Trisha Shetty (Editor)

1984 in South Africa

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Incumbents

  • State President: Marais Viljoen (until 3 September), P. W. Botha (starting 14 September)
  • Vice State President: Alwyn Schlebusch (until 14 September)

    • Events

    January
  • 8 – The South African Defence Force begins withdrawal from southern Angola.
  • 11 – The South African Railways inaugurates the MetroBlitz interurban train service between Pretoria and Johannesburg.
    • February
  • 3 – A bomb destroys the offices of the Ciskei consulate in Durban.
  • 23 – An Escom installation in Georgetown is slightly damaged by an explosion.
  • 29 – Two bombs explode at Mandini, one at a sub-station and the other at the police station.
    • March
  • 11 – The Mobil fuel depot in Ermelo is rocked by four explosions and five storage tanks are destroyed.
  • 12 – During a skirmish with insurgents, two policemen are seriously injured.
  • 16 – South Africa and Mozambique sign the Nkomati Accord, a non-aggression treaty, at Komatipoort.
  • 23 – Dorothy Nyembe is released from Kroonstad Prison after serving 15 years for defeating the ends of justice by harbouring members of Umkhonto we Sizwe.
    • April
  • 3 – A car bomb explodes on the Victoria Embankment, Durban, killing three people and injuring twenty others. Daya Rengasami, a member of the SA Students Organisation and his wife Navi is killed in the blast. The African National Congress denies responsibility. Amichand Rajbansi says he believes his offices nearby had been the intended target of the bomb.
  • 5 – The Transkei consulate in Botshabelo is destroyed by a bomb.
  • An insurgent is killed at De Deur.
    • May
  • 2 – South Africa, Mozambique and Portugal sign an agreement in Cape Town on the supply of electricity to South Africa from the Cahora Bassa Hydro-electric Dam in north-west Mozambique.
  • 5 – Over 7,000 people attend an Afrikaner Volkswag rally in Pretoria.
  • 12 – A bomb explodes at the Trust Bank in Durban.
  • 13 – The Mobil Oil Refinery in Durban comes under RPG-7 attack by Umkhonto we Sizwe cadres. All the insurgents are killed afterwards in a running battle with police.
  • 16 – Outside the Jabulani Police station in Soweto an explosion destroys two private vehicles belonging to policemen.
  • 18 – The railway line near Lenasia is damaged by an explosion.
  • 29 – Pieter Willem Botha, State President of South Africa and Pik Botha, minister of foreign affairs, visit Austria, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland and West Germany.
  • The Pango mutiny occurs when mutineers systematically kill most camp administration members of an Umkhonto we Sizwe training camp in Angola.
    • June
  • 21 – An explosion damages a sub-station in Berea, Durban and disrupts electricity supply.
    • July
  • 9 – South Africa signs the amendment of the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.
  • 12 – One policeman is killed and one is injured when their vehicle is attacked in Jabulani.
  • 28 – The South African Railways Police charge office in KwaMashu, Durban is attacked with hand grenades.
    • August
  • 3 – A guerrilla is killed in the Ellisras area.
  • 7 – Tshabalala Dry Cleaners in Soweto is extensively damaged by Umkhonto we Sizwe.
  • 7 – An Escom sub-station is destroyed in Glenmore, Durban.
  • 11 – Barefoot South African runner Zola Budd, granted British citizenship earlier in the year, and Mary Decker of the U.S. collide in the Olympic 3000 meters final and neither finish as medallist.
  • 12 – The Department of Internal Affairs of Johannesburg is hit by an explosion that causes minor damage.
  • 16 – Two Limpet mines destroy the second and third floors of the building in Roodepoort housing the South African Police HQ, Soweto East. The explosion injures the District Commander, four policemen and two civilians, causing R260,000 worth of damage.
  • 17 – A guerrilla is killed while resisting arrest in Mapetla.
  • 23 – Explosions at 18h30 destroy 4th floor offices belonging to the government in a building in Booysens, Johannesburg.
  • 24 – A bomb explodes at 17h30 in Anchor Life Building in Johannesburg. The explosion destroys the South African Railways Police regional offices and the Department of Internal Affairs offices.
    • September
  • 3 – Pieter Willem Botha becomes the 6th State President of South Africa.
  • 3 – A limpet mine placed by Mo Shaik explodes at 16h07 at the Department of Internal Affairs in Johannesburg.
  • 3 – During riots in the Vaal Triangle, instigated by the Vaal Civic Association (VCA) with support from the UDF and COSAS, councillors Caesar Motjeane and Kuzwayo Dlamini are doused with petrol and burned alive and the police resort to sharp ammunition to restore order.
  • 5 – An explosion destroys an Escom sub-station at Rustenburg and disrupts power to Rustenburg and a large area of Bophutatswana.
  • 7 – VCA vice-chairman Esau Raditsela admits to VCA chairman Lord McCamel and UDF leader Frank Chikane that the VCA had started the riots on 3 September, but the UDF continues to hold the government and police responsible.
  • 13 – A Limpet mine causes damage to a Durban sub-station.
  • 14 – A bomb explodes at 17h00 at the Department of Community Development in Krugersdorp.
    • October
  • 8 – South Africa, Mozambique and Renamo hold talks in Pretoria to end the civil war in Mozambique.
  • 16 – Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
    • December
  • 11 – A section of railway line near Durban is damaged by an explosion. A goods train is also damaged.
  • 14 – A guerrilla is killed and a policeman is injured in a skirmish in Ingwavuma.
  • 18 – Pik Botha, South African foreign minister and Siad Barre, President of Somalia hold talks in Mogadishu.
  • 25 – Another guerrilla is killed in Ingwavuma.
    • Unknown Date
  • The government imposes a state of emergency that would stay in place for six years.

    • Deaths

  • 30 January – Patrick McCall, member of the Stander gang, is killed by police in a raid on the gang's hide-out in Houghton, Johannesburg.
  • 18 May – Peter Becker, writer, ethnologist and advertising executive, dies after being hit by a car near Florence, Arizona.
  • 28 June – Jeannette Schoon and her six-year-old daughter, Katryn, are killed by a letter bomb at Lubango, Angola.
  • Bernard Gcwensa, artist, dies of tuberculosis at the Hiabisa mission station near St Lucia.

    • Locomotives

    Two new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR):

    Contents

  • The first of forty-five Class 6E1, Series 11 electric locomotives. These are the last of altogether 960 Class 6E1 locomotives to be built.
  • The first of twenty-five 25 kV AC Class 7E3, Series 2 electric locomotives.

    • Athletics

  • 31 March – Ernest Seleke wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:09:41 in Port Elizabeth.

    • Motorsport

  • 7 April – The South African Grand Prix takes place at Kyalami.

    • References

    1984 in South Africa Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA