African History Online new redesigned website
16 May 2006
The Minister of Education, Mrs Naledi Pandor will officially launch South
African History Online (SAHO) redesigned website on Monday, 21 May 2007, at
11h00 at the Sol Plaatjie House, Department of Education offices in Pretoria.
Since its initial launch in January 2001 the SAHO website has become the
largest online history project in the country.
The new website is designed to make history a fun and exciting subject
especially for young people. The popular sections of the site such as the
"History of Places," "History of Culture and Society," and "Politics and
Governance" have all undergone a complete facelift.
In the weeks following the launch of the site, SAHO will also rework its two
major projects; "The Liberation" and "Lives of Courage: South Africa and
Anti-Apartheid activists". The latter is currently South Africa's largest
internet-based biographical resource. The SAHO site has a vast range of
material and this makes the site one of the leading resources for researchers
and for educators and history learners in schools.
From the end of May SAHO will publish a list of names of anti-apartheid
activists each week. The next stage of the biography project will be to
undertake interviews and start publishing biographical details of people on the
SAHO site. This is a major task that will take some years to complete but SAHO
is convinced that there is a need to recognise those who played a role in the
struggle and not only those who died in the struggle.
Among other exciting and newly introduced sections are "Interactive
Contribution Pages" which will increase interaction and communication between
the web hosts and the users and a "Hands-on" history section for researchers,
teachers and learners. SAHO's History Classroom section of the website is also
undergoing extensive updating and we are hoping that in the next six months
that process will be completed.
This is also the third year of the Chief Albert Luthuli Young Historians
Prize. This is a national oral history competition supported by SAHO and the
Department of Education and is directed at involving learners and educators in
a hands-on history project in their own communities. In addition SAHO and the
Department of Education (DOE) Further Education and Training (FET) section are
in discussion about running workshops for history subject advisers and
teachers.
According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and founder of SA History
Online, Mr Omar Badsha, the close working relationship between SAHO and the
Department of Education underlines the organisation's commitment to the
strengthening of the teaching of history.
About SAHO
SAHO is a non-partisan people's history project established in 1999 as a
non-profit section 21 not-for profit organisation. Its primary objectives are
to promote research and the teaching of history and to address the biased way
in which the historical and cultural experiences of black South Africans are
represented in national and international educational and cultural
institutions. SAHO seeks to maintain its status as the largest and most
comprehensive website in South African history and culture.
For more information or interviews, please contact:
Mr Omar Badsha
Cell: 082 459 1067
E-mail: omar@sahistory.org.za
Enquiries:
Lunga Ngqengelele
Ministerial Spokesperson
Tel: (021) 464 3550
Cell: 082 566 0446
E-mail: ngqengelele.l@doe.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Education
16 May 2007
