1817, 2 April
Lord Charles Somerset, governor of the Cape, concludes talks with Ngqika (Gaika), a Xhosa chief. The resultant treaty means that Ngqika received help form the British when he was attacked at Grahamstown by the forces of his uncle Ndlambe who contested Ngqika 's claim to chieftaincy of the Rharhabe Clan.
1897, 2 April - Anglo-Zulu War of 1879: Battle of Gingindlovu
Almost within site of the besieged column at Eshowe, Lord Chelmsford's column, numbering over 5,000 troops (including three infantry battalions) had reached the ruins of the kwaGingindlovu homestead (previously destroyed by Colonel Charles Pearson and the coastal column). At dawn on 2 April 1897, the British force was attacked by 11,000 Zulu, commanded by Somopho kaZikhala. They attempted the usual 'horns of the bull' attack on the British laager, but were broken, and ultimately routed by British cavalry.
1904, 2 April
German forces under Major Von Glasenapp are defeated by Herero tribesmen near Okaharui, German West Africa (now Namibia).
1937, 2 April
Political activities by foreigners are outlawed in South Africa.
1941, 2 April - World War II: North Africa
German Afrika Korps, commanded by General Erwin Rommel, take Agedabia and Zuetania, Libya.
1943, 2 April - World War II: North Africa
Allied air raid on Tunis causes considerable damage just before Axis troops start their final withdrawal from Tunisia.
1944, 2 April
Founding of the African National Congress Youth League. Muziwakhe Anton Lembede is elected as it's first president.
1957, 2 April
British naval base at Simon's Town, near Cape Town, is handed over to South Africa after 143 years of continual use.
1960, 2 April
Ambrose Reeves, the bishop of Johannesburg, escapes to Swaziland to avoid arrest.. He is ultimately deported from South Africa for his outspoken opposition to Apartheid.
1979, 2 April
Menachem Begin is the first Israeli prime minister to visit Egypt.
1997, 2 April
Mobutu Sese Seko, president of Zaire, is forced to accept his parliament's nomination of Etienne Tshisekedi as prime minister.
