Five power stations are blown up by pro-Axis power saboteurs in an attempt to destabilise the Rand gold mines. During the Second World War supporters of the Axis powers (Germany, Japan) came into conflict with the South African government, who supported the Allied forces led by Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States of America.
The conflict was a result of old feelings of kinship between many Afrikaners and Germany, not only because many Afrikaners have German blood, but also because of the latter country's support for the Boers during the Anglo-Boer War. The pro-German or pro-Axis groups resented the government's (led by Prime Minister Jan Smuts) decision to support the Allies, because of the previous conflict between the Boers and the British.
eventREF E-0011624Revised
28 January 1942
Five power stations are blown up as tensions rise during WWII
- Updated
- 20 Jul 2026
Vaal power station. The two cooling towers shown were completed in 1940. Source: Eskom
How we know this
- 01About.Com,"1942, 28 January",From: About.Com,[Online], Available at:africanhistory.about.com,[Accessed: 20 December 2013
Last updated · 20 Jul 2026
South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Five power stations are blown up as tensions rise during WWII. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011624
South African History Online (2011) 'Five power stations are blown up as tensions rise during WWII', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011624 (Accessed: 24 October 2026).
South African History Online, Five power stations are blown up as tensions rise during WWII [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011624, (accessed 24 October 2026).
"Five power stations are blown up as tensions rise during WWII." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011624. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.
South African History Online. "Five power stations are blown up as tensions rise during WWII." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011624.
Also on 28 January
- 1971Plebiscite for South West Africa
- 1971Ugandan President Idi Amin releases political prisoners
- 1987Tambo meets US representative in Washington
- 1988Following the January meeting of health ministers in London, a decision is taken that December 1 become World Aids Day
- 1989Factions splits from The Afrikaaner Weerstandbeweging
- 1991Mthunzi Njakazi, ANC member, is killed in shooting after returning from exile
- 1991Dictator Siad Barre flees Somalia ending his 22 year rule
- 1997Apartheid police officers admit to the killing of Biko before the TRC
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Gauteng Province
The Area of Gauteng Province is small; stretching from Pretoria in the North to Vereeniging in the South.
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