1955 in South Africa
Encyclopedia
January
- Mimi CoertseMimi CoertseMimi Coertse , is a South African soprano.-Early life:Coertse, born in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, matriculated at the Helpmekaar Girls High School in Johannesburg. She began vocal studies in South Africa in 1949. In July 1953 she married the broadcaster and composer Dawid Engela. She left South Africa...
makes her debut as the First Flower girl in ParsifalParsifalParsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
at the Teatro San Carlo in NaplesNaplesNaples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
with Karl BöhmKarl BöhmKarl August Leopold Böhm was an Austrian conductor. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century.- Education :...
conducting.
March
- 4 - 5 March - The Inaugural Conference of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) is held at the Trades Hall in JohannesburgJohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
- 23 March - The MeadowridgeMeadowridgeMeadowridge is a suburb in Cape Town, South Africa. It is the second Garden City in Cape Town and was officially opened on 23 March 1955.Local shopping centres are Meadowridge Park 'n Shop and Meadowridge Shopping Centre . Nearby schools are Bergvliet Primary School, Sweet Valley Primary School and...
garden city opens near Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality... - 25 March - The Appeal Court increases from six to eleven members
June
- 20 June - The Senate is enlarged from 48 to 89 members, giving the National PartyNational Party (South Africa)The National Party is a former political party in South Africa. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a...
a majority of 77 - 25 June - The Congress of the People, a multi-racial convention starts in KliptownKliptownKliptown is a suburb of the formerly black township of Soweto in Gauteng, South Africa, located about 17 km south-west of Johannesburg. The population of Kliptown is between 38,000 and 45,000 . Kliptown is the oldest residential district of Soweto, and was first laid out in 1891 on land which...
, SowetoSowetoSoweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships... - 30 June - United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and South Africa sign the Simonstown AgreementSimonstown AgreementThe Simonstown Agreement was a naval cooperation agreement between the United Kingdom and the Union of South Africa signed 30 June 1955. Under the agreement, the Royal Navy gave up its naval base at Simonstown, South Africa, and transferred command of the South African Navy to the government of...
for bilateral naval defenceDefense (military)Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...
.
September
- 3 September - The South Africa national football teamSouth Africa national football teamThe South Africa national football team represents South Africa in association football and is controlled by the South African Football Association, the governing body for football in South Africa. South Africa's home ground is Soccer City, known as FNB Stadium due to a naming rights deal, in...
beats the Australia national football team 3-0 at the Brisbane Cricket GroundBrisbane Cricket GroundThe Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as The Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. It is named after the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located....
s, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, in the South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n tour of Australia - 10 September - The South Africa national football team beats the Australia national football team 2-0 at the Olympic ParkOlympic ParkAn Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics complex in the case of the summer games, or the main...
, MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia, in the South African tour of Australia - 18 September - The South Africa national football team beats the Australia national football team 8-0 at the OlyKensington Oval, AdelaideAdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, Australia, in the South African tour of Australia - 24 September - The South Africa national football team beats the Australia national football team 6-0 at the Sydney Cricket GroundSydney Cricket GroundThe Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, Australia, in the South African tour of Australia
October
- 1 October - The South Africa national football teamSouth Africa national football teamThe South Africa national football team represents South Africa in association football and is controlled by the South African Football Association, the governing body for football in South Africa. South Africa's home ground is Soccer City, known as FNB Stadium due to a naming rights deal, in...
beats the Australia national football team 4-1 at the Newcastle's Sports Grounds, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, in the South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n tour of Australia
December
- 1 December - The Voortrekker Covenant celebrations are held in PietermaritzburgPietermaritzburgPietermaritzburg is the capital and second largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838, and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its "purist" Zulu name is umGungundlovu, and this is the name used for the district municipality...
- 17 - 18 December - African National CongressAfrican National CongressThe African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
' 44th Annual Conference is held in BloemfonteinBloemfonteinBloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
- Lillian Masediba Ngoyi becomes a member of the TransvaalTransvaal ProvinceTransvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
African National Congress' executive
- Lillian Masediba Ngoyi becomes a member of the Transvaal
Births
- Mbongeni NgemaMbongeni NgemaMbongeni Ngema a South African writer, lyricist, composer and director was born in Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal . He started his career as a theatre backing guitarist.He is married to actress Leleti Khumalo...
, a writerWriterA writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, lyricistLyricistA lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and director is born in VerulamVerulam-Places:* Verulam, KwaZulu-Natal* Verulam Township, Ontario* Common abbreviation of Verulamium, third-largest city in Roman Britain, near modern-day St Albans-Other:* HMS Verulam * Verulam School, state secondary school in St Albans, England... - 20 June - Dumisani Abraham Mabaso, artistArtistAn artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, is born in SowetoSowetoSoweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships... - 4 August - Gerhardus Christian CoetzeeGerrie CoetzeeGerhardus Christian Coetzee , better known as Gerrie Coetzee, is a South African former boxer. He made history twice: he was the first boxer from the African continent ever to fight for the World Heavyweight Title, and the first to win the World Heavyweight Title...
, the World Boxing AssociationWorld Boxing AssociationThe World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...
heavyweight boxing champion, is born in Boksburg - 23 September - Lulama XingwanaLulama XingwanaLulama "Lulu" Marytheresa Xingwana is a South African politician, serving as Minister of Arts and Culture from May 2009 to October 2010...
, politicianPoliticianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making... - 11 October - Anthony Molebatsi Nkotsi, artist is born in Johannesburg
- 3 November - Phumzile Mlambo-NgcukaPhumzile Mlambo-NgcukaPhumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is a South African politician who was Deputy President of South Africa from 2005 to 2008. She was the first woman to hold the position and was the highest ranking woman in the history of South Africa...
, politician
Deaths
- 13 March - Benjamin Jennings CaddyBenjamin Jennings CaddyBenjamin Jennings Caddy was a militant trade unionist who is regarded as the doyen of the trade union movement in South Africa. Caddy was born in Australia and in 1898 at the age of 17 he emigrated to South Africa. In March 1922, he was arrested during the Rand Revolt....
, a militant trade unionist who was arrested in the 19221922 in South Africa-Events:* 10 - 14 March - The Rand Revolt or Rebellion, a strike by White mineworkers which started on 28 December 1921 becomes open rebellion against the state* 15 March - Samuel Long, labour pioneer and striker, is arrested...
miners strike and who is regarded as the doyen of the trade union movement in South Africa, dies in JohannesburgJohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...