3 November
This day in South Africa
Understand South African culture through these historical moments.
A map of every moment with a known place. Each moment in the list below links to its own page.
January
- 2Fire destroys the National Assembly chamber at Parliament in Cape Town2022View on map
- 5SABC television begins its full service across South Africa1976View on map
- 8The ANC is founded in a Bloemfontein church1912
- 8British forces defeat the Cape's Batavian garrison at the Battle of Blaauwberg1806View on map
- 15Annette Heunis moves to Kutlwanong1988
February
- 1Day Zero: the city learns to live on fifty litres2018View on map
- 1Brenda Fassie releases "Weekend Special"1983
- 2De Klerk unbans the ANC and promises Mandela's release1990View on map
- 3Bafana Bafana win the Africa Cup of Nations1996View on map
- 3Macmillan tells Parliament a wind of change is blowing1960View on map
- 4South Africa's Constitution comes into force1997View on map
- 11Mandela speaks from the City Hall balcony1990View on map
- 11District Six is declared a white area1966View on map
March
April
- 6A Dutch East India Company expedition under Jan van Riebeeck arrives in Table Bay1652View on map
- 9The Rhodes statue is lifted off its plinth2015View on map
- 10Chris Hani is shot dead in his driveway1993
- 15The Truth and Reconciliation Commission hears its first witnesses1996
- 20"I am prepared to die": Mandela speaks from the dock1964View on map
- 27The first democratic election1994
May
June
- 11The World Cup kicks off at Soccer City2010View on map
- 12Rivonia Trial ends: Nelson Mandela and seven co-accused are sentenced to life imprisonment1964View on map
- 15"Mannenberg" is recorded in a Cape Town studio1974
- 16Soweto's schoolchildren march1976View on map
- 16Sam Nzima takes the photograph and pays for it1976View on map
- 19The Natives Land Act comes into force, restricting where Black South Africans may own or rent land1913View on map
- 24The final whistle at Ellis Park1995View on map
- 26The Freedom Charter is adopted at Kliptown1955View on map
- 27The Cradock Four are abducted by security police and killed on their way home to Cradock1985View on map
July
- 13MeerKAT radio telescope is inaugurated in the Karoo2018View on map
- 16Miriam Makeba asks the United Nations to act1963
- 18Rolihlahla Mandela is born at Mvezo1918
- 20"Grazing in the Grass" tops the American chart1968
- 25Eleven worshippers are killed in an attack on St James Church, Kenilworth1993View on map
- 31Chad le Clos beats Michael Phelps2012
- 31"Unbelievable": a father watches his son beat Phelps2012
August
- 4Josia Thugwane wins the Olympic marathon1996
- 9Twenty thousand women march on the Union Buildings1956View on map
- 9Sarah Baartman is buried at Hankey2002
- 14Wayde van Niekerk runs the 400 metres faster than anyone2016
- 19Caster Semenya wins the 800 metres in Berlin2009
- 20The United Democratic Front is launched at Rocklands, Mitchells Plain1983View on map
- 25Amy Biehl, an American Fulbright scholar, is killed in Gugulethu1993View on map
September
- 12Steve Biko dies in police custody1977
- 13About 30,000 people join the Cape Town peace march1989View on map
- 22Zeitz MOCAA opens in the Grain Silo at the V&A Waterfront2017View on map
- 26Mandela and De Klerk sign the Record of Understanding1992View on map
- 26Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is born in Mbongweni, near Bizana in Pondoland1936View on map
- 28Trevor Noah hosts The Daily Show for the first time2015
October
- 2J. M. Coetzee wins the Nobel Prize in Literature2003
- 3Nadine Gordimer wins the Nobel Prize in Literature1991
- 4The Table Mountain cableway opens1929View on map
- 16Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize1984
- 20The Springboks win their second World Cup2007
- 27Louis van Mauritius leads a revolt of enslaved people from the Swartland towards Cape Town1808View on map
- 28The Springboks win a fourth World Cup by a point2023
November
December
- 1The first civil union, in George2006
- 1Slavery is abolished in law across the Cape Colony, followed by four years of forced apprenticeship1834View on map
- 3The first human heart transplant1967View on map
- 5Nelson Mandela dies2013
- 10The District Six Museum opens in a former Methodist church1994View on map
- 10Albert Luthuli receives the Nobel Peace Prize1961
- 10Mandela and De Klerk share the Nobel Peace Prize1993
- 10Mandela signs the Constitution at Sharpeville1996View on map
- 16Umkhonto we Sizwe announces itself1961