political globalisation...offers assistance through providing educational and training workshops, publications and research to organisations and individuals in these communities."
--See especially:
History Programme -and-
Jozi Book Fair
- "Khoisan Identity, Politics, and Representation in Post-Apartheid South Africa (1994-2022): A Selective and Annotated Bibliography." (2022) By Rafael Verbuyst. Electronic journal of Africana bibliography. Vol. 17, No. 1. (New York)
- Khulumani Support Group (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- "...formed in 1995 by survivors and families of victims of the political conflict of South Africa's apartheid past. It was set up in response to the pending Truth and Reconciliation Commission by victims who felt the Commission should be used to speak out about the past to ensure that such violations never occur again."
- KSG Documents: including the TRC and subsequent actions and issues
- Voices of Boipatong June 17, 1992
"This web site contains a range of information about the Boipatong Massacre and the Boipatong community."
--Includes
a list of "archival sources"
- Sibongile Khumalo, 1957-2021
- Killie Campbell Africana Library, University of Kwa Zulu-Natal (Durban, South Africa)
- Mazisi Kunene, 1930-2006
- Mail & Guardian. (Online): "Shaka epic born anew, in isiZulu," March 16, 2017 (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- The Mazisi Kunene Foundation (Glenwood, South Africa)
--See especially: Accomplishments of the Foundation
- "Mazisi Kunene, South African Poet Laureate, Anti-apartheid Leader, and UCLA Professor (August 2006)" (UCLA Center for African Studies, Los Angeles, California)
- UKZN "Literary Tourism": Mazisi Kunene (August 2006) (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)
- Ellen Kuzwayo, 1914-2006
- KwaZulu-Natal Museum (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa)
- The official web site for one of the major natural and cultural history museums in South Africa. The museum also sponsors research journals.
- African Invertebrates. (Online) -- Pietermaritzburg : Natal Museum, 1984- [formerly Annals of the Natal Museum.]
- Labyrinth of East London Lore: East London, a port city in the Eastern Cape. (Keith Tankard, South Africa)
Local history of East London, founded in 1847.
- Martin Legassick, 1940-2016
- Africa is a Country: "The Radical Historian," by Alex Lichtenstein (April 11, 2016) (New York, USA)
- The Bullet. (Online): "The Marikana Massacre: A Turning Point?" by Martin Legassick (August 31, 2012) Socialist Project (Toronto, Canada)
- Mail and Guardian. (Online): "Historian who lit intellectual veld fires," March 11, 2016 (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- Radical history review. (Online): "The Past and Present of Marxist South African Historiography" : Martin Legassick, interviewed by Alex Lichtenstein. Issue 82 (Winter 2002) ; 21 pages in PDF format -- Durham, NC : Duke University Press.
- South Africa -- Libraries, Archives, and Publishers (Compiled by Columbia University Libraries)
- Linguistics Society of Southern Africa (Potchefstroom, South Africa)
"... scholarly society of linguists whose research foci are the languages of the Southern African region. The languages within the Society's purview are: Afrikaans, Bemba, ChiShona, Chichewa, Ciluba, Damara, English, French, German, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Nama, Nyanja, Portuguese, San, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Sindebele,Siswati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga."
See:
2015 LSSA/SAALA/SAALT Conference, June 24-26, 2015, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
- Lucky Dube (1964-2007)
- Albert John Luthuli, 1898-1967
- Luthuli Museum. Department of Arts and Culture. (Groutville, South Africa)
- Bernard Makhosezwe Magubane, 1930-2013
- Association of Concerned Africa Scholars (ACAS): "Obituary for Bernard Magubane" by his daughter, Prof. Zine Magubane, Boston College (April 24, 2013). (East Lansing, Michigan)</li>
- CODESRIA--Council for the Development of the Social Sciences in Africa: "Tribute to Bernard Makhosezwe Magubane." By Jimi Adesina. (April 12, 2013) (Dakar, Senegal)
- "Interview with Ben Magubane," by William Minter. (March 15, 2004) Excerpt from No Easy Victories: African Liberation and American Activists over a Half Century, 1950-2000. Edited by William Minter, Gail Hovey, and Charles Cobb Jr. Published by Africa World Press in 2007.
- South African History Online--Biography: "Professor Bernard Magubane." (May 24, 2013) (Cape Town, South Africa)
- Miriam Makeba, 1932-2008
- Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)
- African National Congress (South Africa): Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (2013)
- BBC News (UK): Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013
--See also: Nelson Mandela Memorial Service, December 10, 2013
- Mail & Guardian (South Africa): Nelson Mandela: Tribute to an Icon
--See also: "Nelson Mandela dies" (Dec. 5, 2013)
- Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013 -- Web Dossier (December 2013) Compiled by the Library, Documentation, and Information Department of The African Studies Centre, University of Leiden. (Leiden, The Netherlands)
A bibliography of resources--online and print.
- News24 (South Africa): Nelson Mandela Special Report (December 2013)
- The New York Times: "Death of Nelson Mandela" (December 5-10, 2013)
--See also: Mandela's Struggles in Posters (December 6, 2013)
- Republic of South Africa: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, 18 July 1918--5 December 2013 (Pretoria/Tshwane)
- SAHA Gallery of Posters on Mandela (December 2013) South African History Archive, South Africa
- "The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela": an intimate portrait of one of the century's greatest leaders. ("Frontline"/WGBH Television and Boston/PBS Online)
The web site contains a synopsis of the television program, photos, interviews, anecdotes, a chronology, and information about ordering the video and transcripts and the teachers' guide.
- The Nelson Mandela Foundation (Cape Town, South Africa)
- South African History Online: Nelson Mandela (Pretoria, Tshwane, South Africa)
The site features a biographical text, with photographs, and a documents archive. "...created by SAHO to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday on 18 July 2008...launched on 26 June 2008, a significant date in Mandela's life as 26 June was celebrated by the ANC and other liberation organizations as 'Freedom Day', until the first democratic elections in April 1994."
- Winnie Madikizela Mandela, 1936-2018
- Africa is a Country. (New York): Winnie Mandela
- City Press. (South Africa): "Winne Madikizela-Mandela: An incredible life in pictures," April 2, 2018
- The Conversation. (South Africa): "Winnie Madikizela-Mandela: revolutionary who kept the spirit of resistance alive," April 3, 2018. By Prof. Shireen Hassim, WISER, University of the Witwatersrand.
- Daily Maverick. (South Africa): "Winnie Madikizela Mandela (1936-2018): South Africa's 'Mother of the Nation', revered by millions leaves behind a complex legacy," April 2, 2018
- Harvard University, Center for African Studies (Cambridge, Massachusetts):
"We Didn't Realize It Would Be So Easy to Fight and So Hard to Transform," June 3, 2017. Report on meeting with Winnie Mandela by Prof. John Macomber.
- Mail & Guardian. (South Africa): "Struggle icon Winnie Mandela dies," April 2, 2018
- Mapungubwe Remembered (2011) (University of Pretoria, South Africa)
- Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (Johannesburg, South Africa)
"...founded [in 2010] by a group of South Africans with experience in research, academia, policy-making and governance who saw the need to create a platform of engagement around strategic issues facing South Africa."
- Hugh Masekela, 1939-2018
- Africa is a Country (USA): "Hugh Masekela's musical modernism," January 26, 2018, by Chris Web
- AfroPop Worldwide (USA): "Hugh Masekela: A Remembrance," January 23, 2018, by Banning Eyre
- The New York Times (USA): "Hugh Masekela, Trumpeter and Anti-Apartheid Activist Dies at 78," January 23, 2018
- Mail & Guardian (South Africa): Hugh Masekela
- Sowetan Live (South Africa): "Legendary musician Hugh Masekela dies," January 23, 2018
- John Matshikiza, 1954-2008
- Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki, 1942-
- Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute (TMALI), University of South Africa (Tshwane/Pretoria)
--See also: Thabo Mbeki Foundation (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- Cheikh Anta Diop Lecture, 15th CODESRIA General Assembly, December 2018:
"Thabo Mbeki on Africa and the Crisis of Globalization." -- via YouTube.com
- South African History Online: Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (Cape Town, South Africa)
- "The African Renaissance Statement" of Deputy President, Thabo Mbeki. August 13, 1998. (via The Internet Archive, Wayback Machine)
- "The African Renaissance, South Africa, and The World," April 9, 1998, United Nations University.
- Es'kia Mphahlele, 1919-2008
- Ananzi Search -- South African Museums and Galleries (South Africa)
- Museums Online South Africa (via IFlow Online, Cape Town, South Africa)
A directory portal with links to all major museums and cultural societies in South Africa.
- Music in Africa (Music in Africa Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa)
A portal for African music news and commentary--in English or in French. The site consists of: "a Directory section (of musicians, institutions, record labels etc); a Magazine section (featuring dynamic content such as news, overviews of African music scenes, feature articles, reviews etc); an Education section (dedicated for educational content); a Resource section (where one can read and learn more); and a Music Discovery tool that allows users to discover and listen to African music."
- The Natal Society Foundation (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa)
"Founded ...in 1851, the Natal Society has served the scientific and literary interests of the community of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, for more than 160 years. It founded a museum (now a leading national institution) and the largest privately-owned library system in the country (now run by the city’s Msunduzi Municipality)."
--
Natalia: journal of the Natal Society Foundation. (Online) -- Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: The Natal Society Foundation, 1971-
- National Film and Video Foundation: Gateway to the South African Film and Television Industry (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- National Museum of South Africa, Bloemfontein: Rock Art Department
The website features information about public rock art sites in South Africa, plus information on research, museum-related activities, and publications. See also:
Rock Art Research Institute (University of the Witwatersrand) below.
- Native life in South Africa, before and since the European war and the Boer Rebellion. (Online). By Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje. (1922 ed.). Plain ASCII text; via Project Gutenberg, USA, 1998.
The full text of a book by one of the founders of the South African Native Congress, forerunner of the ANC. Originally published in 1916.
- New Frame on Culture (2022) (Johannesburg, South Africa)
[Since 2018] "New Frame is a not-for-profit, social justice media publication," with news analysis and commentary on culture, history, and politics in South Africa, Africa, and the world.
- Nordic Documentation on the Liberation Struggle in Southern Africa (Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala, Sweden)
The web site features general information about various projects,
conference & event reports, and a searchable catalog of the archives on southern Africa held in Scandinavia.
- Open Book Festival, September 6-8, 2024, Cape Town, South Africa
"...at The Fugard Theatre is an annual literary festival, the first of which happened in 2011.
- Origins Centre---Rock Art Research Institute (See below)
- PAIA Civil Society Network (via South African History Archive--Freedom of Information Programme, Johannesburg, South Africa)
"...established in November 2008 in response to the need for greater collaboration and cooperation amongst organisations and individuals working to achieve a culture of openness and accountability through the effective implementation of the
Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) in South Africa."
--See especially:
PAIA CSN Shadow Report 2014
...and earlier reports "to complement the work done by the South African Human Rights Commission in monitoring the implementation of PAIA."
- Pan African Archaeological Association of Prehistory and Related Studies (Witwatersrand, South Africa)
"To bring together prehistorians, palaeontologists and geologists from one end of the continent to the other."
--See:
past congress proceedings
- PANSALB--Pan South African Language Board (Arcadia, South Africa)
"[Founded in 1995] The purpose of the PANSALB is to promote multilingualism in South Africa." The site includes general information about the Board's activities, annual reports, and events relating to South African languages.
-- See also:
SAlanguages.Com & other sites below
- Pan African Space Station (Cape Town, South Africa)
"Founded by
Chimurenga in collaboration with musician and composer Neo Muyanga in 2008, the Pan African Space Station (PASS) is a periodic, pop-up live radio studio; a performance and exhibition space; a research platform and living archive, as well as an ongoing, internet based radio station."
--See especially:
PASS Blog -and-
PASS Radio Archive --via M-X Cloud
- 26th Poetry Africa, University of KwaZulu-Natal--Durban, October 6-16, 2022 (Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa)
The site offers information on the festival and conference; plus highlights, biographies, and bibliographies from previous festivals: 2019-2021.
- Revisions : Expanding the Narrative of South African Art The Bruce Campbell Collection (Cape Town, South Africa)
A web site based on public exhibitions held in 2005 and 2006, plus a sequel publication in 2007:
"[The collection]...contains an array of South African art from the 1920s to the present day, which focuses particularly on the works of the emerging modern black artists of the mid to late 20th Century...This website makes this collection available to teachers and pupils and the wider public as an archival resource, and promises to become one of the most valuable tools for the democratisation and re-evaluation of the South African art canon."
- Robben Island Museum Home Page (South Africa)
A brief history and information about the Robben Island museum; plus related links. [The museum was] "established as a National Monument and a National Museum by the Cabinet of the South African Government in September 1996. As of January 1997, the Island has been administered by the Department of Arts & Culture, and the public has been able to participate in tours to historic sites such as the cell where [former President] Nelson Mandela was imprisoned."
- Rock Art in Southern Africa
- Rock Art Research Institute--University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa)
Information about research programmes, publications, and related links are available on this website.
--See especially:
African Rock Art Digital Archive South African Rock Art Digital Archive
"This website brings together the collections of more than 30 institutions and individuals, giving you access to more than 270,000 digital images."
- Steve Lonker's Southern African Rock Art and Traditional and Contemporary African Art (Silver Spring, Maryland)
A gallery of images and links to basic information and discussion.
- National Museum of South Africa, Bloemfontein: Rock Art Department
The website features information about public rock art sites in South Africa, plus information on research, museum-related activities, and publications.
- SAHO-South African History Online
- SAlanguages.com (Jake Olivier, South Africa)
This site provides general information about South Africa's 11 official languages (and several unofficial ones), with brief grammars, pronunciation guides, suggested textbooks, bibliographies on academic research, and links to related web sites for each language.
-- See also:
Sesotho on the Web (below) and
Xhosa & Zulu
- SciELO--Scientific Electronic Library Online (Pretoria, South Africa)
"...South Africa’s premier open-access (free to access and free to publish) searchable full-text journal database in service of the South African research community. The database covers a selected collection of peer-reviewed South African scholarly journals and forms an integral part of the SciELO Brazil project."
--See:
Alphabetical list of journal titles
- Pixley ka Isaka Seme, 1881-1951 -- Founder of the African National Congress
- Sesotho on the Web
- Joseph Bekhizizwe Shabalala, 1941-2020
- The Conversation: "Dance softly and carry a big voice: understanding Joseph Shabalala," by David Coplan, February 18, 2020.
(Washington, DC)
- Mail & Guardian: "How Joseph Shabalala’s Mambazo chopped the competition down," February 12, 2020. (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- National Public Radio: "Joseph Shabalala, Ladysmith Black Mambazo Founder, Dies At 78," February 11, 2020. (Washington, DC)
- South African History Online: "Joseph 'Headman' Shabalala" (Cape Town, South Africa)
- "The Shape of Blackness" Virtual Exhibition (Oakstop, Oakland, California) Supported by The Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity.
[Launched in January 2021] "...a virtual art exhibition and related programming that highlights expressions of contemporary Blackness as envisioned by South African and U.S. artists. In choosing these two nations, we seek perspectives from the global north and south, Black majority and Black minority nations."
- Walter Sisulu (1912-2003)
- Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, 1924-1978
- South Africa's National Anthem
- South Africa: the peasants' revolt. By Govan Mbeki. (1964)---Excerpt (Chapters 8 & 9). -- London : Penguin ; International Defence and Aid Fund, 1964, reprint 1984. -- via Marxists.org
The plain text version of excerpts [only] from a book about the rural conditions of the South African majority and their struggle against apartheid in South Africa during the 1950s and 1960s by one of the historic leaders of the ANC.
- South African Archaeological Society (Craighall, South Africa)
"Founded in Cape Town as the Cape Archaeological Society in August 1944...Today there are more than 800 individual and institutional members of ArchSoc in more than 20 countries."
- South African Association of Political Studies (via University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa)
"[SAAPS] ...came into life in May 2001, as the result of the merger of the South African Political Studies Association (SAPSA) and the South African Chapter of the African Association of Political Science (AAPS-SA)."
- South African Audio Archive (flatinternational.com, South Africa)
"...a visual archive of rare and sometimes unusual South African audio documents as artifacts. The aim of the project is to provide a searchable database as a resource for those researching South African audio history."
--See also, two "sister projects", the blog sites:
flatint -and-
Electric Jive
- The South African History Archive (SAHA) (Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa)
SAHA was formed in 1988 by the United Democratic Front and the Congress of South African Trade Unions to collect & preserve documents from the struggle against apartheid during the 1980s. The SAHA website offers online finding aids to their collections, descriptions of archival projects, highlights from public exhibitions and related events,
online publications (free downloads with registration), as well as several "virtual exhibiitions":
- South African History Online (Pretoria, South Africa)
- SAHO offers online publications, photo and image exhibitions, brief historical summaries and biographies, and classroom suggestions (under construction). "SAHO is a peoples' history and internet-based project that consists of an open, non-partisan website linked to a schools' and community based outreach programme, which sets to build a comprehensive database on South African history and arts."
- Biographies: an extensive biographical archive with links to related historical summaries on events and organizations
- SAHO Archives
- Football in South Africa
- South African Institute of Architects (Randburg, South Africa)
- South African Military History Society (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- Information about the society, its activities, and publications. "The South African Military History Society was formed 31 years ago in Johannesburg by a core group of amateur historians with the purpose of studying and promoting the studying of military history. Since that time, it has grown to a Society of approximately 500 members primarily located in three branches, namely Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, as well as members located throughout the world."
- South African Museum, Cape Town, South Africa
- "The South African Museum is dedicated to promoting greater understanding and appreciation of natural history and anthropology for the enrichment of southern Africa's heritage to the benefit of all."
- Exhibitions web page includes a brief summaries.
- South African Rock Encyclopedia (Brian Currin, South Africa)
"...covers the history of South African rock music from the 1950's up to the early 2000's."
- South African Voices University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. (Madison, Wisconsin)
"South African Voices is a three-volume work that includes: A Long Time Passed, Created in Olden Times, and The Way We Travelled: Oral History and Poetry. This work consists of electronic audio files and transcribed written texts of oral traditions and histories, poetry, folktales, and stories in Xhosa, Zulu, and Siswati collected, transcribed, and edited by Professor Harold Scheub.
- "South Africa's post-apartheid foreign policy towards Africa" by Roger Pfister (Centre for International Studies, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH, Zurich, Switzerland) Electronic journal of Africana bibliograpy. (Online) ; vol. 6 (2000).
- Southern African Historical Society (via North-West University, Mafeking, South Africa) Since 1965
- The story of the Boers: narrated by their own leaders, prepared under the authority of the South African Republics (1900) By C.W. Van der Hoogt. (via Internet Archive, San Francisco, California)
A full-text electronic version of the 1900 book in plain text, HTML files, or PDF format.
- Southern Africa report. (Online): Archive, 1985-2000 -- Toronto, Canada: Toronto Committee for the Liberation of Southern Africa, via African Activist Archive, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
The full text of all articles published from June 1985 to October 2000.
- Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (1917-1973)
- Thulamela: Ancient Kruger Walled Kingdom (Kruger National Park, South Africa)
- 26th Time of the Writer= Le Temps des Ecrivains, International Festival of Writers, University of KwaZulu-Natal--Durban, March 2023 (Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa)
This site provides information about the programme, the participants, and related links; plus information on previous festivals.
--See also:
TOW Facebook page
- Miriam Masoli Tlali, 1933-2017
- The Conversation: "Rest in power, Miriam Tlali: author, enemy of apartheid and feminist," February 28, 2017. By Barbara Boswell. (Washington, DC)
- The Johannesburg Review of Books: "'Miriam Tlali understood the complicated meanings of being 'the first' for a Black woman'...Excerpt from Miriam Tlali: Writing Freedom, by Pumla Dineo Gqola," June 18, 2021. (South Africa)
- The Paris Review: "Re-Covered: The Protest Writing of South Africa," July 25, 2019. By Lucy Scholes. (New York) --About "Muriel at Metropolitan" (1975)
- South African History Online: Miriam Tlali (Pretoria, South Africa)
- The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa -and- Truth Commission Special Report
Official and unofficial sites.
- Desmond Mpilo Tutu, 1931-2021
- Al Jazeera-English: "Key dates in the life of South African anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu," December 26, 2021. (Doha, Qatar)
- Columbia University, Rare Book & Manuscript Library: "Oral history with Desmond Tutu." September 15, 1999. Carnegie Corporation of New York Digital Archive. (New York, USA) Two-part videorecording and transcript.
- The Conversation--Africa: Archbishop Desmond Tutu: father of South Africa's 'rainbow nation'," December 26, 2021. (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- The Daily Maverick: "The Arch's life in Zapiro's cartoons," December 26, 2021. (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- The Guardian: "Souh Africa set for battle over legacy of 'moral compass' Desmond Tutu," December 26, 2021. (London, UK)
- Mail & Guardian: Opinion--"Tutu took love to its limits," December 26, 2021. By Carlos Amato. (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- New York Amsterdam News: "Desmond Tutu, South Africa's moral conscience, dies at 90," December 26, 2021. (New York, USA)
- The Nobel Prize: "The Nobel Peace Prize 1984: Desmond Tutu--Facts." (Stockholm, Sweden)
- Reuters News Agency: "Funeral service for Archbishop Desmond Tutu at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town," January 1, 2022. (Thomson Reuters, USA) -- via YouTube.com
- SABC News: "Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu passes away," December 26, 2021. (Johannesburg, South Africa)
--See also: "Former President Thabo Mbeki on Archbishop Desmond Tutu," December 26, 2021. --via YouTube.com
--Plus: Prof. William Gumede of University of the Witwatersrand on Archbishop Desmond Tutu, December 26, 2021. --via YouTube.com
- The Sowetan: Video--"Tutu unafraid to speak truth to power over the decades," December 26, 2021. (Arena Holdings, Johannesburg, South Africa)
- University of California Television: "Reconciling Love--A Millennium Mandate with Archbishop Desmond Tutu," University of California, Santa Barbara, December 19, 2005. 56 minutes videorecording.
- University of California Press eScholarship Editions (Berkeley and Los Angeles, California)
- The black homelands of South Africa: the political and economic development of Bophuthatswana and Kwa-Zulu. By Jeffrey Butler, Robert I. Rotbert, John Adams. -- Berkeley, CA : University of California Press ; California Digital Library eScholarship program, 2003 (1991).
- Bureaucracy and race : native administration in South Africa. By Ivan Thomas Evans. -- Berkeley, CA : University of California Press ; California Digital Library eScholarship program, 2003 (1997).
- The creation of tribalism in southern Africa. Edited by Leroy Vail. -- Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press ; California Digital Library eScholarship program, 2003 (1989).
- A life's mosaic: the autobiography of Phyllis Ntantala. By Phyllis Ntantala. -- Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press ; California Digital Library eScholarship program, 2003 (1993).
- The opening of the apartheid mind : options for the new South Africa. By Heribert Adam. -- Berkeley, CA : University of California Press ; California Digital Library eScholarship program, 2003 (1993).
- University of Cambridge, UK: "Writing South Africa Now" 26-27 June 2015 -- Call for Papers
3rd annual colloquium on South African writingThe deadline for papers is April 15, 2015.
- University of Cape Town, South Africa
- Archive & Public Culture Research Initiative
"...established in 2009 to grapple with critical questions about history, memory, identity and the public sphere in South Africa."
- HUMA--Institute for Humanities in Africa
"...to create a space of dynamic interdisciplinary community for scholars and students in the humanities at large. Fostering top-end academic research, HUMA seeks also to draw on that work to nurture critical public debate, promoting UCT’s vision of itself as a civic university contributing to the making of democratic citizenship."
- UCT Libraries--Special Collections -- African Studies
- UCT Libraries, Special Collections -- Manuscripts & Archives
"This department [at UCT] has an extensive collection of original research material relating to the political, social, cultural and economic history of the Western Cape. Subjects covered include art, music, education, literature and language, botany, politics and architecture." The web site includes online guides to the collections.
- University of Fort Hare, Howard Pim Library (Alice, South Africa)
- Established in 1918: "The valuable Africana collection ... houses rare books and unique collections such as the Steve Biko Letters, and the Lennox Papers. Significant landmarks in the growth of the Library include the reincorporation of the Federal Seminary Library into the main campus Library, as well as the integration of important liberation movement archives such as those of the African National Congress.
- UFHL Home Page
- See also: Guide to the microfilm of The Oliver Tambo Papers: A Collection of His Papers, 1960-1992, at the University of Fort Hare, ANC Archives. ***held at The University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA.
- University of Kwa Zulu-Natal: The Campbell Collections -- Guides to Collections and Catalogs (Durban, South Africa)
The web site for various historic manuscript collections and libraries....including The Killie Campbell Africana Library.
- University of the Witwatersrand Library--Research Archives (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- University of Witwatersrand, Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research: WISER Podcasts (April 2020--) -and- WISER Seminar Papers (February 2020--) (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- Xhosa on the Web! (1996): English-Xhosa/Xhosa-English translation (Martha O'Kennon, Dept. of Mathematics, Albion College, Michigan)
- Xhosa -- Web Resources for African Languages (2008) (Jouni F. Maho, Partille, Sweden)
A collection of links to sites with e-books, full text journal articles, theses, and working papers, and other resources...especially on Xhosa linguistics. NOTE: updates on this site have been suspended.
- Alfred Bitini Xuma, 1898-1962
- VANSA--Visual Arts Network of South Africa (Johannesburg, South Africa)
"...operates as a development agency for the visual arts in South Africa, promoting connection, access and innovation...providing information, advice and tools for artists, businesses and organisations, as well as providing a platform for research, awareness and discussion around key industry issues."
--Includes a directory of artists, institutions, organizations, and researchers:
Art Map South Africa
- ZA News, Archive (2017) Co-sponsored by the Mail & Guardian and Kulula.Com (Cape Town, South Africa) --via YouTube.com
Launched on October 6, 2009, this TV program featured daily political satire videos, with puppet characters, created by Thierry Cassuto and Zapiro [Jonathan Shapiro], produced and directed by Thierry Cassuto, written by Thierry Cassuto, Ben Trovato, and Steve Francis.
- Zapiro's Official Website (ePartners4, Caterham, UK)
"Jonathan Shapiro...was editorial cartoonist for Sowetan from 1994-2005 and appeared in the Cape Argus 1996-1997. He has been editorial cartoonist for the Mail & Guardian since 1994, the Sunday Times since 1998 and since September 2005 also appears three times a week in Cape Times, The Star, The Mercury and Pretoria News."
- Zulu Language on the Internet
- Columbia University: Zulu Language and Culture Acquisitions at Columbia University Libraries (2017)
(New York)
- Google Books -- Historical Zulu
--
First steps in Zulu: being an elementary grammar of the Zulu language (1903) by Rt. Rev. J. W. Colenso (Pietermaritzburg & Durban: Vause, Slatter & Co., 1903)
--
The IsiZulu: a revised edition of a grammar of the Zulu language (1893) by Rev. Lewis Grout (Boston: American Board Commissioners for Foreign Mission, 1893)
--
A Zulu-English dictionary, with notes on prononciation...a synopsis of Zulu grammar and a concise history of the Zulu people from the most ancient times (1905) by Alfred T. Bryant (Pietermaritzburg & Durban: P. Davis & Sons ; Cape Town, Johannesburg, & Durban: J.C. Juta, 1905)
--
A Zulu manual, or Vade-mecum (1900) by Rev. Charles Roberts (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd., 1900)
- Google.Com -- IsiZulu (USA)
Search the web using Google web search engine in IsiZulu!
- Ilanga news. (Online) -- Durban, South Africa: Ilanga News, 2017-
- Indiana University, Center for Language Technology: Zulu
(Bloomington, Indiana)This site offers video clips from the language lab: Selections from "Izindaba" (news) and lessons on grammar and conversation.
- isiZulu.net: Zulu-English/English-Zulu online dictionary (via Schlund & Partner, Karlsruhe, Germany)
An online dictionary, with some sample audio files, based on African Voices publications from South Africa, and compiled with TshwaneLex software.
- Isolezwe. (Online) -- Cape Town ; Johannesburg: Independent Online Ltd., 2006-
Selected articles in Zulu and English from this online edition of the daily newspaper from South Africa. Full access requires a subscription.
- Jason Wolfe's English to Zulu Medical Dictionary (1998) (London, UK)
- South African Voices. University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. (See above)
- United Nations. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: Umbhalo ogcwele wogunyazo lwamalungelo Oluntu jikelele Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 (Geneva, Switzerland)
- Wordgumbo: English-Zulu/Zulu-English lexicons (USA)