
Podcast

In 1964, eight men accused of sabotage faced the death penalty in a Pretoria courtroom. Lucas and Luna dive into the Rivonia Trial, focusing on Nelson Mandela's four-hour address f…

In 1922, the gold mines of the Witwatersrand became the scene of a violent uprising unlike any other in South African history. Armed white miners, flying the red flag and the old T…

In December 1956, South African police raided homes and offices across the country, arresting 156 people — activists, lawyers, teachers, and housewives — on charges of high treason…

In August 1946, over 60,000 black gold miners on the Witwatersrand downed tools in South Africa's largest strike by black workers up to that point. Led by J.B. Marks and the Africa…

In this episode of The Story of South Africa, Lucas and Luna explore the devastating impact of the 1918 influenza pandemic on South Africa. With over 300,000 deaths in just six wee…

During the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), the British army implemented a scorched-earth policy that herded Boer civilians—mostly women and children—into concentration camps. Co…

In 1856, the Xhosa people faced a devastating choice that would reshape their future. This episode explores the Cattle-Killing movement, sparked by the teenage prophetess Nongqawus…

In Episode 53 of The Story of South Africa, Lucas and Luna explore the Siege of Mafeking (1899-1900), one of the most dramatic and bizarre episodes of the Second Anglo-Boer War. Th…

When World War I broke out in 1914, South Africa—a British dominion—was expected to fight against Germany. But many Afrikaners, still nursing wounds from the Anglo-Boer War, saw an…

In 1852, a small gathering on a sandy riverbank in the Transvaal changed the course of southern African history. The Sand River Convention saw the British Empire formally recognize…

In 1820, nearly 4,000 British settlers landed in Algoa Bay, sent by the British government to secure the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony. This episode of The Story of South Afr…

Before gold transformed the Witwatersrand, diamonds changed everything in South Africa. This episode follows the story of the Kimberley diamond fields, from the 1867 discovery of t…

In 1948, South Africa held a national election that would reshape the country for decades. This episode dives into the surprising victory of D.F. Malan's Herenigde Nasionale Party,…

On June 16, 1976, thousands of black students in Soweto took to the streets to protest the imposition of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in their schools. The peaceful march…

After the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, the British carved up the Zulu kingdom into 13 chiefdoms, setting off a brutal civil war. This episode follows the deposed King Cetshwayo's desper…

In 1913, four decades before formal apartheid, South Africa's newly unified parliament passed the Natives Land Act — a single piece of legislation that tore millions from their lan…

In 1960, as South Africa's anti-apartheid movement faced severe state repression after Sharpeville, a rural rebellion erupted in the distant Transkei region. The Mpondo Revolt was…

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Great Trek, the mass migration of Dutch-speaking Boers from the Cape Colony into the interior of South Africa in the 1830s and 1840s. We…

They called it the Rand Autumn Rebellion. In August 1946, over 100,000 black mineworkers walked off the job across the Witwatersrand goldfields, defying the African Mine Workers' U…

In Episode 41 of The Story of South Africa, Lucas and Luna explore the First Anglo-Boer War (1880–1881), a brief but decisive conflict that saw a ragtag Boer commando humiliate the…
