State President: Balthazar Johannes Vorster (starting 4 June), Marais Viljoen (until 19 June)
January
8 – South Africa and Lesotho sign a monetary agreement.
14 – Police clashes with Umkhonto we Sizwe guerrillas on a farm near Zeerust, one is arrested while six escape across the Botswana border.
23 – A bomb explodes near the New Canada railway station in Soweto.
24 – Large quantity of explosives are found and defused on the railway line between Fort Beaufort and King William's Town.
April
Explosives are discovered and defused on railway line near Soweto.
May
5 – Insurgents open fire in the Moroka Police Station's charge office killing one policeman and wounding three others, as well as three civilians.
29 – Bishop Abel Muzorewa becomes the transitional Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
June
4 – Marais Viljoen becomes State President of South Africa for the second time.
Explosives are discovered and defused on railway line in the Eastern Transvaal.
September
22 – A Vela satellite detects a double flash signal in the southern Atlantic Ocean. This is widely believed to be a South African and Israeli nuclear test, denied by South Africa.
November
Insurgents open fire and hurl grenades into the charge office of Orlando Police Station, Soweto. Two policemen are killed and two wounded.
Grenades are thrown into the home of Special Branch policeman, Lt Magezi Ngobeni, and five children are wounded.
December
A bomb explodes and damages the railway line near Alice.
A 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 reports directly to Oliver Tambo.
The African National Congress' Nova Catengue Training Camp is destroyed in an aerial bombardment by the South African Air Force.
The South African Defence Force invade southern Zambia in Operation Safraan.
14 February – Wesley Moodie, tennis player
23 June – Marilyn Agliotti, female field hockey player.
February – Sergeant Benjamin Letlako, a Police Special Branch member, is shot dead in Katlehong.
12 June – David Sibeko, director of Foreign Affairs of the Pan Africanist Congress and representative to the United Nations, is shot dead in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. (b. 1938)
30 April – Andries Albertus Pienaar, pen name Sangiro, dies on his farm Panfontein near Bloemhof. (b. 1894)
10 November – Harry Hart (74), South African athlete. (b. 1905)
The South African Railways places the first of 105 Class 6E1, Series 8 electric locomotives in mainline service.
3 March – The South African Grand Prix takes place at Kyalami.
Jody Scheckter becomes Formula One World Champion.
1979 in South Africa Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
