Today in Kimberley's History
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President John Vorster resigns - 1979
On retiring as prime minister after twelve years in office, B.J. Voster was elected to the unprecedented honorary position of State President. However, his spell in the new office was short-lived. He relinquished the position after he was implicated in the Muldergate/Information scandal, named after Dr Connie Mulder, then Minister of Information. Vorster was implicated in the use of a secret slush-fund to buy loyalty of the English newspaper The Citizen. The Erasmus Commission of Inquiry revealed that Vorster knew about corrupt activities in the Department of Information but preferred to turn a blind eye. He resigned from his position in disgrace. Ill health and the on-going exposure of the 'Information Scandal' were cited as reasons for his departure.
On retiring as prime minister after twelve years in office, B.J. Voster was elected to the unprecedented honorary position of State President. However, his spell in the new office was short-lived. He relinquished the position after he was implicated in the Muldergate/Information scandal, named after Dr Connie Mulder, then Minister of Information. Vorster was implicated in the use of a secret slush-fund to buy loyalty of the English newspaper The Citizen. The Erasmus Commission of Inquiry revealed that Vorster knew about corrupt activities in the Department of Information but preferred to turn a blind eye. He resigned from his position in disgrace. Ill health and the on-going exposure of the 'Information Scandal' were cited as reasons for his departure.
The first legal photograph of Nelson Mandela released - 1986
Nelson Mandela was a member of the banned African National Congress and a famous black political prisoner in South Africa. In 1964 Mandela was convicted of sabotage in the Rivonia Trial and sentenced to life imprisonment. On 4 June 1994, the first photograph of Mandela was released since 1964. The name of Nelson Mandela was well known, but most people had never seen him as after 1964 it was illegal to have his photographs or to photograph him for the 22 years that he had been in prison. Mandela’s reproduced photograph appeared on a Booklet titled ‘Talking with the ANC’. The booklet was produced by the Bureau of information, revealing all the political prisoners and the banned African National Congress literature. |