Umkhonto we Sizwe bombs Church Street, Pretoria

One of South Africa’s deadliest terror attacks took place in Church Street, Pretoria, in 1983, when Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress, detonated a large mortar bomb outside the Nedbank Square in Church Street, a building which hosted the South African Air Force’s headquarters. [i] The bombing resulted in the death of 19 people as well as over one hundred injuries. [ii] The bombing took the lives of 17 men and 2 women, of which 9 were White and 7 were Black. [iii] The bomb proved successful in its objective to cause the most harm as its detonation time was 16h30 in the afternoon, [iv] a peak rush-hour for the area. MK forces participated in a range of various systematic bombings [v] across South Africa during the years following the 1938 Church Street bombing. The African National Congress claimed responsibility for the bombing under the leadership of Oliver Tambo. [vi] Endnotes [i] Cameron-Dow, J. 2007. A Newspaper History of South Africa. Wynberg: Don Nelson Publishers, p. 131. ↵ [ii] Cameron-Dow, J. 2007. A Newspaper History of South Africa. Wynberg: Don Nelson Publishers, p. 131. ↵ [iii] Nelson Mandela – The Record Bombing. 2016. [Online]. Available: https://www.censorbugbear.org/black-racism/terrorism/nelson-mandela-the-bombing-record ↵ [iv] 1983: Car bomb in South Africa kills 16. 2016. [Online]. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/20/newsid_4326000/4326975.stm ↵ [v] Church Street bombing, Pretoria. 2016. [Online]. Available: http://sabctrc.saha.org.za/glossary/church_street_bombing_pretoria.htm ↵ [vi] 1983: Car bomb in South Africa kills 16. 2016. [Online]. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/20/newsid_4326000/4326975.stm ↵