A planned, peaceful protest in Soweto against Afrikaans as the teaching medium in schools on 16 June 1976 became one of the most pivotal days in South Africa's history. After the police opened fire on the mainly child protestors, the march quickly changed from peaceful to chaotic. Those who were there shared their memories.

On 21 March 1960, 55 years ago, 69 people were killed and hundreds wounded during a peaceful protest against the pass laws. It was a watershed moment, in hindsight marking the beginning of the end for the apartheid government.

Apartheid denied people the right to vote, to work, to access education, to move freely, to love whomever they wanted to, to not be imprisoned without trial ... South Africa's groundbreaking Bill of Rights changed all that. We take a look at how far we've come over two decades of freedom.

It's the "most admirable Constitution in the history of the world", according to Harvard law scholar Cass Sunstein. US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg describes it as "a great piece of work". It's the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, which became the highest law of the land on 10 December 1996.

As the world commemorates a year since the death of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela – activist, political prisoner, president of South Africa, statesman and world icon of peace and justice – we bring you a timeline celebrating his remarkable life.

While we need to hold public representatives to account, we also need to take active control of building a South Africa that can nurture the needs, dreams and aspirations of each citizen, writes Brand South Africa CEO Miller Matola.

"The history of our country is characterised by too much forgetting," Nelson Mandela once lamented. The new Rainbow Makers series of documentaries aims to both help us remember the extraordinary stories, often untold, that shaped our road to democracy – and celebrate our 20 years of freedom.