Namibia becomes independent

The OAU adopted the African Charter in Nairobi, placing individual rights alongside collective rights, peoples’ self-determination and development. The treaty was an African-authored normative...

The African Charter became binding on states that had ratified it. Its entry into force created a regional human-rights framework that recognized peoples’ rights and development, while the gap between...

Angola, Cuba and South Africa signed agreements in New York linking Cuban troop withdrawal, South African withdrawal from Angola and implementation of Namibian independence. The accord reflected...

F. W. de Klerk announced the unbanning of the ANC, PAC and Communist Party. The change followed decades of mass resistance, labor organizing, armed struggle and international pressure; it opened...

Mandela is released after 27 years in prison. His release followed decades of struggle by the ANC and other organizations, international anti-apartheid campaigns and negotiations; it did not itself...

Member states signed the Abuja Treaty, setting out a staged route toward an African Economic Community. It expressed economic integration as a condition for collective agency, while the timeline and...

The Pan Africanist Congress convened its third congress in Umtata during South Africa’s transition struggle. The meeting reflected the PAC’s attempt to renew its role amid negotiations, factional...

At Windhoek, leaders signed the declaration and treaty that transformed SADCC into the Southern African Development Community. The shift moved from coordination among majority-ruled states toward a...

More than two thousand participants gathered in Kampala for the Seventh Pan-African Congress, connecting activists and intellectuals from Africa and the diaspora. Its debates addressed new political...

Millions vote in South Africa’s first national election open to all races, ending formal apartheid rule. The achievement reflected mass resistance and international solidarity, while persistent...