ON THIS DAY
IN SA HISTORY
OCTOBER 24
Today is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 68 days until the end of the year.
◆ Pixley Seme proposes “Native
Union”.
◆ The UN decides not to support the request of the Union of South Africa concerning treatment of Indians.
◆ The SA delegation to the UN walks out of a debate on apartheid, citing interference in domestic affairs. ◆ Storyteller Gcina Mhlophe is born
in KwaZulu-Natal.
◆ In a declaration on the 25th anniversary of the UN, the General Assembly describes apartheid as “a crime against the conscience and dignity of mankind”.
◆ The Security Police raid more than 100 homes throughout the country in a search for illegal political literature.
◆ In the UN Security Council, “Pik” Botha says South Africa will do everything in its power to move from discrimination based on race or colour. ◆ The authorities release coloured Labour Party leader, the Reverend Allan Hendrickse, after holding him in prison for two months; trouble erupts at a funeral in Soweto when a crowd of 4 000 attacks police. Retaliatory fire causes deaths and injuries.
◆ The Minister of Justice, Police and Prisons, Jimmy Kruger, receives a report of a police investigation into Steve Biko’s death.
◆ At least 25 are reported dead in violence between the United Democratic Party and Inkatha in Pietermaritzburg over the previous nine days; mineworkers’ union leader Cyril Ramaphosa awarded Olof Palme prize for “courage and wisdom in the solidarity struggle for human rights and dignity”.
◆ Two people die and 42 are injured in a bomb explosion outside a shopping centre in Witbank.
◆ The ANC postpones its national conference until June 1991, due to the slow pace of securing the return of more than 20 000 exiles and release of some 3 000 political prisoners.
◆ The Springboks beat England 4421 in Paris, in a World Cup quarter-final, with Jannie de Beer setting a record with five drop-goals, five penalties and two conversions. | Source: SA History Online, Wikipedia