History of South Africa podcast
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 var
Recent Episodes
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31 May 2026 · 18m
When Cetshwayo kaMpande was captured after the Anglo-Zulu War, he was ferried to Cape Town and on to Robben Island. His countenance was one of dignity but that is difficult to main
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Episode 276 — Okavango Khwebe Wind and a Dorsland Trekker Angolan Odyssey
24 May 2026 · 18m
Die Dorsland — the Thirstland — is part of the Kalahari that has an interesting history when it comes to pastoralists. The San didn’t call it the Thirstland, for them it wasn’t a b
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Episode 275 — Pilgrims Rest, French Bob’s Gold and Barberton’s Champagne Foot Baths
17 May 2026 · 26m
Thousands of miners were streaming into the Transvaal by the third quarter of the 19th Century, a horde of avuncular independent-minded treasure hunters. In volume Two of the Cambr
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Episode 274 - The Pretoria Convention ends the First Anglo-Boer War, Suzerainty Unresolved
10 May 2026 · 28m
The hill of Doves — in isiZulu amaJuba means the place of many doves or pigeons. It became a place of violence and blood, and yet the catastrophic defeat of the British at Majuba w
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Episode 273 - The Mountain of Destiny: Majuba and the Birth of a Nation
3 May 2026 · 19m
It is not a stretch to say that the defeat by the British at Majuba was also the political birth of the Afrikaner people. While the Great Trek provided the origin story, Majuba pro
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Episode 272 - The Boers wring Major General Colley’s Column at Laing’s Nek
26 April 2026 · 19m
Weather, some say, is fickle. Of course nature is just nature but when you’re on high ground, the mountains, and the weather moves in, the temperature drops in minutes and wind shi
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Episode 271 - Basutoland Gun War, Gold Coast and Ottoman Empire
19 April 2026 · 22m
The British had instigated a war in the Transvaal which fired off in early 1881, but they had already ignited another flashpoint - in Basutoland. This was a fascinating conflict, a
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Episode 270 - Kruger vs Black Michael and Courageous Women at the Battle of Bronkhorstspruit
12 April 2026 · 21m
The approach by the English political parties of the time to the young Boer Republics was confused, and even contradictory. William Gladstone, a liberal, had succeeded in ousting t
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Episode 269 - Bapedi Chief Sekhukhune’s Cruel Fate and the Afrikaner Paradox
5 April 2026 · 20m
The Bapedi have a rich and textured history, as with most of South Africa’s past, where religion and tradition are entwined to create a consciousness of life that is attractive to
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Episode 268 - The Theodolite and the Hardepad: Thomas Bain’s Silent Mountain Pass Artisans
29 March 2026 · 21m
There is something magical about mountain passes, weaving through majesty, each corner beckoning a driver like a formidable and compelling saga, muffled in mist or bright in the su