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The Heritage Portal

We publish regular articles, book reviews & notices to get South Africans interested & excited about their history.

We also maintain South Africa's blue plaque database and curate a directory of organisations operating in the heritage sector.

28/01/2026

Iran and South Africa: Naval Interactions of the 1970s

https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/iran-and-south-africa-naval-interactions-1970s

Iran and South Africa have been in the news lately. Commander Leon Steyn sheds light on previous naval interactions, between the two countries over fifty years ago.

22/01/2026

Heritage in South Africa Since 1994: Civil Society at the Frontline

https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/heritage-south-africa-1994-civil-society-frontline

Kathy Munro unpacks how civil society has been stepping up where the state falls short.

11/12/2025

We’re closing out 2025 by revisiting the most-read pieces from the last 12 months.

https://heritageportal.substack.com/p/most-read-in-2025

A big thank you to our contributors and all of you for another brilliant year. You’ll also find the usual events, notices and news from the heritage world below the top ten list.

02/12/2025

Modern British-Built Trams for Johannesburg’s British Empire Exhibition in 1936

https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/modern-british-built-trams-johannesburgs-british-empire-exhibition-1936

09/11/2025

Two minute silence first observed in Cape Town...

https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/traditional-two-minutes-silence-remembrance-was-first-observed-cape-town

30/10/2025

South African Photobooth Nostalgia

https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/south-african-photobooth-nostalgia

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the photobooth (also known as a Foto Kiosk in Afrikaans).

Were you a “boother”? If so, what are your memories? Did you behave formally, or did you attempt a creative or ridiculous pose whilst seated in the booth? Do you still have evidence of your interaction with these early analogue devices?

28/10/2025

How did General Jan Smuts's saddle (lost in a 1901 ambush that killed his horse Charlie) end up in the hands of a Cape Police corporal, travel through small-town South Africa for decades, and finally return to the Smuts Museum?

https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/jan-smuts-and-indweans

26/09/2025

Ancestors On the Wall - Early South African Wall-Mounted Photographic Portraits

https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/ancestors-wall-early-south-african-wall-mounted-photographic-portraits

This article by Carol Hardijzer examines the history of large framed photographic portraits that were common in South African homes from the 1880s to 1920s.

18/09/2025

Victorian-era Banknotes of Towns of the South Western Cape

https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/victorian-era-banknotes-towns-south-western-cape

Did you know that we didn't always have one set of bank notes. This piece captures the fascinating stories of local banks and businesses that issued their own currency in the Western Cape during the 1800s

11/09/2025

Sometimes South African history can get confusing. Meet the 11 men with similar names who shaped 19th-20th century South Africa - all called Bain, Baines, or Baynes! From Thomas Baines the famous explorer-artist to the road-building Bain father-son duo, to bishops, politicians and labour leaders.

This deep-dive by Prof Jane Carruthers untangles decades of mistaken identities in SA history books. A must-read for history buffs.

https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/banes-south-african-historians

04/09/2025

Definitely worth checking out...

14/08/2025

A remarkable 1939 photograph discovered in a South African pawn shop reveals seven Afrikaans-speaking Rhodes Scholars at Oxford University, each destined to make an impact on South African history.

https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/one-photograph-seven-afrikaans-speaking-rhodes-scholars-oxford-university-1939

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