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EventKaunda calls for Thatcher’s exclusion from talks on South African sanctions
In protest of the system of apartheid, economic sanctions against South Africa had been advocated from the 1960s onwards. However, it was only in the 1980s…
EventJean van der Poel dies in Cape Town.
Jean Van der Poel was a historian and teacher who played an important role in the South African Teachers' Association and undertook several major historical…
EventAlleged Mk members are killed
The South African Police (SAP) and the South African Defence Force (SADF) ambushed and killed six alleged Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) members on the Breslau Road…
5 arrested for running ‘people’s courts’
EventUS House of Representatives approve Bill to impose stricter sanctions on Apartheid South Africa
On 18 June 1986, the House of Representatives of the United States of America approved a Bill that would impose stricter sanctions against South Africa. This…
EventMagoo’s Bar is bombed
Three people died and sixty-nine are injured in a bomb explosion in Magoo's Bar on the Durban beach. An ANC's arm wing, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) cell, led by…
EventSADF mounts raids on ANC targets in neighbouring states
Troops of the South African Defence Force (SADF) carry out raids on alleged ANC targets in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Several people are left dead or…
EventMswati III becomes King of Swaziland
King Mswati III (Makhosetive Dlamini), became King of Swaziland when he succeeded his late father King Sobhuza II, who had died of pneumonia in 1982. Two…
EventAnother death in police custody
Johannes Mashego (26) died in police custody in Parys, OFS (now Free State Province). His relatives reported extensive bruising and swollen face upon…
EventBessie Amelia Head, SA novelist dies
Bessie Amelia Head was born on 6 July 1937 in Pietermaritzburg to Bessie Amelia Birch, a White woman and a Black unnamed father. Due to the apartheid policies…
EventDesmond Tutu is elected Archbishop
The Most Rev. Desmond Mpilo Tutu was elected Bishop of Cape Town, thereby becoming Archbishop of South Africa, heading the Anglican Church of South Africa. He…
EventPeter Nchabeleng President of Northern Transvaal UDF dies
Peter Nchabeleng, former president of United Democratic Front in Northern Transvaal, dies in police cells in Schoonoord, Lebowa. It is alleged that he was…
Lucky Kutumela (25), journalist and member of AZAPO/MWASA, is found dead in a police cell
EventMoses Mabhida dies in Maputo
Moses Mbeki Mncane (Baba) Mabhida, trade unionist, politician, Umkhonto weSizwe commander and Secretary-General of the SA Communist Party, died of a heart…
EventANC, COSATU and SACTU issues a joint statement in Lusaka
The South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the African National Congress (ANC) issued a joint…
EventZubeida Jaffer is detained, while pregnant, by the security police under Apartheid regulations
Zubeida Jaffer, former reporter from the Cape Times and her husband John Issel, were detained by the security police on 31 January 1986. Jaffer who was three…
EventYoweri Kaguta Moseveni becomes president of Uganda
Uganda experienced a number of changes of government since it attained its independence from British rule in 1962. In December 1980 Apollo Milton Obote, from…
EventBishop Tutu receives Martin Luther King Award
Bishop Desmond Tutu received the Martin Luther King Jr Award for Non-Violence for his commitment and role during the struggle against apartheid in 1986. …
EventA military coup deposes the Lesotho Government
On 15 January 1986, General Justin Lekhanya, the Head of the Lesotho Army, ousted Lesotho prime minister Chief Leabua Jonathan in a military coup. Jonathan had…
EventSouth Africa closes its borders with Lesotho
On 1 January 1986 the South African Government closed its borders with Lesotho, cutting off fundamental food and fuel supplies. The relationship of the South…
EventAmanzimtoti blast kills five
Five civilians were killed and forty injured in a bomb explosion in the Sanlam shopping centre in Amanzimtoti, Natal South Coast. Umkhonto we Siswe (MK) cadre…
EventANC claim responsibility for a land mine explosion which kills six
Six people, including three children aged between three and nine, were killed and three seriously injured in a landmine explosion on the fenced-in Chatsworth…
State withdraws charges against Archibald Gumede and 12 others
EventTutu and Mkhatshwa join solidarity fast
Bishop Desmond Tutu of the Anglican Church, and Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa of the Catholic Church, held a morning-to-sunset hunger strike to support the…
EventTwo strategic saboteurs attack in Secunda
EventIFP proposes truce with ANC
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) proposed a truce with the African National Congress (ANC) as an effort to calm violent clashes between members of the two…
EventThe hijacking of an Egypt Air passenger jet to Malta ends in bloodshed.
The crisis began after gunmen took control of the passenger jet ten minutes after take off from Athens airport. The terrorists, calling themselves the Egypt…
EventCoup attempt on S Doe’s government in Liberia
A coup attempt headed by Brigadier-General Thomas Quiwonkpa, a faction of the Liberian military failed to take power from Samuel Doe. It was a third coup…
EventDr. J. S. Moroka dies
Dr. James Sebe Moroka, medical doctor, politician, and great-grandson of Chief Moroka I of the Barolong Boo Moroka in Thaba Nchu the then district of…
EventNigeria cuts its diplomatic missions
Faced with growing international debt, the Nigerian government announced that it would cut its international diplomatic missions by half. Nigeria hoped that…