31 – Dr
Gerrit Viljoen, Minister of Cooperation and Development, announces that the forced removal of Blacks will be suspended.
Three guerrillas and a policeman are killed in a skirmish near
Nongoma.
February
9 – An explosion damages the Old Defence Force offices in Marshall Street, Johannesburg.
10 – Nelson Mandela rejects P.W. Botha's offer of conditional release.
28 –
Denis Goldberg is released from custody of Apartheid government after spending 22 years in
white prison.
March
21 – An estimated 47 people are killed in the
Langa massacre when police open fire on a crowd at the twenty-fifth commemoration of the
Sharpeville Massacre demonstration marches in Langa,
Port Elizabeth.[3]
27 – Over 200 people are arrested for marching through
Cape Town to Pollsmoor Prison protesting for the release of
Nelson Mandela, including two clerics who led the march,
Beyers Naudé and
Allan Boesak.
2 – An explosion rocks the building housing the gold mining companies of
Anglo American and
Anglovaal in
Johannesburg and causes R170,000 in structural damage. Both companies are engaged in mass dismissals of mine workers.
8 – The Disappearance of
Pebco Three and subsequently murdered same year
9 – Two grenade attacks occur in
Pretoria townships.
15 – Three explosions damage the
Brakpan Police barracks.
15 – Insurgents attack the buildings of the
Brakpan Commissioners court and offices of the Messenger of the court.
15 – The funeral of Andries Raditsela, an
Umkhonto we Sizwe member who had died in detention, takes place.
28 or 30 – A Limpet mine causes structural damage to the Military Medical Centre in
Hillbrow,
Johannesburg.
31 – Insurgents attack the Southern Cross Fund offices and injure 14 people.
A
Soweto group, dubbed the Suicide Squad, attacks the homes of two Soweto policemen.
A hand grenade is thrown at a bakery in
Umlazi, Durban, where workers are on strike.
A hand grenade is thrown at the former community councillor in
Gugulethu.
Two insurgents and a policeman are killed in a shootout at a police roadblock near
East London.
August
1 – Anti-Apartheid lawyer
Victoria Mxenge is assassinated by government-backed "death squads".
2 – Two insurgents and a policeman are killed at a roadblock near
Mount Ruth.
10 – Police defuses a limpet mine found on a petrol bowser at a fuel depot in
East London.
15 – P.W. Botha delivers his infamous "Rubicon Speech" at the opening of the
National Party Natal Congress in Durban during a policy address in which he was widely expected to announce new reforms, but instead refuses to bow to pressure for concessions to the black majority or the release of Nelson Mandela.
27 – In reaction to the Rubicon speech on 15 August, the
Rand falls from 52c US to 33c US against the
US dollar.
27 – Government closes the foreign exchange markets and stockmarket for a week while trying to reschedule the country's international debt, which fails. International debt is not repaid for four months.
A hand grenade is thrown into the home of MP Barend Andrews.
A hand grenade is thrown into the home of a
Mamelodi policeman.
Three limpet mines explode in department stores in
Durban, causing limited damage but no injuries.
A bomb explodes in a night club at an
Umlazi hotel and 30 children are injured.
August – In
Queenstown, Eastern Cape, Bill Mentoor becomes the first person to be necklaced by having a petrol-filled car tyre placed around his neck and set alight.
September
27–28 – Limpet mines damage the basement of OK Bazaars in Smith Street, Game Stores and Checkers, all supermarkets in central
Durban, while a limpet mine is defused in Spar in central Durban.
Trevor Manuel is detained by police and is subsequently banned until
1990, but the ban was to be lifted in
1986.
October
15 – Three Coloured youths are killed and 15 others wounded during the 'Trojan Horse Massacre' when South African security force members, hiding in the back of an unmarked truck, ambush and open fire on a stone-throwing crowd in the township of
Athlone, Cape Town. The incident is captured by an international television crew and broadcast across the world.
24 – A limpet mine detonates whilst being armed at Grosvenor Girls School, Bluff, Durban, killing Zinto Cele, Mandlenkosi Ndimande and injuring Sibusiso Mazibuko.
8 – The Chesterville home of a policeman is bombed.
13 – A
South African Army anti-mine troop carrier detonates an anti-tank mine in
Messina and one soldier is injured.
14 – A guerrilla is killed in Chiawelo.
15 – Five people are killed, three of them children aged two, eight and ten, and five are injured when their vehicle detonates an anti-tank mine on the Chatsworth farm near Messina. A one-year-old boy survives the blast.
17 – A limpet mine explodes at 03h00 and damages eight
PUTCO buses at the Fleetline depot in
Umlazi, Durban.
19 – A farmer is injured when his vehicle hits an anti-tank mine in the Weipe area.
21 – A limpet mine attached to minibus injures 8 or 13 people.
23 – A bomb explodes in an
Amanzimtoti shopping centre, kills five people and injures 40 others. Andrew Zondo, who is later arrested for planting the bomb, claims that he attempted to warn the mall but failed. He was later hanged.
29 – The police defuses a pamphlet bomb in Durban.
A limpet mine explodes at 18h00 and causes structural damage to the
Chatsworth Magistrates Court outside
Durban.
A grenade is thrown at a tourist kombi in central Durban.
^
abSouth African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended
^
abPaxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 132–133.
ISBN0869772112.
31 – Dr
Gerrit Viljoen, Minister of Cooperation and Development, announces that the forced removal of Blacks will be suspended.
Three guerrillas and a policeman are killed in a skirmish near
Nongoma.
February
9 – An explosion damages the Old Defence Force offices in Marshall Street, Johannesburg.
10 – Nelson Mandela rejects P.W. Botha's offer of conditional release.
28 –
Denis Goldberg is released from custody of Apartheid government after spending 22 years in
white prison.
March
21 – An estimated 47 people are killed in the
Langa massacre when police open fire on a crowd at the twenty-fifth commemoration of the
Sharpeville Massacre demonstration marches in Langa,
Port Elizabeth.[3]
27 – Over 200 people are arrested for marching through
Cape Town to Pollsmoor Prison protesting for the release of
Nelson Mandela, including two clerics who led the march,
Beyers Naudé and
Allan Boesak.
2 – An explosion rocks the building housing the gold mining companies of
Anglo American and
Anglovaal in
Johannesburg and causes R170,000 in structural damage. Both companies are engaged in mass dismissals of mine workers.
8 – The Disappearance of
Pebco Three and subsequently murdered same year
9 – Two grenade attacks occur in
Pretoria townships.
15 – Three explosions damage the
Brakpan Police barracks.
15 – Insurgents attack the buildings of the
Brakpan Commissioners court and offices of the Messenger of the court.
15 – The funeral of Andries Raditsela, an
Umkhonto we Sizwe member who had died in detention, takes place.
28 or 30 – A Limpet mine causes structural damage to the Military Medical Centre in
Hillbrow,
Johannesburg.
31 – Insurgents attack the Southern Cross Fund offices and injure 14 people.
A
Soweto group, dubbed the Suicide Squad, attacks the homes of two Soweto policemen.
A hand grenade is thrown at a bakery in
Umlazi, Durban, where workers are on strike.
A hand grenade is thrown at the former community councillor in
Gugulethu.
Two insurgents and a policeman are killed in a shootout at a police roadblock near
East London.
August
1 – Anti-Apartheid lawyer
Victoria Mxenge is assassinated by government-backed "death squads".
2 – Two insurgents and a policeman are killed at a roadblock near
Mount Ruth.
10 – Police defuses a limpet mine found on a petrol bowser at a fuel depot in
East London.
15 – P.W. Botha delivers his infamous "Rubicon Speech" at the opening of the
National Party Natal Congress in Durban during a policy address in which he was widely expected to announce new reforms, but instead refuses to bow to pressure for concessions to the black majority or the release of Nelson Mandela.
27 – In reaction to the Rubicon speech on 15 August, the
Rand falls from 52c US to 33c US against the
US dollar.
27 – Government closes the foreign exchange markets and stockmarket for a week while trying to reschedule the country's international debt, which fails. International debt is not repaid for four months.
A hand grenade is thrown into the home of MP Barend Andrews.
A hand grenade is thrown into the home of a
Mamelodi policeman.
Three limpet mines explode in department stores in
Durban, causing limited damage but no injuries.
A bomb explodes in a night club at an
Umlazi hotel and 30 children are injured.
August – In
Queenstown, Eastern Cape, Bill Mentoor becomes the first person to be necklaced by having a petrol-filled car tyre placed around his neck and set alight.
September
27–28 – Limpet mines damage the basement of OK Bazaars in Smith Street, Game Stores and Checkers, all supermarkets in central
Durban, while a limpet mine is defused in Spar in central Durban.
Trevor Manuel is detained by police and is subsequently banned until
1990, but the ban was to be lifted in
1986.
October
15 – Three Coloured youths are killed and 15 others wounded during the 'Trojan Horse Massacre' when South African security force members, hiding in the back of an unmarked truck, ambush and open fire on a stone-throwing crowd in the township of
Athlone, Cape Town. The incident is captured by an international television crew and broadcast across the world.
24 – A limpet mine detonates whilst being armed at Grosvenor Girls School, Bluff, Durban, killing Zinto Cele, Mandlenkosi Ndimande and injuring Sibusiso Mazibuko.
8 – The Chesterville home of a policeman is bombed.
13 – A
South African Army anti-mine troop carrier detonates an anti-tank mine in
Messina and one soldier is injured.
14 – A guerrilla is killed in Chiawelo.
15 – Five people are killed, three of them children aged two, eight and ten, and five are injured when their vehicle detonates an anti-tank mine on the Chatsworth farm near Messina. A one-year-old boy survives the blast.
17 – A limpet mine explodes at 03h00 and damages eight
PUTCO buses at the Fleetline depot in
Umlazi, Durban.
19 – A farmer is injured when his vehicle hits an anti-tank mine in the Weipe area.
21 – A limpet mine attached to minibus injures 8 or 13 people.
23 – A bomb explodes in an
Amanzimtoti shopping centre, kills five people and injures 40 others. Andrew Zondo, who is later arrested for planting the bomb, claims that he attempted to warn the mall but failed. He was later hanged.
29 – The police defuses a pamphlet bomb in Durban.
A limpet mine explodes at 18h00 and causes structural damage to the
Chatsworth Magistrates Court outside
Durban.
A grenade is thrown at a tourist kombi in central Durban.
^
abSouth African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended
^
abPaxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 132–133.
ISBN0869772112.