About this site

This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. It is the product of almost two decades of research and includes analyses, chronologies, historical documents, and interviews from the apartheid and post-apartheid eras.

1955

60,000 People in Johannesburg Western Areas, including Sophiatown, removed at gun-point from their homes under Group Areas Act. Area declared "white" and renamed "Triomf"

SACTU (South African Congress of Trade Unions) formed on 5 March – first non-racial trade union organisation.

April – ANC launches boycott of Bantu Education in attempt to organise alternative education system.

June 26 – Congress of the People. At Kliptown Johannesburg 3000 delegates from all corners of the country gather beneath four-spoked wheel – symbol of the Congress Movement. Each section of the Freedom Charter discussed. Armed police arrive. Interrogate and search delegates while Congress carries on.

This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. Return to theThis resource is hosted by the site.