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21 Mar, 4 tweets, 2 min read
It's the photographer, Ernest Cole's birthday today. He would've turned 81. This photo of Ma Ngoyi was included in his book House Of Bondage.
Cole was born Ernest Levi Tsoloane Kole in Eersterust, Pretoria. He dropped out of school when Bantu Education was introduced and would later join Drum as a photographer and later Bantu World. He also was a freelancer.
He was the first black freelance photographer and in the 1960s was reclassified "Coloured" soon after changing the spelling of his surname from Kole to Cole. By 1962 Eersterust was declared a Coloured township under the Group Areas Act. He left for France in 1966.
House of Bondage was published a year later in 1967. The South African government banned him in 1968 so he never returned to the country. He relocated to the USA. Cole was living in New York when he passed away on 19 February 1990. He was 49.

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Zikhona Valela Profile picture
21 Mar
Remembering Sharpeville 61 years later. While Nyakane Tsolo led the Sharpeville protest, Sobukwe is pictured here in Soweto leading the people there toward the local police station where they would hand themselves over for arrest.
After the PAC was formed on 6 April 1959, the movement got to work setting up branches. In July that year the Tsolo brothers (Nyakane and Job) set up a branch in Sharpeville with Nyakane (pictured here) serving as branch secretary.
We'll be back to remember uTata uPhillip Kgosana on the 30th but he was also due to lead the Cape Town branch on this day. While the members that side were on their peaceful way to the police station, 10 police vans intercepted them.
Read 13 tweets
Zikhona Valela Profile picture
18 Mar
Sunday will mark the 61st anniversary of the Sharpeville Masscare. But it was on this day in 1960, 3 days before the fateful event that the PAC published a circular by its president Robert Sobukwe. It read: This is the call thr African people have been waiting for. It has come!
On Monday the 21st of March 1960 we launch our POSITIVE, DECISIVE CAMPAIGN against PASS LAWS in this country. Our Demands:
1) We demand that the Pass Laws be totally abolished
2) We demand a minimum wage established by the Government legislation of £35 per month or £8. 34 per
week which must be paid throughout the country
3) We demand a guarantee that the leaders will not be victimised by the local authorities or by the Government as a result of the African people's positive action
4) We demand a guarantee that no worker shall be dismissed as a result
Read 9 tweets
Zikhona Valela Profile picture
1 Mar
This image depicts the Battle of Salt River which took place on this day in 1510 between the ǃUriǁʼaekua (Goringhaiqua) & the Portuguese. Some historians have cited attempted kidnapping of ǃUriǁʼaekua children that sparked the battle. It ended in defeat of the Portuguese.
There's always been weariness Khoe communities had with the presence of the Portuguese in the Cape, apparently. Historians specifically note somewhere around 1503 as the first instance of said weariness when the Portuguese led by Antonio De Saldanha became the first to enter what
Is now known as Cape Town. They hiked up a HoeriKwaggo ( the Khoe name for Mountain in the Sea) and named it Tabao De Cabo (Table Mountain). Cape Town is where they would get fresh water by request to the existing community, the ǃUriǁʼaekua.
Read 8 tweets
Zikhona Valela Profile picture
21 Feb
21 February is jampacked with history. It's WB Rubusana's birthday today. His work Zemk' Inkomo Magwalandini & A History of South Africa from a Native Standpoint were published 115 years ago in 1906. This year will mark the 85th anniversary of his death.
I saw there's a book on the APO's Abdullah Abdurahman, Cape Town's first Black councilor. WB was the first Black politician elected to the Cape Provincial Council which is like a provincial legislature of sorts. This was a huge upset for the liberals. I would read a book on this.
He also founded Izwi Labantu that was sponsored by Cecil John Rhodes.
His story is important for illuminating the power of the vote. He was the first and last Black person elected to the Council.
Read 5 tweets
Zikhona Valela Profile picture
21 Feb
This is the SS Mendi. It was involved in a collision with another ship the SS Darro on this day in 1917 causing it to sink. About 646 Black soldiers of the South African Native Labour Corps drowned. There's a monument eGcuwa in honor of those who drowned on this day.
The captain navigating Darro never warned other ships, didn't have any lights as is usually the protocol as it sailed toward the Mendi. It didn't even stop to assist those on board. So it's very possible more people would've survived the accident.
The 3rd Nigerian Battalion had also once boarded the Mendi. This was taken in 1916. The ship was heading toward Cape Town from Calabar, Nigeria.
Read 5 tweets
Zikhona Valela Profile picture
16 Jan
It's Sade's 62nd birthday. One of the beauty brands should've had a red lipstick named after her by now.
One of my favorite stories of Sade's influence has to do with my favorite album from Janet. Apparently Janet and her producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were in the studio deciding on a lead single. Up until 93 Janet had always led with an uptempo single (your Rhythm Nations etc)
So If off of this latest upcoming album (at the time) was definitely in the running for lead. Chuck D (one of her featured artists) apparently suggested That's The Way Love Goes using Sade's cool and understated classics as a point. And the rest is history.
Read 4 tweets

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