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EventPAC leader, David Sibeko shot dead in Dar
EventNP wins by election
In the by-election at Randfontein, formerly Dr. Connie Mulder's seat, the National Party (NP) candidate wins, but with a much reduced majority over the…
EventPresident John Vorster resigns
On retiring as prime minister after twelve years in office, B.J. Voster was elected to the unprecedented honorary position of State President. However, his…
EventThe Prince Imperial of France dies in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879
The 22-year-old Prince Imperial of France, Eugene Louis Jean Joseph Napoleon, who studied in England at the Royal Military Academy and joined the British…
EventThe recommendations of the Riekert Commission (to investigate the employment conditions of Black workers) are tabled
The Riekert Commission was established in response to a crisis faced by the apartheid state, as South African capitalism has been facing its deepest recession…
EventWiehahn Commission Report tabled in parliament
On 1 May 1979, the first interim report of the Wiehahn Commission is tabled in Parliament. The Wiehahn Commission was set up by the government after the Durban…
EventThe Federation of South African trade unions
The aim of The Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU) was to be a national umbrella organisation that could coordinate the movements of Black trade…
EventThe IPI appoints Joel Mervis
The International Press Institute (IPI) appointed an official observer in South Africa, Joel Mervis, to report on matters affecting the conduct and freedom of…
EventIdi Amin is deposed as the President of Uganda
Idi Dada Amin ruled Uganda from 1971 until 1979 after he unconstitutionally seized power from president Obote Milton. However, in 1979 he suffers the same fate…
EventMK hero cadre Solomon Kalushi (Khala) Mahlangu is executed
Solomon Kalushi (Khala) Mahlangu was executed by the Apartheid regime for being part of an abortive attempt by African National Congress (ANC) members to…
EventIdi Amin, Ugandan dictator, flees after a seven year reign
Idi Amin Dada Oumee fled Uganda on 29 March 1979* first to Libya and eventually to Saudi Arabia. Amin began his career as a cook in the King's African Rifles…
EventCamp David peace treaty is signed, ending 30 years of war between Egypt and Israel
On 26 March 1979, the Camp David peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. The treaty was brokered…
EventPresident Vorster challenges Dr Rhoodie
In a lengthy statement, President B.J. Vorster challenged Dr. Eschel Rhoodie to release any document that would implicate him in the Information Affair. He…
EventGovernment admits responsibility for Mdluli’s death
The South African government admitted responsibility for the death of the African National Congress (ANC) member, Joseph Mdluli (50), on 19 March 1976 and…
EventThe Bethal Treason Trial resumes
The trial of eighteen suspected Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) members, which began in December 1977 and had already taken over 100 court sessions, resumed in…
EventState Security Council Approves Cross
The State Security Council (SSC) approves guidelines for the conducting of military operations against liberation movements in foreign countries. The…
EventP.W. Botha offers to resign
Prime Minister P.W. Botha offered to resign amid speculation regarding his involvement in the Information Scandal of 1978, if his accusers could prove that…
EventPFP stays its ground concerning president Vorster
Progressive Federal Party (PFP), official opposition in parliament, refused to congratulate John Vorster on his appointment as State President on the grounds…
EventRhodesia adopts new constitution
Chief among the factors that led to the adoption of a new constitution in Rhodesia on the 30 January 1979 (now Zimbabwe) was that Ian Smith, the Rhodesian…
EventConnie Mulder resigns as a result of his involvement in plot to sell apartheid propaganda
On 24 January 1979, the Minister of Information, Connie Mulder, resigns his seat in Parliament at the insistence of the Prime Minister P. W. Botha as a result…
EventEschel Rhoodie’s assets frozen
The South African government froze the South African assets of the former Information Secretary, Dr. Eschel Rhoodie, and was reported to have seized secret…
EventRev. Allan Hendrickse is elected leader of the Coloured Labour Party
Rev. Allan Hendrickse was elected leader of the Coloured Labour Party of South Africa at its thirteenth Congress in Bloemfontein. The party declared its…
EventThe Erasmus Commission’s report implicates Rhoodie, Mulder and van den Bergh in SA’s infamous ‘Information Scandal’
The Information Scandal that broke out in 1978 is widely regarded as the single event that heralded the end of B. J. Voster's term as State President of South…
EventForces of the White Rhodesian regime (UDI) attack a nationalist guerrilla base in Mozambique
Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe, became a British colony in 1890. A number of civil unrests occurred during this time. By the 1960's, nationalist sentiment had…
EventNew Prime Minister P.W. Botha appoints cabinet ministers
On becoming prime minister after the resignation of B.J. Vorster, P.W. Botha made some changes in the allocation of portfolios in his cabinet. He retained the…
EventRhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith visits the United States, challenging officials to support his plan for the transition of government in the country.
After declaring in 1976 that there would never be majority rule in Rhodesia, "not in a thousand years," Ian Smith reluctantly began to yield to diplomatic…
EventUS Secretary of State Cyrus Vance travels to South Africa to promote transition to black rule in Namibia
South Africa had seized the German territory (then known as South-West Africa) during World War I and retained it after the war under a League of Nations…
Magistrate L.A Coetzee rules that no one is to blame for the prison death of Lungile Tabalaza
EventB.J Vorster steps down as Prime Minster
On 29 September 1978, Balthazar Johannes Vorster stepped down as Prime Minster of South Africa after the holding office since 1966. John Vorster, as he became…
EventP.W. Botha becomes Prime Minister
Following the sudden resignation by Prime Minister B.J. Vorster, the National Party caucus elected Pieter Willem Botha, the Minister of Defence and leader of…