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EventMass Democratic Movement (MDM) begins their Defiance Campaign
The United Democratic Front (UDF) was a non-racial coalition group that was initially formed in protest to the Tricameral Parliament. It was one of the most…
EventBlast opposite the Athlone Magistrate’s Court and police complex kills two people
On 23 July 1989, a blast occurred opposite the Athlone Magistrate's Court and police complex, which took the lives of two African National Congress (ANC)…
EventCOSATU intensifies campaign against apartheid
South Africa's largest labour federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), held its third annual congress from 12-16 July 1989. The…
EventMinister Kobie Coetsee on meeting between Botha and Mandela
Justice Minister Kobie Coetsee denied that Prime Minister P. W. Botha and Nelson Mandela had discussed policy matters or engaged in negotiations on 5 July, but…
EventNelson Mandela meets President P.W. Botha to begin negotiating the end of apartheid
On 5 July 1989, African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela met with President P.W. Botha at Tuynhuis. At the time, Mandela was still imprisoned at Victor…
EventNational Party adopts five year programme
With the winds of change blowing in South Africa, the ruling National Party (NP) adopted a five year programme of its objectives which included a political …
EventUpington 14 are sentenced
Justice J. Basson handed down death sentences on fourteen Blacks (Upington 14) for the murder of Lucas Tshenolo Sethwala, a Black police constable who fired at…
EventMayor of Welkom, in the Free State, is tarred and feathered
Race relations during the decline of the Apartheid regime were particularly problematic as many Whites felt threatened by the eventuality of a regime change…
EventAnti-apartheid activist Dr. David Webster is assassinated
David Webster, a social anthropologist at the University of the Witwatersrand and an anti-apartheid activist is shot dead by apartheid security forces. Ferdi…
EventFirst World Haemophilia Day
World Haemophilia Day was first celebrated in 1989 to increase awareness of haemophilia and to bring the needs of those affected by the disorder to the…
EventChris Ntuli is stabbed to death
United Democratic Front (UDF) activist and former detainee, Chris Ntuli, was stabbed to death in Kwa Mashu, Durban. The incident, believed to be a political…
EventThe Democratic Party, now the Democratic Alliance, is formed
On 8 April 1989, the Progressive Federal Party, Independent Party, the National Democratic Movement and the Fourth Force of 'Ontevrede Afrikaners' …
EventWinnie Madikizela-Mandela’s bodyguards arrested in connection with the death of Stompie Seipei
On this day in history, 4 of Winnie Mandela's (now Madikizela-Mandela) bodyguards, including Jerry Richardson and Jabu Sithole (coach of the Mandela United…
EventUDF Disowns Winnie Mandela
The UDF publicly disowns Winnie Mandela over a series of allegations that finally estranged her from her husband Nelson Mandela. Key among some of these…
Vlakplaas Operatives kill 3 South African students in Swaziland
EventApartheid leader P. W. Botha Resigns
P. W. Botha suffers a mild stroke and, on this day he announces his intention to resign the National Party presidency while remaining State President. His…
EventFactions splits from The Afrikaaner Weerstandbeweging
A group of dissatisfied members of the far-right Afrikaaner Weerstandbeweging (AWB) (translated roughly as The Afrikaaner Resistance Movement) break away and…
Political activist Patrick Dakuse is shot
EventChris Heunis is appointed acting president
Chris Heunis, Minister of Constitutional Development and Planning, was appointed Acting State President by President P.W. Botha who was recovering from a mild…
EventPresident P.W. Botha suffers a stroke.
On 18 January 1989, P W Botha suffered a mild stroke at the age of 73. He was scheduled to meet with Namibian political leaders on 20 January 1989, but could…
EventSouth Africa, Cuba and Angola Sign formal peace agreement, allowing Namibian independence from South Africa
The agreement was the culmination of months of intense diplomatic efforts brokered by the United States. South African President P.W. Botha proclaimed, "A new…
EventP.W. Botha petitioned to open all sports venues
The Sowetan reported that a petition calling for all sports venues to be opened to all races was handed to the state president, P.W. Botha. The petition,…
EventAmichand Rajbansi is fired from Parliament
South African President P.W. Botha fires the government's only Indian Cabinet Minister, Amichand Rajbansi, with effect from 1 January 1989. He also removes him…
The Trust Feed Massacre
An incident occurred in December 1988 which shocked the nation and forever changed the lives of the close-knit community of Trust Feeds, a rural village near…
EventMandela is moved to Victor Verster prison
The government moved African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela from the Constantiaberg private clinic in Cape Town, where he had been recovering…
Johnstone Mfanafuthi Makhathini, ANC’s head of the Department of International Affairs, dies in exile in Zambia
EventWorld Aids Day is internationally observed for the first time
Following the January 1988 meeting of Health Ministers in London, a decision was taken that 1 December would annually be observed as World Aids Day. This step…
EventA consumer boycott is called in Boksburg
The town councils of Vosloorus and Reiger Park staged a consumer boycott in Boksburg on the East Rand (now Ekurhuleni municipality, Gauteng). The boycott, by…
EventRajbansi threatens not to co-operate with the James Commission
EventLiberation struggle activists, Gwala and Mothopeng are released from Robben Island
Two members of the banned liberation movements, Harry Gwala, a member of the African National Congress (ANC) and Zephania Mothopeng a member of the Pan…