Bonner was hired in 1971 in the history department of the University of the Witwatersrand to establish African history as a scholarly field . His early work was concerned with the Swazi Kingdom in the nineteenth century , and resulted in his first monograph , based off his doctoral thesis , published in 1983 . In 1977 , following the Soweto uprising , Bonner was involved in the founding of the History Workshop at the University of the Witwatersrand , and was its chair from 1987 – 2012 . Inspired by the '' History Workshop Journal '' at the University of Oxford , the scholars at Witwatersrand championed local social history and emphasised the use of oral testimonies . He was chair of the group from 1987 until 2012 . From 1979 , Bonner sat on the editorial board of the '' South African Labour Bulletin '' . Between 1998 and 2003 , he was head of the History Department at Witwatersrand . In 2007 , Bonner was awarded a National Research Foundation Chair in Local Histories and Present Realities , which he held until his retirement in 2012
Soweto uprising
Soweto uprising
Philip Bonner