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EventSouth Africa and Mozambique sign a non-aggression pact
President Samora Machel of Mozambique and Prime Minister PW Botha of South Africa signed the Nkomati Accord, a non-aggression, and good-neighbourliness pact,…
EventKoeberg becomes operational
The nuclear power station at Koeberg, the only commercial nuclear power station in Africa, became operational on this date. On 21 August 1984, the French…
EventANC mounts a sabotage attack on fuel depot in Ermelo
The eighties in South Africa heralded a time of increased resistance against the Apartheid regime. The liberation movements had increased its military actions…
EventSA poet Sydney Vernon Peterson dies
Sydney Vernon Petersen, one of the prominent South African poets and educationist of the 1940s, died in Germiston. His poetry was translated into English,…
EventGang leader Andre Stander is shot dead in the United States of America
Andre Stander, former police officer, South African fugitive and leader of the Stander Gang consisting of Patrick Lee McCall, Allan Heyl and Stander himself,…
EventCarl Niehaus is sentenced to 15 years in prison for high treason for being a member of ANC underground
Carl Niehaus grew up in Zeerust, North West Province, and completed his higher education at Rand Afrikaans University (RAU). A student of theology, Niehaus was…
Keith McFadden and Zwelakhe Nyanda are killed
EventViolence breaks out at the University of Zululand
Five people were killed and many others injured at the University of Zululand (Ongoye) after the outbreak of political violence at the institution on 29…
EventMoses Mabhida receives awards
Moses Mbheki Mabhida, trade unionist, politician and Umkhonto we Sizwe commander, was awarded the Soviet Order of the People and the Order of the People's…
EventLeaders of six homelands reject new constitution
After a prolonged parliamentary session lasting 127 days, the new tricameral constitution was passed by 119 to 35 votes on 31 August 1983 and signed into law…
EventMethane gas explosion kills 68 mine workers
30 years today, sixty-eight mine workers were killed after an underground methane gas explosion at the Hlobane coal mine near Vryheid in Kwazulu-Natal . The…
EventSouth African refugees leave Lesotho
The Lesotho government announced that an undisclosed number of South African refugees have decided to leave Lesotho voluntarily. Most of the refugees belonged…
EventUDF is launched
The South African anti-apartheid umbrella organization, United Democratic Front (UDF) was launched at Rocklands Community Centre in Mitchell's Plain in Cape…
EventBomb explodes at Johannesburg synagogue
A limpet mine exploded outside the Temple of Israel synagogue in central Johannesburg, the mother 'shul' of the Johannesburg Jewish Reform Congregation. The…
EventTerre’Blanche and his associates to face terrorism charges
The Transvaal Attorney General announced that Eugène Terre'Blanche, leader of the far-right Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) and three associates would face…
EventANC leader, James Arthur Calata, dies
African National Congress (ANC) leader and Anglican clergyman, James Arthur Calata, dies in Cradock, Eastern Cape. He joined the ANC in 1930 and rose to become…
EventJudgement is handed down in a landmark case
The Appeal Court handed down a landmark decision in the case Rikhoto v. East Rand Administration Board (ERAB), granting him the right to permanent urban status…
EventSouth African Air Force bombs ANC in Maputo
Following an African National Congress's 20 May 1983 car bombing of headquarters of the South African Defence Force in Pretoria, ANC bases in a suburb of…
EventThe first regional committee of the UDF is established in Natal
Anti-apartheid organisations united under the umbrella of the United Democratic Front. One of the first steps in creating the front was to establish regional…
EventCar bomb explodes outside Air Force headquarters
On the afternoon of 20 May 1983, two African National Congress (ANC) cadres, Freddie Shangwe and Ezekial Maseko, drove to Church Street in Pretoria and parked…
EventNon military national service for objectors
A Defence Amendment Bill provides for an alternative form of national service for conscientious objectors who oppose military service on religious grounds. The…
Cassim Mohammed Bassa dies
Cassim Mohammed Bassa, estate agent, community leader and sport activist, died in his sleep in a hotel in Johannesburg, where he had been attending a meeting…
EventThe Trial of strength between the Conservative Party and the National Party begins as three Members of Parliament resign
The reformist policies of P.W Botha may be considered one of the key factors that led to the resignation of Fanie Botha, Dr Treurnicht, and Tom Langley from…
EventZimbabwe’s interior minister Joshua Nkomo is dismissed
Joshua Nkomo, long time friend of Robert Mugabe, was dismissed as minister of the interior on the accusation of plotting a coup in Zimbabwe. This triggered…
EventCedric Mayson is charged with treason
Cedric Mayson, former Methodist Minister who was banned for five years in 1977 and detained on 27 November 1981, appeared before the Pretoria Supreme Court on…
EventDieter and Ruth Gerhard are detained
The South African government announced at a special press conference that a senior South African naval officer, Commodore Dieter Gerhardt and his second wife,…
SAIC decides on the 1983 Constitution
EventANC attacks Koeberg nuclear power station
In a well-planned attack on the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station in Cape Town, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) causes heavy damage with no injuries, reported.MK sabotaged…
EventPolice pounce on AWB members
Security Police arrested the leader, Eugene Terreblanche (Terre'Blanche), and eight other members of the right-wing group the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB…