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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…
EventSouth African Prime Minister, John Vorster resigns
South African Prime Minister since 1966, John Vorster, shocked the nation by announcing his resignation from office, at the request of his colleagues, on the…
EventEgyptian President Anwar Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Carter begin a Middle East peace conference at Camp David, Maryland
The three heads of state met for 13 days of secret meetings at Camp Devid, the Presidential Retreat in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland, about 100 kilometers…
EventSA Athlete Hestrie Cloete is born
South African athlete and Africa high-jump record holder Hestrie Cloete is born in Germiston. Cloete is the current Commonwealth champion and 2002 World Cup…
EventControl of communication bureau is placed under Foreign Affairs
After rumours of mismanagement of funds by the Department of Information, Prime Minister B.J. Vorster announced that while Dr. C.P. Mulder would remain…
EventFormer Kenyan President, Jomo Kenyatta, dies
Jomo Kenyatta was born in Kamau, Kenya, on 20 October 1891 and grew up in Ichaweri, southwest of Mount Kenya. Kenyatta ran away from home to become a pupil at…
EventThe SA Prime Minister, B.J. Vorster announces that the Department of Information was being disbanded
The SA Prime Minister, B.J. Vorster announces that the Department of Information was being disbanded and replaced by a Bureau for National and International…
EventNew Soweto Council is inaugurated
The new Apartheid established Soweto township Council, under the Chairmanship of David Thebehali is given considerable powers. Its decisions have to be…
EventBenjamin Tyamzashe dies in East London
On 4 June 1978, Benjamin John Peter Tyamzashe, Xhosa composer, choir conductor and organist, dies in East London. Two years before his death, Tyamzashe was…
EventANC recruits receive military training
Security Police Chief, Brigadier C.F. Zietsman, announced that about 4,000 South African exiles were undergoing guerrilla training in Mozambique, Angola,…
EventMoses Kotane, the South African Communist Party and African National Congress stalwart dies in Moscow
Moses Kotane, the South African Communist Party and African National Congress stalwart passed away in Moscow, Russia where he was hospitalised after a long…
AZAPO leaders arrested in Soweto
EventThe Azanian People’s Organisation is formed
The Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) was formed at an inaugural conference in Roodepoort, near Johannesburg. The organisation was based on the philosophy…
EventTranskei breaks all diplomatic ties with the Republic of South Africa
Transkei Prime Minister Chief Kaiser Matanzima announces his government's decision to break all diplomatic ties with the Republic of South Africa.This included…
EventDurban magistrate rules the death of Dr Haffejee accidental
A Durban magistrate ruled that no one was to blame for the death of a young dentist, Dr. Hoosen Haffejee, who died in police custody in August 1977. It was…
EventThe apartheid government agrees to eliminate racial segregation in theatres but not in cinemas
In 1950, the two major pieces of legislation designed to create the new 'apartheid (apart) city' were enacted, namely the Population Registration Act and the…
EventJournalist Percy Qoboza is released from detention
Percy Qoboza, editor of the banned newspaper, The World, was released from detention, together with nine other Black leaders seized in security raids in…
EventRobert Sobukwe, first PAC president, dies
Founder and first president of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (54), passed away in the Kimberley General Hospital between midnight…
EventPrime Minister, B.J.Vorster, states that South Africa is still committed to granting independence to Namibia before the end of 1978
On 17 December 1920, South Africa undertook the administration of Namibia (then known as South West Africa). The reason for this was that South West Africa had…