Amanzimtoti blast kills five

Date: 23 Dec 1985
Updated: 9 Dec 2019

Five civilians were killed and forty injured in a bomb explosion in the Sanlam shopping centre in Amanzimtoti, Natal South Coast. Umkhonto we Siswe (MK) cadre Andrew Sibusiso Zondo, who detonated the explosive in a rubbish bin, was executed by hanging in 1986. In a submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the African National Congress (ANC) later stated that Zondo acted in anger at a South African Defence Force (SADF) raid in Lesotho. The bomb attack was part of Operation Butterfly, conducted by MK, mainly from Swaziland. The aim of the Operation was to integrate the ANC's political and military machinery. To achieve this, it planned to establish strong and viable underground structures of MK in the Durban area and to launch guerrilla activities against apartheid targets in Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal).

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01South African Press Association, (1996), NEVER OFFICIAL ANC POLICY TO TARGET CIVILIANS: MBEKI, from South African Press Association, 22 August [online], Available at www.justice.gov.za [Accessed: 27 November 2013]

Last updated · 9 Dec 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Amanzimtoti blast kills five. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012632

South African History Online (2011) 'Amanzimtoti blast kills five', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012632 (Accessed: 21 July 2026).

South African History Online, Amanzimtoti blast kills five [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012632, (accessed 21 July 2026).

"Amanzimtoti blast kills five." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012632. Accessed 21 July 2026.

South African History Online. "Amanzimtoti blast kills five." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012632.