Historical Organization
apartheid government
apartheid government
Details
Organization Timeline
Robben Island becomes a political prison
đź“… 1 April 1961Robben Island was converted into a prison for people convicted of political crimes. The island would become a central site of apartheid incarceration, where distance, forced labor, censorship, and...
Police arrest Mandela near Howick
đź“… 5 August 1962Police arrested Mandela at a roadblock near Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, while he was travelling. He had spent months underground and returned from seeking support abroad. The arrest was shaped by state...
Mandela’s first court statement challenges the racial order
đź“… 15 October 1962Mandela conducted his own defence in the Pretoria trial on charges of inciting a strike and leaving the country without a passport. In his statement, he challenged the legitimacy of a court system...
Mandela is sentenced to five years in prison
📅 7 November 1962The court sentenced Mandela to five years for incitement and leaving South Africa without a passport. These were the state’s charges and legal framing; the prosecution targeted his role in political...
The defence seeks to quash the Rivonia indictment
📅 29 October 1963The defence applied to have the indictment quashed; it alleged 199 acts of sabotage. The application challenged the prosecution’s legal framing and the way the state gathered and presented its case....
Mandela and seven co-accused are convicted of sabotage
📅 11 June 1964The court convicted all the accused except Lionel “Rusty” Bernstein of sabotage. The verdict followed a proceeding in which the accused faced the death penalty and used their defense to challenge...
The Soweto uprising begins while Mandela is imprisoned
📅 16 June 1976Students in Soweto protested the apartheid government’s imposition of Afrikaans as a language of instruction, and police violence turned the demonstration into a nationwide uprising. Mandela was on...