History of South Africa podcast

Jan 18 2025 200 ep. 21 mins 1.4k

History of South Africa podcast artwork

A series that seeks to tell the story of the South Africa in some depth. Presented by experienced broadcaster/podcaster Des Latham and updated weekly, the episodes will take a listener through the various epochs that have made up the story of South Africa.

History Society & Culture

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Episode 206 - Nongqawuse’s Bush of Ghosts, Mhlakaza’s Anglican Episode and Sarhili Goes to Gxarha

Jan 18 2025 21 mins

his is episode 206 - all fire and brimbstone, a horror show. The squeamish should gird their loins, prepare the poultices, polish your monocles and tighten your bootstraps, grab your smelling salts Roll up your sleeves and fetch the brandy, brace for impact. It’s an episode that will begin a series of episodes which are clouded by a fine bloody mist, and a fog of confusion. We�

Episode 205 - A Crimean/Russian Struggle Thread, Two Disabled Free Staters and a Surveyor Surge

Jan 11 2025 23 mins

Episode 205 of the series covers the A Russian Struggle Thread, Two Disabled Men in the Free State and a Surge in Surveyors. Sprinkled with tales of Hoffman. That would be Johannes Hoffman commonly known as Sias Hoffman, the first president of the Orange Free State who signed the Bloemfontein Convention with the British in February 1854. Regarded as a shrewd and able merchant

Episode 204 - Planet Earth 1855, the Regal Cetshwayo kaMpande and Natal Land Realities

Jan 05 2025 19 mins

Episode 204 - A quick whip around the globe in 1855 and Cetshwayo kaMpande makes his Regal Entrance. First up, a quick thank you to Adi Badenhorst at AA Badenhorst family wines in the Swartland of the Cape — your gift was extraorindarily generous and well received. I am truly indebted to you. And to all those folks sending me tips and notes, thank you its gratifying to receive

Episode 203 - The Siege of Makapansgat and Misnomerclature

Dec 28 2024 24 mins

We’re picking up speed from here on, the fulcrum that was the mid-19th Century is passed and our story is developing quickly - this is episode 203 the Siege of Makapansgat and Reconstituting history. It is 1854, almost mid-way through the sixth decade of this momentous century and the region that’s under our gaze is the northern Limpopo territory, the Waterberg. Those who live

Episode 202 - America’s Constitutional link to Boer Republics and a Cave Looms large

Dec 21 2024 24 mins

This is episode 202, the sounds you hear are the sounds made by wagons rolling across the veld — because we’re going to join the trekkers who’ve mostly stopped trekking. For the trekkers, the promised land was at hand. The high veld, parts of Marico, the northern Limpopo region, the Waterberg, the slopes of the Witwatersrand into the lowveld, the Free State with its rocky o

Episode 201 - Labour, Lovedale and Roads are all the Rage in 1854

Dec 14 2024 25 mins

This is episode 201. The sounds you’re hearing are those of roadworks, because South Africa is upgrading. Quickly. The arrival of governor sir George Grey in 1854 heralded a new epoch. Previous governors had been Peninsular war Veterans, they’d fought against Napoleon. This one was the first who was the child of a veteran of the war against Napoleon, and a person who was sc

Episode 200 - Sir George Grey’s Racial Amalgamation Thesis, its Maori Roots and Opiate Dependency

Dec 07 2024 21 mins

This is episode 200 - we have reached the double century milestone on our winding journey through the past. When I began the series in 2021 after some years of planning, I had no idea what would happen. Diving into the shark tank that is history podcasting took a great deal of forethought. One person’s history is another persons’ propaganda after all, social engineers rewrite

Episode 199 - Cognitive Dissonance, Desiccated Hags, a Trail of Tears and Ssehura Baartman

Nov 30 2024 22 mins

Episode 199, cognitive dissonance, desiccated hags, a Trail of Tears and Ssehura Baartman — Almost two hundred episodes exploring a land rich with some of the earliest examples of human habitation. We need to assess what has happened — standing back a bit to view the scene from where we’ve arrived - 1853 in the main with a smattering of 1854. The amaXhosa had lost a great dea

Episode 198 - 1853: The Crimean War, Historical Doppler Effects and Quitrent in Keiskamma Hoek

Nov 23 2024 21 mins

This is episode 198 — and good news! Apple has listed this podcast as one of South Africas five shows they liked in 2024 — and we are also the third most shared podcast in South Africa on all Apple Podcasts. Unvelievable, ongelooflijk, Ngiyamangala, Ke Makatsoa! I am delighted — and indebted to you the listener who has shared this show with friends and family. Thank you

Episode 197 - The Show Trial of Andries Botha and the Forgotten Significance of the 8th Frontier War

Nov 16 2024 22 mins

This is episode 197. Which is a prime number and therefore symbolic too because this episode we’re dealing with a unique event in Southern African history. The 8th Frontier war, which began on Christmas Day 1850, was going to end eventually although as with all conflicts that stretch into years, most of those involved despaired believing perhaps the guns would never fall silent