Welcome to 1001 SA Stories

1001 South African Stories is a project born out of passion and friendship. The project kicked off three years ago on a cold Cape Town winter’s evening, when a group of friends discussed how little South Africans know of their history and how that shapes attitudes and frames interactions between people in South Africa.

The catalyst for the project came in two forms. The first was the infamous racist tweet about people on beaches in Durban, which confirmed the notion that South Africans don’t have a good historical perspective, and the second was the book by Dikgang Mosenke, which told our history through a personal narrative.

The initial title for the project was 'Soups and Stories', which, in retrospect, may have removed the pressure of trying to reach the numerical goal of sharing 1001 South African Stories, but with the wordplay of 1001 tales from the famous Arabian Nights, it was a fun concept to play around with and to dream of the possibility of collating 1001 South African stories.

The project is an oral history project that looks to gather the personal narratives of our people, with the aim of highlighting amazing people that call our country home. Very importantly, the project seeks to improve and better our understanding of history and how that has shapes perceptions of modern reality. Moreover, when we are sharing stories of our modern world, it becomes clear how differently people experience South Africa. With that in mind, the project wants to broaden understanding and through these stories, invite people to put on a different set of glasses and see the South Africa through a different lens, with the hope that this creates better understandings, can promote people to become active participants in contributing to society, as well as encourage and inspire the development of a kinder, more equal and happier South Africa.