history.

Posted on: November 13, 2006 17:43

History

Taung Heritage Site
At the Taung archaeological a fossilized skull of a young child was discovered by miners in 1924. Australopithecus Africanus, meaning the southern ape of Africa, led many scientists to believe that the origin of early man was initiated on the African continent.

Moffat Mission
The Kuruman mission has a long and interesting history. Due to the focus upon literacy, bible translation and the presence of the printing press, education became the primary task of the Mission.

Shaka, King of the Zulus
The man who ruled over the Zulu clan at the time of their greatest glories, who had led their growth from a small clan into the dominant power of coast of south-east Africa, was called Shaka.

Nongqawuse – Prophetess of Doom
The Xhosa people were almost led to commit suicide in the 1800’s by a fourteen-year-old ‘prophetess’; who claimed she had received a message from the ancestors.

Gandhi in South Africa
In 1893, a 24-year-old Indian lawyer arrived in Durban to take part in a lawsuit in Transvaal. He booked a first-class train ticket to Johannesburg – and was ordered out of the train because of his colour. He spent a cold night in the non–European waiting - room at Pietermaritzburg railway station. The lawyer’s name was Mahatma Gandhi. His experience made him decide to remain in Natal and help the growing community of Indians imported to work on the sugar plantations.

Keimoes – the lost piece of the Boland
Keimoes is a small town about 50 km southwest of Upington in the Northern Cape. It is an oasis within an otherwise arid region. Here, sultanas, other grape varieties, lucerne, wheat and fruit are grown under irrigation from the Orange River.

Sterkfontein Caves- World Heritage Site
Some of the most important discoveries concerning the evolution of man were made at the Sterkfontein Caves it has been declared a World Heritage Site.

Stellenbosch
The town of Stellenbosch lies in the green and fertile fertile valley of the Eerste ("first") River, only 41 km from Cape Town and in the heart of the South African winelands. It is the second oldest town in South Africa after Cape Town and was founded by Governor Simon van der Stel in 1679, who named it after him.

Genadendal – valey of grace
The oldest Moravian mission village in Africa with church buildings and school dating back to 1738, Genadendal is a charming village a mere 6 km from Greyton in the Western Cape. From Genadendal, there’s a hiking trail that leads up into the mountains where the rivers seem to have no end.

Greyton
Only one-and-a-half hours drive from Cape Town, on the site of an old rambling farm, lies the peaceful town of Greyton. Named after Sir George Grey, twice Governor of the Cape Colony, Greyton has a picture-perfect patchwork of verdant gardens, pretty cottages and many beautifully restored buildings.

The Bushmen
Southern Africa is home to these mysterious little men also called the San, who have dominated the vast hinterlands of southern Africa. But in the last few hundreds of years the advance of the black and white races has driven the Bushmen out of one area after another until only the hostile, inaccessible wilderness remains.

Kolmanskop – ghost town in the desert
The Namib Desert ghost town of Kolmanskop, just outside Lüderitz, is haunted by wind and shrouded in shifting sand. Frayed strands of electric wire hang from the walls of derelict houses; dusty globes on skeletal cords swing from the ceilings in the desert wind; refrigerators, stoves and geysers lean at crooked angles, the water taps have run dry.

The Ruins of Great Zimbabwe
A little less than 30 kilometres from the southeastern town of Masvingo are to be found some of the most extraordinary man-made relics in Africa. Formed of regular, rectangular granite stones carefully placed one upon the other, they are the ruins of an amazing complex, known as Great Zimbabwe.

The North West
Covered in a green sea of maize during summer, the North West is a region of isolated farms, dusty roads, thorn trees loaded with birds' nests, dazzling sunshine, hot summer days, frosty winters and small towns dominated by tall maize silo's and railway lines

The Harsh Island - Robben Island
Robben Island is a small oval outcrop 10 km from the mainland.Today it is one of the most significant historical sites in South Africa.The history of this little island reflects its physical harshness

Piet Retief
In October1837, Piet Retief, Voortrekker Leader at the time, was in high spirits at the prospect of negotiating a land deal for his people with Dingaan, King of the Zulu's.

The Missing Link Found In South Africa?
Mrs Ples lived about 2,5 million years ago.Her brain size was small, similar in size to the chimpanzee, but she was able to walk upright. She did not have projecting canines as chimpanzees do.In this respect she is more closely related to humans than chimpanzees.

The Secretive Modjadji
The Modjadji Nature Reserve was named after the secretive Rain Queen, Modjadji. The mystique remains to this day and the current successor still lives in her capital adjacent to the original kraal.

The Greatness of Gandhi
It was at Pietermaritzburg station, where he was ejected from a first class train compartment, that Gandhi was alerted to the plight of Indians in Natal. A striking statue in the Church Street Mall depicts him forever striding forward in commemoration of this incident.

The Weeping Cross
After the massacre at Delville forest during World War I in July 1916, the troops brought pine wood back from France to make a cross for commemoration. But then the cross starts to "weep" every year during the month of July. Up to today nobody can explain the phenomena.

Churchill captured in South Africa
A reward (to recapture Churchill) of less than the cost of a bottle of whiskey was offered by General Joubert during the Anglo Boer War

Cape Dutch Architecture
The early houses in the Cape Town area were built in the Cape Dutch Architectural style, unique to the small area of the world and unquestionably beautiful.

The Battle That Turned The River Into Blood
Crowded together in their laager, 470 men were waiting for the 12000 Zulu Impi`s to attack. It came early the morning of 16th December 1838.

The Hole That Became A City
Diamond rushes in South Africa were often unpredictable; devastating on the environment and often disappeared as quickly as a Highveld storm. Kimberley was different.

Venturing into the Interior
Thought to be impossible, Bain conquered the impenetrable Limietberg ( Mountain of Limits) to construct Bainskloof Pass.