7 – 64 suspected
mercenaries are arrested at
Harare, Zimbabwe. 20 of them are South African including their leader,
Simon Mann, a former
British Army officer and security expert.[2]
27 –
Simon Mann, former
British Army officer, security expert and
mercenary, is found guilty of attempting to buy arms for the alleged Equatorial Guinea coup plot and is sentenced to 7 years imprisonment, while the 66 co-accused are acquitted.
September
1 – Six people are killed and more than 100 are injured in a gas explosion in the
Sasol synthetic fuel plant in
Secunda.
9 – The first locally assembled
Agusta A109 light utility helicopter makes its first flight at
Denel's
Kempton Park facilities.
December
15 – South Africa announces that it will buy the
Airbus A400M transport aircraft.
12 September –
Rachel Simons, communist trade unionist. (b. 1914)
12 December –
Phaswane Mpe, poet and novelist. (b. 1970)
25 December –
Ian Syster, long-distance runner. (b. 1976)
Sports
Olympic Games
The team of
Roland Schoeman,
Lyndon Ferns,
Darian Townsend and
Ryk Neethling wins the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, simultaneously breaking the world record in the 4x100 freestyle relay. Shoeman, Ferns and Neethling trained at the University of Arizona.
7 – 64 suspected
mercenaries are arrested at
Harare, Zimbabwe. 20 of them are South African including their leader,
Simon Mann, a former
British Army officer and security expert.[2]
27 –
Simon Mann, former
British Army officer, security expert and
mercenary, is found guilty of attempting to buy arms for the alleged Equatorial Guinea coup plot and is sentenced to 7 years imprisonment, while the 66 co-accused are acquitted.
September
1 – Six people are killed and more than 100 are injured in a gas explosion in the
Sasol synthetic fuel plant in
Secunda.
9 – The first locally assembled
Agusta A109 light utility helicopter makes its first flight at
Denel's
Kempton Park facilities.
December
15 – South Africa announces that it will buy the
Airbus A400M transport aircraft.
12 September –
Rachel Simons, communist trade unionist. (b. 1914)
12 December –
Phaswane Mpe, poet and novelist. (b. 1970)
25 December –
Ian Syster, long-distance runner. (b. 1976)
Sports
Olympic Games
The team of
Roland Schoeman,
Lyndon Ferns,
Darian Townsend and
Ryk Neethling wins the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, simultaneously breaking the world record in the 4x100 freestyle relay. Shoeman, Ferns and Neethling trained at the University of Arizona.