The Rhodes Trophy and Kimberley’s Black Rugby Heritage – 1898

Another important sporting began on 20 August 1898 and concluded on 27 August. In 1898, Kimberley hosted the inaugural Rhodes Trophy rugby tournament, one of the earliest organised inter-provincial competitions for Black and Coloured rugby players in South Africa. The tournament began on 20 August at the Corporation Athletic Ground in Beaconsfield, close to Green Point Location, and concluded on 27 August 1898.

The competition developed from the South African Coloured Rugby Football Board, whose organisers secured a trophy from Cecil Rhodes for an inter-provincial tournament. The Rhodes Trophy would continue, in various forms, for many decades and became an important institution within South Africa’s non-racial rugby tradition at a time when racial segregation increasingly shaped organised sport. Its beginnings in Kimberley remind us of the city’s surprisingly important place in the early history of South African rugby.

Did You Know?

Kimberley played an important role in developing organised rugby among communities excluded from the white rugby establishment. The first Rhodes Trophy tournament took place in Beaconsfield in 1898, more than half a century before apartheid formally divided South African sport.

UDF is launched - 1983

The South African anti-apartheid umbrella organisation, United Democratic Front (UDF), was launched at Rocklands Community Centre in Mitchell's Plain in Cape Town on 20 August 1983. Its inception was inspired by the union of anti-apartheid organisations in opposing the Tricameral Constitution about to be introduced by the Apartheid Government. The launch date was chosen deliberately to coincide with the date the government had initially chosen to introduce the Tricameral Constitution. The constitution was intended to give little recognition to Indians and Coloureds and none to Blacks. Fifteen thousand people defied threats by the apartheid government and attended the national launch. Rev Frank Chikane, who was the first major speaker, was shot during the launch but survived. He called the day "a turning point in the struggle for freedom". The UDF disbanded in 1991.