Great lives

As part of its centenary in 2006, the Sunday Times newspaper created a trail of street memorials across South Africa to celebrate newsmakers and important events of the last 100 years. Great lives: Pivotal moments tells the stories behind these memorials. The title presents an exciting sweep of South African history, and honours ordinary and extraordinary people and moments in South Africa's past- from Olive Schreiner's fight for women's rights to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's leadership of the Truth and reconciliation commission. Each intimate portrait reveals the impact that segregation and apartheid had on people's daily lives. The stories demonstrate the great hardships that were imposed. But most importantly, they also demonstrate the individual and collective spirit of courage and resistance that has characterised much of the struggle for democracy in this country. The narratives on these pages are enriched by the hitherto unseen archival treasures and images gathered by the team from the South African History Archive.