1981 in South Africa
Encyclopedia
January
- 30 January - The 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...
launch Operation Beanbag and raid a suspected Umkhonto we SizweUmkhonto we SizweUmkhonto we Sizwe , translated "Spear of the Nation," was the armed wing of the African National Congress which fought against the South African apartheid government. MK launched its first guerrilla attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961...
safe area in the suburb of Matola, MaputoMaputoMaputo, also known as Lourenço Marques, is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. It is known as the City of Acacias in reference to acacia trees commonly found along its avenues and the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It was famous for the inscription "This is Portugal" on the walkway of its...
, MozambiqueMozambiqueMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, killing 12 - 24 people (numbers reported killed vary)
February
- 9 February - Tuks FMTuks FMTuks FM is the radio station of the University of Pretoria and one of South Africa's most respected community broadcasters. In addition to its deeply impressive output of media professionals, many of whom have become household names in the world of radio and TV, it was also one of the first...
(107.2FM),the University of PretoriaUniversity of PretoriaThe University of Pretoria is a multi campus public research university located in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa...
's campus radio station, is established - Two people are injured when a bomb explodes in a 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...
shopping centre
April
- 14 April - A section of railway line between Richards Bay and Vryheid is destroyed by Umkhonto we SizweUmkhonto we SizweUmkhonto we Sizwe , translated "Spear of the Nation," was the armed wing of the African National Congress which fought against the South African apartheid government. MK launched its first guerrilla attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961...
and coal trucks derailed - 16 April - Bishop Desmond TutuDesmond TutuDesmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
is arrested and his passport is confiscated - 21 April - Limpet mineLimpet mineA limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets; they are so named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk....
s explode and destroy two transformers at a sub-station in 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...
May
- 6 May - The railway in the HoedspruitHoedspruitHoedspruit is a town situated at the foot of the Klein Drakensberg , in the Limpopo province of South Africa, on the railway line from Tzaneen to Kaapmuiden.-Economy:...
area is damaged - 14 May - The United Nations General AssemblyUnited Nations General AssemblyFor two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
publishes a blacklist of 65 multi-national companies and some 270 sports persons who have links with South Africa - 21 May - A bomb explodes and damages the Port Elizabeth rail link to 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...
and Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality... - 25 May - A series of actions in support of Republic Day protests are claimed by Umkhonto we Sizwe
- A pamphlet bomb explodes in Durban
- The Fort Jackson Police station is attacked
- The railway line near 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...
is damaged - The railway line on the NatalKwaZulu-NatalKwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
South Coast is damaged - The power lines are cut in VredeVredeVrede a is town in the Free State province of South Africa that is the agricultural hub of a 100 km² region. Maize, wheat, mutton, wool, beef, dairy products and poultry are farmed in the region. The town was established here after a dispute arose regarding as to where to set up the town in...
- 27 May - A bomb explodes in Durban destroying a 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...
recruiting building
June
- 1 June - Three offices of the Progressive Federal PartyProgressive Federal PartyThe Progressive Federal Party was a South African political party formed in 1977. It advocated power-sharing in South Africa through a federal constitution, in place of apartheid...
are firebombed in Johannesburg with no injuries - 4 June - The police station in MeyertonMeyerton, GautengMeyerton is a small town lying 15 km north of Vereeniging in Gauteng, South Africa. Situated in the local municipality of Midvaal and the district municipality of Sedibeng.-History:...
is attacked by terrorists or freedom fighters - 11 June - The railway line on the Natal North coast is maliciously damaged
- 16 June - The railway line near East London is maliciously damaged
- 26 June - Two bombs exploded at the Durban CenotaphDurban cenotaphThe Durban cenotaph was erected in Farewell Square, Durban, South Africa, as a memorial to fallen soldiers of World War I.Standing about 11 metres high, the monument is built of granite decorated with glazed ceramic tiles depicting two angels raising the soul of a dead soldier...
- 28 June - The railway near Empangeni is maliciously damaged
- 30 June - Zwelakhe Sisulu, son of Walter SisuluWalter SisuluWalter Max Ulyate Sisulu was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress .-Family and Education:...
and President of the Black Media Workers Association of South Africa, is arrested under the Internal Security Act
July
- 3 July - A limpet mineLimpet mineA limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets; they are so named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk....
found at the fuel storage yard in AlbertonAlberton, GautengAlberton is a town situated on the East Rand of the Gauteng Province in South Africa which celebrated its centenary year in 2005. it had a population of 202,202 inhabitants. It is known as a typical bedroom community, a community primarily residential in character, with most of its workers...
is defused - 21 July - Six bomb explosions at sub-stations in 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...
, MiddelburgMiddelburg, MpumalangaMiddelburg is a large farming and industrial town in the South African province of Mpumalanga.Middelburg was established as Nasareth, , in 1864 by the Voortrekkers on the banks of the Klein Olifants River. The name was changed in 1872 to Middelburg to mark its situation midway between the Transvaal...
, and ErmeloErmelo, MpumalangaErmelo is the educational, industrial and commercial centre of the 7,750 km² Gert Sibande District Municipality in Mpumalanga province, Republic of South Africa. Mixed farming and anthracite, coal and torbanite mining take place here...
disrupt power supply - 26 July - Two bombs exploded at 05:50 and 06:10 in central Durban. Three people are injured and extensive damage is caused to motor vehicle firms
August
- 6 August - A bomb explodes in an East London shopping complex minutes before rush hour
- 8 August - A bomb explodes in a Port Elizabeth shopping centre in similar manner to East London bomb
- 11 August - The Voortrekkerhoogte Military Base outside 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...
is attacked with RPG-7RPG-7The RPG-7 is a widely-produced, portable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Originally the RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and now manufactured by the Bazalt company...
s. Two British citizens, Nicolas Heath and Bonnie Lou Muller, are identified as accomplices in the assault - 19 August - The railway line near East London is maliciously damaged
- 23 August - 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 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 XangongoXangongoXangongo is a town in Cunene Province, Angola. It is located at around . It was also the site of considerable fighting in the war for the independence of Namibia and the Angolan Civil War.-Xangongo and SWAPO:...
and Ongiva, southern 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 ProteaOperation ProteaOperation Protea was a military operation during the South African Border War and Angolan Civil War in which South African Defence Forces destroyed a number SWAPO bases in Angola. During the operation, which took place from August 23 to September 4, 1981, up to 5,000 SADF soldiers occupied Cunene...
September
- 2 September - Two policemen and two civilians (one a child) are killed during an attack on Mabopane Police station
- 12 September - Bomb damages main railway line at Delville Wood near Durban
October
- 10 October - Umkhonto we Sizwe attack government offices of the Department of Co-operation and Development, Four injuries
- 21 October - Umkhonto we Sizwe destroy a transformer in EvanderEvanderIn Roman mythology, Evander , also spelled Euander, was a deific culture hero from Arcadia, Greece, who brought the Greek pantheon, laws and alphabet to Italy, where he founded the city of Pallantium on the future site of Rome, sixty years...
and a water pipeline feeding Sasol III (Secunda CTL) in Secunda - 26 October - Two policemen are killed during an attack on Sibasa Police station
November
- 1 November - The Jeppes Reef House near the SwazilandSwazilandSwaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...
border, which is occupied by the 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...
, comes under RPG-7RPG-7The RPG-7 is a widely-produced, portable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Originally the RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and now manufactured by the Bazalt company...
attack- South African Defence Forces attack 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 Chitequeta, south-eastern 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 DaisyOperation DaisyOperation Daisy was a military operation by the South African Defence Force during the South African Border War and Angolan Civil War.After the conclusion of Operation Protea, a South-West Africa People's Organisation regional headquarters at Chitequeta, located at in south-eastern Angola was...
- South African Defence Forces attack South-West Africa People's Organisation
- 9 November - A bomb explodes at the Orlando Magistrates Court 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...
- 12 November - Rosslyn sub-station in 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...
is damage by 4 limpet mineLimpet mineA limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets; they are so named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk....
s - 27 November - Cedric Mayson, a former Methodist minister, is arrested
December
- 9 December - The offices of Chief Commissioner of the Department of Co-operation and Development in Cape Town is attacked
- 14 December - A Pretoria sub-station is bombed
- 23 December - Eastern Cape provincial buildings in Duncan Village is damaged in an Umkhonto we Sizwe attack
- 26 December The Wonderboompoort Police station is attacked
Unknown date
- Trevor ManuelTrevor ManuelTrevor Andrew Manuel is a South African politician, currently serving in the Cabinet of South Africa as Minister in the Presidency in charge of the National Planning Commission...
becomes the General Secretary of the Cape Areas Housing Action Committee - Bulelani NgcukaBulelani NgcukaBulelani T Ngcuka was the first national Director of Public Prosecutions in South Africa, and is the husband of former Deputy President of South Africa Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. He was embroiled in controversy after being accused of being an apartheid spy...
is detained by police for eight months - A Security Police counter-insurgencyCounter-insurgencyA counter-insurgency or counterinsurgency involves actions taken by the recognized government of a nation to contain or quell an insurgency taken up against it...
unit is started by Dirk CoetzeeDirk CoetzeeDirk Coetzee was co-founder and commander of the covert South African Police unit based at Vlakplaas. He and his colleagues were involved in a number of atrocities including the murders of Sizwe Khondile and Griffiths Mxenge...
, Jan Viktor and Jac Buchner at VlakplaasVlakplaasVlakplaas is a farm 20km west of Pretoria that served as the headquarters of the South African Police counterinsurgency unit C10 working for the apartheid government in South Africa...
with 16 police officers - Due to urbanisation of the national railways, the South African Railways and Harbours changed its name to the South African Transport Services
Athletics
- 17 October – Mark PlaatjesMark PlaatjesMark Plaatjes was the marathon champion at the 1993 World Championships in Athletics in Stuttgart.Born in South Africa under apartheid, Plaatjes won two national titles at the marathon and two at cross country...
wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:16:17 in Potchefstroom.
Rugby Union
- 30 May – The South Africa (Springboks)South Africa national rugby union teamThe South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
beat IrelandIreland national rugby union teamThe Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
23-15 - 6 June – The Springboks beat Ireland 12-10
- 14 August – The South Africa (Springboks) play a tour in New Zealand with large protests
Deaths
- 11 August - Sizwe Khondile, a student activist is killed at KomatipoortKomatipoortKomatipoort is a town situated at the confluence of the Crocodile and Komati Rivers in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. The town is 8km from the Crocodile Bridge Gate into the Kruger Park, and just 5km from the Mozambique border and 65km from the Swazi border. It is a small, quiet town with some...
by the VlakplaasVlakplaasVlakplaas is a farm 20km west of Pretoria that served as the headquarters of the South African Police counterinsurgency unit C10 working for the apartheid government in South Africa...
counter-insurgencyCounter-insurgencyA counter-insurgency or counterinsurgency involves actions taken by the recognized government of a nation to contain or quell an insurgency taken up against it...
unit - November - 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...
lawyerLawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Griffiths MxengeGriffiths MxengeGriffiths Mxenge, was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Trained as a lawyer, he was assassinated by the apartheid secret police in 1981. He was a member of the African National Congress . He was sent to Robben Island in 1966 because of his political activities...
is killed by the Vlakplaas counter-insurgency unit