On this Day in History – 19 November

Friday, 19 November 1926

The 1926 Imperial Conference, held in London from 25 October, accepted the Balfour Declaration, named after Lord Arthur Balfour, who chaired the drafting Committee of the Declaration. It granted autonomous status to the communities within the British Empire. The Declaration stated that the United Kingdom and the Dominions were “autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations”. This was a diplomatic achievement for the South African delegate and Prime Minister, General JBM Hertzog, who steadfastly demanded a clear statement concerning the status of the dominions and resisted attempts by other members to include such terms as “common citizenship” and “duties and obligations”. It paved the way for the formal acceptance of the growing political and diplomatic independence of South Africa and other Dominions.

Wednesday, 19 November 1952

Mali was once part of the Great Songhay Empire, but came under French rule in 1892. After almost seventy years of colonial rule, Mali was renamed the Sudanese Republic, gaining full autonomy and joining the French community in 1958. In 1960, it emerged as the independent Republic of Mali. A one-party state was established under Modibo Keita. He withdrew from the French community and established an economy aligned along socialist lines. This caused economic decline, and Mali rejoined the French community in 1967.
On 19 November 1968, Keita was overthrown in a bloodless military coup and was replaced by Lieutenant Moussa Traore. Continuing with economic reform, the new government was constantly challenged by internal strife. This was compounded by the Sahel Drought, in which about 100 000 people died of hunger. The government remained in the hands of the military, and relative calm was experienced until 1985, when a border dispute broke out with Burkino Faso. By the mid-1990s, ethnic conflict had broken out between the Tuareg people and Malian locals, and the Tuareg were brutally crushed.
In 1991, a number of anti-government riots broke out, and President Traore was arrested and replaced by a civilian government. Amadou Toure then emerged as the leader of a democratic Mali. Although Mali enjoys relative political stability, it is not able to sustain itself economically, with at least half of the population living below the poverty line.

Thursday, 19 November 1981

On 19 November 1981, anti-apartheid activist and Robben Island detainee, Mlungisi Griffiths Mxenge, was assassinated by four Vlakplaas Askari members. Mxenge, a legal practitioner who had represented many African National Congress (ANC) political activists, was brutally killed at Umlazi, south of Durban. He was abducted, stabbed and hammered to death. His mutilated body was found next to the Umlazi stadium. Before killing him, his dog had been poisoned to prevent it from drawing attention to the attack on Mxenge.
Mxeke joined the ANC at an early age and was arrested on many occasions as a student before he was imprisoned for two years on Robben Island. He and his wife, Victoria Mxenge became leading figures in mass campaigns that supported the demands of the Freedom Charter. Victoria was murdered in 1985, four years after her husband’s untimely death.
In 1997, three of the four Vlakplaas Askari members, Dirk Coetzee, Almond Nofemela and David Tshikalanga, applied for amnesty. They were brought before the court by the Kwa-Zulu Natal Attorney-General, Tim McNally, and found guilty of murdering the Mxenges. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission granted amnesty to these men despite objections from the family of the murder victims.

Saturday, 19 November 1994

After the demise of apartheid, the South African rugby team went to Murrayfield, in Edinburgh, Scotland to engage their Scottish counterparts. The previous visit of the team to Scotland took place in 1969, when they lost 6–3 to their hosts and demonstrations marred the tour. During the 1994 game, the Springboks, under coach Kitch Christie, registered a convincing win against Scotland. The final score line was 34–10 in favour of the Springboks.

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