Respected political analyst and former official opposition leader, Dr Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert played a key role in South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy. He led the former Progressive Federal Party; the official opposition in Parliament; and several meetings with the then-exiled ANC, most notably the 1987 Dakar conference. He viewed himself as a "philosophical anarchist".

Credits: Angie Kapelians, the SABC Media Library and Radio Diaries (USA). 

© SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

Renowned anti-apartheid cleric, Dr Beyers Naudé, better known as Oom Bey, was called many things during his lifetime. From staunch Afrikaner and respected Dominee to traitor of the Volk and prophet of the nation. But how did he come to earn these labels and his place in the history of South Africa?

Credits: Angie Kapelianis and the SABC Media library.

© SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

Epainette Mbeki was the second black woman to join the South African Communist Party in the late 1930s. Although she was inextricably linked to the ANC, she officially only joined the former liberation movement in 1990 after it had been unbanned. She was also one of the country's oldest and most politically outspoken citizens, who supported the breakaway of the Congress of the People from the ANC in late 2008.

Credits: Angie Kapelianis, Lulama Matya, Mandla Gceya, Zanele Jambane and the SABC Media Library.

© SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

Helen Suzman was the only parliamentary representative of the old South African Progressive Party for 13 years. She was also the only woman in the 165-seat Parliament for six years. These numbers show the odds and courage that she faced in her life-long battle against the all-powerful apartheid machine.

Credits: Steven Lang, Angie Kapelianis and the SABC Media Library.

© SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

George Bizos, Anti-Apartheid Activist and Human Rights Lawyer. Angie Kapelianis, interviewed Advocate Bizos at the Legal Resources Centre in Johannesburg on the 28th of May 2007, when his memoir, Odyssey to Freedom, was published.

Credits: Angie Kapelianis and Danny Booysen.

© SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

Andrew Mlangeni was one of the ANC’s first MK members to be trained in communist China and to meet “Chairman Mao” in 1962.  Back home, Mlangeni disguised himself as a priest to recruit others into the armed struggle and became known as “Robot”.  In mid-1964, Mlangeni and seven other Rivonia trialists – including Denis Goldberg, “Kathy” Kathrada, Raymond Mhlaba and Elias Motsoaledi – were convicted of conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government by violent revolution.  For that, Mlangeni was jailed for over 26 years.  He only tasted freedom again at the age of 64 in late 1989.  Here’s a snapshot of Andrew Mlangeni’s life … in his own voice.

Credits: Angie Kapelianis, Danny Booysen and Radio Diaries (USA).

© SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

The music that you heard was from the late Art Pepper’s albums, “Living Legend” and “The Way It Was”…

Miriam Makeba was South Africa's biggest international artist and the continent's first super-star.  Makeba used her captivating voice as a liberation weapon against apartheid on the world stage. She was known as "The Girl with the Smile in her Voice"; "The Empress of African Song"; "The People's Artist" and "Mama Africa". 

Credits: Angie Kapelianis, Lebo Monnamogolo and the SABC media libraries.

© SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

Dolly Rathebe rose to prominence in 1949 when she became South Africa's first black movie star in 'Jim Comes to Jo'burg'. Rathebe was soon splashed on the cover of Drum magazine and singing with several top bands such as the Elite Swingsters. She bowed out of the spotlight to run a shebeen in Cape Town when Afro-jazz went out of fashion. In 1989 Dolly Rathebe and the Elite Swingsters got back together.

Credits: Angie Kapelianis and the SABC media libraries.

© SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.

Adelaide Tambo, the "grand dame" of the ANC liberation movement, devoted her entire life to the struggle against apartheid. The ANC said her strength, compassion and determination had been a source of inspiration.

Credits: Angie Kapelianis, Chevon Erasmus, Izak Minnaar and the SABC media libraries.

© SABC 2020. No unauthorised use, copying, adaptation or reproduction permitted without prior written consent of the SABC.