📅 25 June 1955
Nearly 3,000 delegates and observers gathered to debate demands collected from communities across South Africa for a democratic and nonracial future.
📅 26 June 1955
Delegates adopted a programme declaring that South Africa belonged to all who lived in it and demanding democratic government, equal rights, land reform and social welfare.
📅 5 December 1956
Police raids across the country led to the arrest of 156 activists of different racial backgrounds. The resulting Treason Trial attempted to criminalize the Freedom Charter movement.
📅 14 March 1960
After years of prosecution, defence lawyers began presenting the case for the activists accused of plotting to overthrow the state. The proceedings had already imposed heavy costs on the Congress...
📅 28 March 1960
The ANC called a national strike and day of mourning. Albert Luthuli and Nelson Mandela publicly burned their passbooks as communities protested police killings and pass laws.
📅 8 April 1960
The African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress were outlawed. Their members were forced underground or into exile, reshaping the liberation struggle.
📅 1 February 1962
In his statement 'We don't want crumbs,' Luthuli rejected the government's homeland policy and demanded equal citizenship rather than fragmented ethnic administrations.
📅 21 July 1967
The banned ANC president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate died after being struck by a train near his home. Oliver Tambo became acting president of the ANC.
