Desmond Latham History of South Africa podcast

History of South Africa podcast

A series that seeks to tell the story of the South Africa in some depth. Presented by experienced broadcaster/podcaster Des Latham and updated weekly, the episodes will take a listener through the various epochs that have made up the story of South Africa.
Weekly English South Africa History · Places & Travel
267 Episodes
20 – 40

Episode 247 - A Ball of Sand Fallacy and Frere Demonizes Cetshwayo

Episode 247 launches us into an intense period. We’re going to travel to the border between the Zulu kingdom and the Transvaal because there’s trouble brewing. When you hear what shenanigans were planned by British Governor Sir Bartle Frere, you probably won’t believe it. His partner in crime was Sir…
2 Nov 2025 19 min

Episode 246 - Black Bricks, Armed Maids, and the Bloody Marriage of the Ngcugce

The year is1878 - and Cape Governor Sir Sir Bartle Frere is throwing the empire’s weight around South Africa. Let’s put ourselves in his shoes because some historians say he had a formidable Machiavellian personality, full of fatal overconfidence, too used to having his own way and to ignoring the…
26 Oct 2025 19 min

Episode 243 - Guns, Germans and Steal: The Pedi War of 1876

By 1876 the Sotho, Tswana, Venda, Pedi, the amaXhosa had all managed to secure for themselves a fairly easy access to firearms. The Griqualand Diamond fields ignited what could be called a small arms race on the veld. There was supposedly an arms embargo on blacks instituted by the British…
5 Oct 2025 23 min

Episode 228 - From Skepticism to Stampede: The Diamond Rush Awakens

A quick shout out, this being the modern equivalent of a tip of the hat to Richard, who has made a significant donation to help me host this series. I was flabbergasted when receiving the Paypal payment. We have communicated over the years so this is just to say, thank…
22 Jun 2025 24 min
20 – 40