Limpet mine explodes and damages substation in Durban

Date: 9 Jan 1986
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

A limpet mine exploded and damaged a substation in Jacobs, Durban. Later a second limpet exploded and killed a policeman and injured others and two electrical workers who arrived at the scene of the first explosion. Just nine days after this explosion, two limpet mines exploded where a sub-station in Westville, Durban was damaged. During this period a number of explosions happened in South Africa. On 7 January, a grenade was thrown at a Railwaypoliceman in Soweto, followed by an explosion that damaged a Pretoria sub-station.

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How we know this

01Ance C. (2011), ‘Never forget what the ANC did to us during the years 1984-1988’, from Blogs 24.com, 28 April, [online], available at https://blogs.24.com (Accessed: 26 November 2012)
02Nation Master, ‘Encyclopedia> 1986 South Africa’, [online], available at https://www.nationmaster.com (Accessed: 26 November 2012)

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, December 20). Limpet mine explodes and damages substation in Durban. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094452

South African History Online (2012) 'Limpet mine explodes and damages substation in Durban', South African History Online, 20 December. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094452 (Accessed: 19 August 2026).

South African History Online, Limpet mine explodes and damages substation in Durban [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094452, (accessed 19 August 2026).

"Limpet mine explodes and damages substation in Durban." South African History Online, 20 Dec. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094452. Accessed 19 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Limpet mine explodes and damages substation in Durban." South African History Online. December 20, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094452.