The Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA) was the underground military wing of the Pan African Congress (PAC). APLA was formed in the 1960s, after the banning of the PAC and other political organisations such as the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). APLA supported the PAC ideology of iZwe ngelethu, "Africa is Ours", and Mayibuye iAfrika, "Bring back Africa". APLA was associated with attacks on and murders of White South Africans. Most of these murders and attacks reportedly took place in the Eastern and Western Cape. According to the evidence of APLA victims before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) most of these attacks and murders were random acts of violence and were not politically motivated. During the 1980s APLA came up with the provocative slogan of "One Settler, One Bullet". Killings and attacks on White farmers were believed to be motivated by this slogan. On 26 July 1993 members of APLA opened fire on a congregation in St James Church in Kenilworth, in Cape Town, killing eleven people and injuring fifty others. The disbanding of APLA followed the TRC conclusion that the group had often acted with hatred rather than justice. Soon after these TRC findings APLA disbanded.

President Nelson Mandela delivered his last major address to parliament at the opening of the ultimate session of the first democratically elected parliament.

Allan Boesak graduated from the Belville Theological Seminary and worked as a pastor in Paarl between 1967 and 1970. After received his PhD from a university in New York, he led a parish in Belville South. Boesak rose to prominence when he became the head of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in 1982. He used this platform to speak out against the policies of the apartheid government. Boesak was also instrumental in establishing the United Democratic Front (UDF), which was one of the largest anti-apartheid movements in South Africa. Although praised for his role in the liberation struggle, Boesak's political career has been marred by controversy. This first incident was in 1990, when he was forced to resign from the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) after having had an extra-marital affair with a white employee of the South African Council of Churches. He later divorced his wife to marry television presenter, Elna Botha. Thereafter, it surfaced that Boesak misappropriated funds that were allocated to his Foundation of Peace and Justice. He had received a million dollar donation from the Danish aid agency Dan Church Aid, half of which he had taken for his own use. Other donations from the Coca Cola Company and singer Paul Simon were also thought to have been taken for Boesak's personal use. At the time that these allegations were made, Boesak was the ANC Western Cape president and the impending South African ambassador to the United Nations. Boesak was charged with fraud and his trial began in 1998. On 18 December, a plea from the defense team was made for his acquittal. The presiding judge rejected this plea and postponed the case to the following year. Boesak was finally convicted on four counts of fraud and was sentenced to prison in 1999. In 2005, he received a presidential pardon and his criminal record was expunged. Boesak has since written a book on his experiences as a political activist titled Running with Horses: Reflections of an Accidental Politician.

In providing reasons for the decision of the Pretoria High Court to set the investigation of the Browde Commission into South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU) Affairs aside, Justice William de Villiers said that the evidence of President Nelson Mandela was unsatisfactory because he refused to answer certain questions, answered back and used the court for political rhetoric. The President's Office indicated its intention to appeal against the court's decision, while SARFU boss Dr Louis Luyt announced his own independent investigation into allegations of racism, nepotism and corruption within the rugby body.

Basil 'Manenberg' Coetzee (54), South African jazz musician who played with Abdullah Ibrahim (also known as Dollar Brand) died during the night of 11 March 1998 after a long struggle with cancer.

The former South Africa Minister of Education, Dr. Sibusiso Bengu warned the University of Stellenbosch that it could not continue to be an exclusively Afrikaans-speaking University within a new democratic South Africa. This followed the University's refusal to comply with the new regulations for integrated higher education, which included an inclusive medium of instruction. Since its establishment in 1866, Stellenbosch University had maintained a white Afrikaner student body through the use of the Afrikaans language as the medium of instruction. Although, some English speaking White South Africans attended, they were sufficiently bilingual to cope with being taught in Afrikaans. This situation emerged out of the National Party government's policy of separate segregated education. Higher Education was thus implemented inequitably through separate administrative divisions to serve different race groups. Education institutions were exclusive to particular race groups. The White Institutions were further divided into those which, used as their main medium of communication and instruction, either Afrikaans (which was the home language of most people in government) or English. Language exclusivity helped to prevent institutions designated for the use of one race group from enrolling or allowing students of other races to mix with theirs.

The seven-month trial of former Minister of Defence Magnus Malan ended on 11 October when he and other officials were cleared of all charges relating to the murder of thirteen people in KwaMakutha in 1987. The case centred on allegations that the former government had waged a dirty war against its opponents. Judge Jan Hugo concluded his judgment, acquitting Malan and other nine defendants. Hugo acknowledged that the killing was the deed of Inkatha vigilantes on the payroll of the South African Defence Force (SADF), however the prosecution did not bring enough evidence to substantiate their claim. President Nelson Mandela fully accepted the court's decision and asked those that might have been directly affected by the ordeal to accept it. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), promised that even if they were acquitted, the TRC was still likely to call them to account as it was in a better position of extracting the truth than the courts.

President Nelson Mandela confirmed that hotel magnate and socialite Sol Kerzner did indeed make a contribution to the ANC electoral funds as alleged by Bantu Holomisa, but stated that he has told no-one else in the African National Congress (ANC) about the donation. Mandela's confirmation vindicated Holomisa who was branded a liar by most of the senior officials within the ANC. Holomisa demanded a public apology from the ANC, but a bitter and clearly agitated Mandela refused. Notwithstanding this admission, the ANC's Disciplinary Committee ousted Holomisa from his seat in Parliament on 1 October 1996 after finding him guilty of misconduct and bringing the party into disrepute by this and other allegations. Click here to read President Mandela's confirmation in details.

On 25 May 1996, two South Africans - Ian Woodall and Cathy O'Dowd, reached the summit of Mount Everest. This was the first official South African team to conquer the highest mountain in the world. Their jubilation was dampened when a member of their team, British photographer Bruce Herrod, went missing. He had reportedly reached the summit hours later, and is thought to have died on his descent. Until the end of apartheid, South Africans had not been able to get a permit for Everest. The expedition was initiated by Ian Woodall, who became the leader. South African president at the time, Nelson Mandela, was patron of the expedition. The climbing team was riddled with conflict for much of the expedition. Cathy O'Dowd went on to reach the summit of Everest again in 1999, this time from the Northern side. This made her the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest from both the southern (25 May 1996) and northern sides (29 May 1999).

The adoption of the South African Constitution on 8 May 1996 was one of the turning points in the history of the struggle for democracy in South Africa. The Constitution is considered by many as one of the most advanced in the world, with a Bill of Rights second to none. South Africa's Constitution was drafted by an all-inclusive constitutive assembly, which had representatives from all the major political parties and liberation organisations. The constitutional assembly sat between May 1994 and October 1996 drafting and completing the new constitution. The new Constitution was the embodiment of the vision of generations of anti-apartheid freedom fighters and democrats who had fought for the principle that South African belonged to all, for non racialism and for human rights.