Showing 131 results

Authority record
Corporate body

Centre for Education Policy Development (CEPD)

  • Corporate body
  • 1993-2000

CEPD was a leading research body and think-tank in education, contributing to policy development and The Centre for Education Policy Development (CEPD) is a professionally autonomous, independent trust, governed by a Board of Trustees. It was established in 1993 during the dying days of apartheid, in order to develop alternative education and training policies that would serve a future democratic South Africa.

Christ the King Anglican Church

  • Corporate body
  • 1935-

Christ the King Anglican Church was originally designed by Frank Flemming and built in 1935 in Sophiatown. The church is a simple but beautiful building and its most distinctive feature was a mural painted between 1939 and 1941 by Sister Margaret with the assistance of 12 apprentice students, who worked under patronage of the Gerhard Sekoto Foundation.
The church is closely connected to the anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Trevor Huddleston the forced removals around Sophiatown, which started in 1955. In 1967 the church was deconsecrated and sold to the department of community development, after which the building was badly vandalized including the beautiful mural. The Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk bought the building in the 1970s and used it for Sunday School. The Christ the King Church changed hands again when the Pinkster Protestante Kerk bought it and made significant changes to the building.
It was only in 1997 that the Anglican Church acquired the building again, and restored it as best as possible to its former state. The tower of the Christ the King Church was declared a national monument. In 2004 a mural was restored on the northern exterior wall of the church, depicting Archbishop Trevor Huddleston walking the dusty streets of Sophiatown with two children on each hand.

Civic Theatre

  • Corporate body

The construction of the Civic Theatre was approved by the Johannesburg City Council in the early 1960s. The theatre was completed in 1962 and its main goals were based on education and promoting the public interest in drama, opera, ballet, music, painting and other kinds of arts as well as subsidizing these productions and performances. The official opening of the theatre took place on the 27th of August 1962. The first manager and administrator appointed by the City Council, Michal Grobbelaar served as the head of this institution until 1993. One of the first performances included opera followed later by dramas, ballets and musicals. For a long time the theatre was unfortunately segregated and the performances were accessible mainly to white South Africans. This situation only changed in the 90s. A very important fact in the history of the theatre occurred in 1964 with the establishment of the puppet Marionette Company to offer performances for children. In the mid 1980s the complex needed renovation and reconstruction. The reopening of the newly renovated theatre took place in 1992. The Johannesburg Civic Theatre had been transformed into a body more representative of the whole population of the city. The newly appointed director Janice Honeyman in 1996 launched an ambitious programme of productions brought to the theatre by promoters and outside producers. International musicals and works of local artists were presented at the theatre. The children's theatre, an art gallery and a series of restaurants provided a high standard of entertainment to visitors at the theatre. At a later stage continued financial pressure forced management to implement painful cost-cutting exercises. The City of Johannesburg made some important decisions concerning the future of the Civic Theatre which included: separating it from the City Council, appointing a new Independent Board of Directors and reconfiguring the theatre into a house able to accommodate productions brought in by the independent producers. The Main Theatre was renamed in 2001 as a Nelson Mandela Theatre. At present the Johannesburg Civic Theatre has seven five-star venues of which three are private dining rooms available for hire. The Civic Theatre is one of the best venues of live entertainment and is rated amongst the best theatres of South Africa.

Commission of Inquiry into certain alleged murders

  • Corporate body
  • February-September 1990

The Commission of Inquiry into Certain alleged Murders was appointed by the then State FW de Klerk on 2 February 1990, in response to outcries by South African and international human rights groups over allegations by three former police officers in October and November 1989 that they had been members of an officially authorized and funded police death squad. In early 1990, another death squad, the Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB), sponsored by the South African Defense Forces, was revealed. The allegations presented the de Klerk government with one of its first major domestic crises

However, the Harms Commission suffered from extremely restricted terms of reference that were very strictly applied by Harms and which prevented the investigations to go beyond the borders of the country. Therefore, the Harms Commission was seriously flawed in both design and practice. At the outset, Justice Harms announced that he would limit the inquiry to acts committed within the borders of South Africa, even though many anti-apartheid activists had been assassinated on foreign soil. Government witnesses, some of whom showed up to testify in wigs and other disguises, were not required to produce pertinent documents. The CCB was disbanded in August, but no prosecutions resulted. The Harms Commission report, which was released in September 1990, failed to name any special units of the army or police, let alone any individual officers, as participants in the death squads. The report was denounced by opposition groups as a whitewash.

Commission of Inquiry Regarding the Prevention of Public Violence and Intimidation

  • Corporate body
  • 1991-1994

The Commission of Inquiry Regarding the Prevention of Public Violence and Intimidation, under the chairmanship of Justice Richard Goldstone, was appointed by President FW de Klerk on 24 October 1991, to investigate incidents of public violence and intimidation in South Africa prior to the 1994 general election. Other commissioners were Adv. Danie Rossouw, SC (ViceChairman), Adv. Solly Sithole, Ms. Lillian Baqwa, and Mr. Gert Steyn. The commissioners were appointed for a statutory period of three years. The Commission became commonly known as the Goldstone Commission.
During its three year life-span the Commission, in terms of its founding Act, No 139 of 1991, presented 47 reports, usually following public inquiries, containing a large number of recommendations.
The Commission closed on 27 October 1994.

Defence team

  • Corporate body
  • 1963-1964

The defence line-up for the accused in the Rivonia Trial was:
Vernon Berrangé (advocate)
George Bizos (advocate)
Arthur Chaskalson (advocate)
Bram Fischer (advocate, lead counsel)
Harold Hanson (advocate)
Joel Joffe (attorney)

Results 21 to 30 of 131