1978 in South Africa
Encyclopedia
January
- Former African National CongressAfrican National CongressThe African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
member, Steve Mtshali who turned state witness in various trials is shot and wounded
February
- An unexploded bomb "capable of destroying a 22 storey building" is found in a JohannesburgJohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
office block and defused - 2 February - Guerrillas attack the DaveytonDaveyton, GautengDaveyton is a township in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality Gauteng in South Africa. It borders Etwatwa to the north, Springs to the east, Benoni to the south, and Boksburg to the West. The nearest town is Benoni, which is 18 kilometres away...
police station- Kaiser MatanzimaKaiser MatanzimaKaiser Matanzima was a former leader of the Transkei in South Africa.-Biography:Born in Qamata, Eastern Cape, a nephew of Nelson Mandela, Matanzima received the name Daliwonga upon reaching manhood as an "isikhahlelo" . It means "Maker of Majesty"...
breaks all diplomatic ties with South Africa and announces that all South African Defence ForceSouth African Defence ForceThe South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957...
members seconded to the Transkei Army will leave TranskeiTranskeiThe Transkei , officially the Republic of Transkei , was a Bantustan—an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity—and nominal parliamentary democracy in the southeastern region of South Africa...
by 31 March - The Attorney-General of the Eastern CapeEastern CapeThe Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...
states that he will not prosecute any policePoliceThe police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
involved in the arrest and detention of Black Consciousness MovementBlack Consciousness MovementThe Black Consciousness Movement was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in...
leader Steve BikoSteve BikoStephen Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the...
- Kaiser Matanzima
March
- 10 March - Bomb explodes outside the offices of the Bantu Affairs building in Port Elizabeth. One civilian is killed and three injured
April
- 14 April - Former deputy president of the African National Congress in the TransvaalTransvaal ProvinceTransvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
, Abel Mthembu turns state witness at the PretoriaPretoriaPretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
ANC trial
May
- 4 May - South African Defence ForceSouth African Defence ForceThe South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957...
airborne raid on CassingaCassingaCassinga is a former town in the Huíla province of southern Angola.The transliteration Kassinga is also commonly used, with the "K" being a mutation of the original Portuguese name either by German miners, or by indigenous people in whose language the letter "K" is also common...
, AngolaAngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
in the Operation ReindeerOperation ReindeerOperation Reindeer, which took place on 4 May 1978, was South Africa's second major military operation in Angola, the first being Operation Savannah....
. See: Battle of CassingaBattle of CassingaThe Battle of Cassinga, Cassinga Raid or Kassinga Massacre was a controversial South African airborne attack on a South West Africa People's Organization refugee camp and military base at the former town of Cassinga, Angola on 4 May 1978...
- Ishmael Mkhabela and Lybon Mabasa, two members of the Azanian People's Organisation are arrested in SowetoSowetoSoweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
- Ishmael Mkhabela and Lybon Mabasa, two members of the Azanian People's Organisation are arrested in Soweto
September
- Black September episode - The African National Congress attempts to kill about 500 cadres by poisoning their food because an enemy agent had escaped the screening procedures and could not be identified. http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/pubs/umrabulo/umrabulo14/umkhonto.html
- 29 September - PW BothaPieter Willem BothaPieter Willem Botha , commonly known as "P. W." and Die Groot Krokodil , was the prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and the first executive state president from 1984 to 1989.First elected to Parliament in 1948, Botha was for eleven years head of the Afrikaner National Party and the...
succeeds Balthazar Johannes VorsterB.J. VorsterBalthazar Johannes Vorster , better known as John Vorster, served as the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and as the fourth State President of South Africa from 1978 to 1979...
as 9th Prime Minister of South Africa
October
- Balthazar Johannes VorsterB.J. VorsterBalthazar Johannes Vorster , better known as John Vorster, served as the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and as the fourth State President of South Africa from 1978 to 1979...
becomes 6th State President of South AfricaState President of South AfricaState President, or Staatspresident in Afrikaans, was the title of South Africa's head of state from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic in 1961, and Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be head of state...
Unknown date
- South African Defence ForceSouth African Defence ForceThe South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957...
s attack several South-West Africa People's OrganisationSouth-West Africa People's OrganisationThe South West Africa People's Organization is a political party and former liberation movement in Namibia. It has been the governing party in Namibia since achieving independence in 1990...
bases in AngolaAngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
during Operation BruilofOperation BruilofOperation Bruilof was a military operation by the South African Defence Force during the South African Border War and Angolan Civil War.Taking place in 1978, the operation was conducted by Battle Group Juliet... - The South African Defence Force's South African 32 BattalionSouth African 32 Battalion32 Battalion was a special light infantry battalion of the South African Army, composed of black and white commissioned and enlisted personnel...
move into southern Angola to flush out South-West Africa People's Organisation members during Operation SeiljagOperation SeiljagOperation Seiljag was a military operation by the South African Defence Force during the South African Border War and Angolan Civil War.Taking place in 1978, the operation was conducted by 32 Battalion in the central part of the operational area in order to flush out South-West Africa People's... - George BizosGeorge BizosGeorge Bizos is a distinguished human rights advocate who campaigned against apartheid in South Africa, most notably during the Rivonia Trial.-Early life:...
becomes a senior member of the Johannesburg Bar - South Africa's Atomic Energy Corporation built South Africa's first nuclearNuclear weaponA nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
weaponWeaponA weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
device
Motorsport
- 4 March - The South African Grand Prix1978 South African Grand PrixThe 1978 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 4 March 1978 at Kyalami.Both the Ferrari and Brabham teams had new cars in Kyalami for the race...
, is held at KyalamiKyalamiKyalami is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng province, South Africa. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has hosted the South African Grand Prix many times. In recent years, the area surrounding the circuit has developed into a residential and...
Births
- 3 April – John SmitJohn SmitJohn William Smit is the 50th and current captain of the South African national rugby union team, the Springboks. He has played most of his career as a hooker, but played twice for the Springboks off the bench as a prop prior to the South Africa coaching staff's decision to use him as a tighthead...
, Springboks rugby player and captain of the 2007 Rugby World Cup2007 Rugby World CupThe 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
champions
Deaths
- Sewsunker "Papwa" Sewgolum, legendary golfer, dies
- 8 January - Richard Turner, activist and academic, is shot dead at his DurbanDurbanDurban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
home - 12 January - Monty NaickerMonty NaickerGagathura Mohambry Naicker was a medical doctor and a South African anti-apartheid activist of Indian Tamil descent.-Early Life:His father was a trader, exporting bananas....
, a medical doctor and prominent politicianPoliticianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, dies in Durban- Philemon (Duma) Nokwe, the first African advocateAdvocateAn advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...
of the Supreme Court of Transvaal and politicianPoliticianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, dies
- Philemon (Duma) Nokwe, the first African advocate
- 4 June - Benjamin John Peter Tyamzashe, Xhosa composer, choir conductor and organist, dies in East London