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EventLady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, is killed in a car accident in Paris
On the 31 August 1997 Princess of Wales, Lady Diana Spencer, the former wife of Prince Charles, was killed with her companion Dodi Fayed in a car accident in…
EventDe Klerk resigns as NP leader
Seven years after freeing Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners, F.W. de Klerk, former South African president announced his retirement as the leader of…
Bafana Bafana wins against DR Congo
EventRamzi Yousef, alleged mastermind of World Trade centre bombing goes on trial
Ramzi Yousef, who is known by many aliases, was born in Kuwait and is of Pakistani descent. Yousef was later suspected to be one of the planners of the 1993…
EventCharles Taylor wins presidential election
Liberian rebel leader Charles Taylor ascended to presidential power in a peaceful election following a seven-year civil war, launched from neighbouring Cote d…
EventMax the gorilla is shot
A mountain gorilla, Max was shot and wounded as he grappled with a fleeing armed robber who jumped into his zoo enclosure. The suspect, Isaac Mofokeng, ducked…
EventNP serves legal papers on TRC
The National Party (NP) served legal papers on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) giving notice of a High Court application to be heard on 26…
EventElize Botha dies
Mrs Elize Botha, first wife of former State President P.W. Botha, died unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 75 in the Wilderness, Western Cape. About…
EventNP demands apology from TRC
In a letter to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), lawyers for the National Party (NP) demand an unconditional apology from chairman Archbishop…
Education Minister, Sibusiso Bengu warns Stellenbosch University that it can’t to be exclusively Afrikaans-speaking
EventSABC TV News Editor, Joe Thloloe resigns
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was plunged into a crisis when the Editor-in-chief of television news, Joe Thloloe, announced his resignation…
EventRebels take control of Kinshasa, Zaire
On 18 May 1997, Laurent Kabila, at the head of a rebel army, overthrew the despotic regime of Mobutu Se se Seko. For the people of the Democratic Republic of…
EventSA politician Roelf Meyer resigns.
Roelf Meyer announces his resignation as the leader of the National Party (NP) in Gauteng and also as Member of Parliament. A year later he co-founds the…
EventTutu is outraged by De Klerk’s denial of responsibility for apartheid’s atrocities
National Party (NP) leader F W de Klerk's failure to accept that the former NP government's policies had given security forces a licence to kill was…
EventMxenge murder accused Dirk Coetzee found guilty
Judge Pieter Combrinck finds Dirk Coetzee, Apartheid policeman and Vlakplaas assassination squad Commander together with Almond Nofomela and David…
EventF.W. de Klerk apologizes for apartheid
Speaking before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for a second time, F.W. de Klerk repeats his assertion that murder and torture had never been part of…
EventANC makes second submission before TRC
An African National Congress (ANC) delegation of 20 members, led by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, made the party's second major submission to the Truth and…
EventClarence Makwetu Expelled from PAC
The Chairman of the Pan-Africanist Congress and disciplinary committee announces that former party President and Robben Island detainee Clarence Makwetu has…
EventAWB leader, Eugene TerreBlanche, is convicted of attempted murder and assault
On 23 April 1997, Eugene TerreBlanche, leader of the Afrikaner Weerstands Beweging (AWB) was convicted on two counts, for attempted murder and assault in a…
EventThe ANC leader in the KwaZulu Natal midlands, Sifiso Nkabinde, is expelled from the ANC
Sifiso Nkabinde was expelled on the 7 April 1997 for allegedly being a spy for the Apartheid regime and for fomenting violence between African National…
Roelf Meyer and Bantu Holomisa confer
Roelf Meyer, former chief negotiator of the National Party during the multi-party peace negotiations, met with Bantu Holomisa, former leader of the Transkei…
EventSA military integration is disputed
The transition in the South African Defence Force (later SANDF) was not achieved without difficulties. It came to the surface that a dispute ensued between…
EventNew ANC National Working Committee is elected
The African National Congress (ANC) announced the names of members of a new National Working Committee (NWC) that was to be responsible for the day-to-day…
EventNew SA Constitution takes effect
On 4 February 1997, the new Constitution of the Republic of South Africa came into force. The country’s Constitution has been hailed as one of the most…
EventApartheid police officers admit to the killing of Biko before the TRC
Four apartheid-era police officers, including police Colonel Gideon Nieuwoudt who appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) admitted their…
EventThree IFP leaders resign
Three prominent Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leaders, Frank Mdlalose, national chairperson and premier of Kwazulu-Natal province, Ziba Jiyane, Secretary-General…
EventUnited Nations appoints Kofi Annan as secretary
A Ghanaian citizen, Kofi Annan, was appointed as secretary-general of the United Nations (UN) to replace the outgoing Boutros Boutros Ghali, whose term of…
EventOrganisations forward applicants for amnesty to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The African National Congress (ANC) confirmed it had forwarded 300 applications from its members to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for amnesty…
EventMandela signs SA Constitution into law
Two years after the first democratic election (1994) the President of the Republic of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, signed the final draft of the constitution…
EventExpelled ANC leader abandons court action
General Bantu Holomisa announced that he was abandoning a Supreme Court action aimed at forcing the African National Congress (ANC) to reinstate him as a…