1979 in South Africa
From Freepedia
See also: 1978 in South Africa, other events of 1979, 1980 in South Africa and the Timeline of South African history.
Contents |
Events
January
- 14 January - Police clash with Umkhonto we Sizwe guerrillas on a farm near Zeerust, one is arrested while 6 escape over the Botswana border
- 23 January - A bomb explodes near the New Canada railway station in Soweto
- 24 January - Large quantity of explosives are found and defused on the railway between Fort Beaufort and King Williamstown
April
May
- 5 May - Guerrillas open fire in the Moroka Police Station's charge office killing one policeman and wounding three others. 3 civilians were also injured
- 29 May - Bishop Abel Muzorewa becomes the transtional Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia
June
- Explosives arwe discovered and defused on railway line in the Eastern Transvaal
- 4 June - Marais Viljoen becomes State President of South Africa for the second time
November
- Guerrillas open fire and hurl grenades into the charge office of Orlando Police Station, Soweto. Two policemen are killed and two wounded
- Grenades thrown into the home of Special Branch policeman, Lt Magezi Ngobeni, 5 children wounded
December
- Bomb explodes and damages the railway near Alice
- Bomb explodes at the Sasol Oil Refineries and cause massive structural damage
Unknown date
- The National Council of Lawyers for Human Rights is established
- The African National Congress's Special Operations is set up to undertake high-profile acts of sabotage on key economic installations. This structure reported directly to Oliver Tambo
- The African National Congress' Nova Catengue Training Camp is destroyed in an aerial bombardment by the South African Air Force
Births
Deaths
- February - Sgt Benjamin Letlako, a Police Special Branch member is shot dead in Katlehong
- 12 June - David Sibeko, director of Foreign Affairs of the Pan African Congress and representative to the United Nations, is shot dead in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
