Spiritual Teacher, Mystic & Freedom Fighter The Dutch, Portuguese, English, French, Spanish and Danish seafaring Europeans in a mad rush for dominance of Southeast Asia and its resources entered this arena not just warring against each other but also warring against the Arab merchant presence and influence. Most importantly they ...
Read MoreLouis of Mauritius
1808 Slave Rebellion Leader On 25 October 1808 a slave revolt took place at the Cape, remembered as the ‘Jij Rebellion’ led by the slaves Louis of Mauritius and Abraham van der (from the) Kaap wearing military style uniforms. On this day, over 326 slaves, including a few indentured ...
Read MoreSailor Malan
Human Rights Activist & War Hero Adolph Gysbert ‘Sailor’ Malan was a leader of the largely white South African protest movement in the first few years of the 1950s known as the ‘Torch Commando’. The group was formed by the Springbok Legion and elements within the United Party through ...
Read MoreKrotoa
Translator, Negotiator & Peacemaker (1642 – 1674) Krotoa was born in 1642, into the Camissa community of traders who founded the Port of Cape Town. Her name means a girl “in the wardship of others”. Her uncle the Chief Autshumao can be credited with establishing the trading settlement. He ...
Read MoreClements Kadalie
Father of the Black Trade Union Movement (1896 – 1951) The enigmatic Clements Kadalie is best known as the man who organised the first Trades Union for Africans by Africans. The Industrial and Commercial Workers Union of Africa, more commonly known by its acronym the ICU, was founded in 1919 ...
Read MoreMzolisa Archibald Campbell ‘AC’ Jordan
Writer, Academic & Pioneer of African Studies (1906 – 1968) Mzolisa Archibald Campbell ‘A C’ Jordan, the son of an Anglican church minister, was born on the 30th October 1906 at the Mbokothwana Mission in the Tsolo district of Pondoland in the Cape Colony. He excelled as a poet, novelist, ...
Read MoreDulcie September
Teacher, Struggle Ambassador & Human Rights Activist (1935 – 1988) When Jakobus and Susan September welcomed the birth of their second child on 30th August 1938 in Gleemore Estate in Athlone, little did they imagine that their daughter, Dulcie Evonne September would become a freedom fighter whose life would be ...
Read MoreRichard Rive
Teacher, Academic & Author (1931 – 1989) Richard Rive was an exceptional writer, teacher and academic. Raised by a single mother in District Six he became internationally recognised and acclaimed for his work. He was from a generation of exceptional working-class writers all who came from Camissa Communities, labelled “Coloured” ...
Read More//Kabbo
Rainmaker, Storyteller & Visionary (circa 1815 – 26 January 1876) In 1870, //Kabbo, a pipe-smoking revolutionary Bushman visionary, driven by his need to safeguard his fragile culture, travels hundreds of miles to find city people whom he has heard can write down stories and preserve them in books. The result ...
Read MoreJohaar Mosaval
From District Six to the Royal Ballet District Six like Harlem in New York also had its own “Harlem Renaissance” or cultural boom. Writers, composers, photographers, filmmakers, dramatists, poets, musicians, dancers, artists, socio-political activists flourished and exploded onto the world stage but were denied the opportunity for career advancement in ...
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