President: Nelson Mandela
Deputy President: Thabo Mbeki
February
26 – South Africa and Algeria restore diplomatic ties.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in his capacity as Grand President of the British Commonwealth Ex-Services League, visits South Africa.
March
11 – The trial of General Magnus Malan, former defence minister, and 19 co-accused begins in the Durban Supreme Court.
19 – Nelson Mandela formally ends his 38-year marriage to Winnie Mandela when the Rand Supreme Court grants him a divorce.
23 – Approximately 6,000 Inkatha Freedom Party supporters, armed with fighting sticks, spears, clubs and battle axes, rally in the Tugela Ferry area of Kwazulu Natal in defiance of a national ban on traditional weapons.
April
15 – The Truth and Reconciliation Commission begins its first formal hearings.
May
2 – South Africa and China exchange letters granting each other most-favoured-nation status.
8 – South Africa's new constitution is adopted by the Constitutional Assembly.
June
19 – Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina Gonzalez visits South Africa.
July
President Nelson Mandela visits the United Kingdom on a state visit.
August
Mimi Coertse receives the highest accolade an artist can receive from the Austrian government, the Oesterreichishe Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst.
September
6 – The Constitutional Court delivers judgment on the new constitution.
11 – A mining agreement on wages and working conditions is signed between the Chamber of Mines and the National Union of Mineworkers.
October
11 – The constitution is amended by the Constitutional Assembly.
30 – Eugene de Kock, a colonel in the South African Police force, is sentenced to 212 years in prison
General Magnus Malan, former defence minister, and 19 co-accused are acquitted on all charges relating to the massacre of 13 people in KwaMakhuta township south of Durban in 1987.
The first South African National Census since the end of apartheid is held.
December
4 – A number of agreements relating to culture, double taxation, fiscal evasion and a memorandum of understanding relating to defence equipment are signed by Thabo Mbeki, Deputy President of South Africa, on a state visit to India.
10 – The new constitution is signed into law.
Unknown date
Trevor Manuel is appointed Minister of Finance.
17 February – Sasha Pieterse, actress
22 April – Ilze Hattingh, tennis player
26 May – Lara Goodall, cricketer
15 January – King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho is killed in a car accident.
28 March – Siegfried Mynhardt, actor, dies in Johannesburg, aged 90.
4 August – Rashaad Staggie, Hard Livings (gang) leader, is killed by the vigilante group People Against Gangsterism and Drugs
16 December – Laurens van der Post, author, farmer, war hero, political adviser, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer and conservationist, dies at the age of 90.
25 February – Josia Thugwane wins his second national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:11:46 in Pinelands.
1996 in South Africa Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
