1996 in South Africa

Decades:	1970s; 1980s; 1990s; 2000s; 2010s;
See also:	1996 in South African sport; List of years in South Africa;

The following lists events that happened during 1996 in South Africa.

Incumbents

The Cabinet, together with the President and the Deputy President, forms part of the Executive.

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.

11 – The trial of General Magnus Malan and 19 co-accused begins in the Durban Supreme Court.
19 – President Nelson Mandela is granted a divorce from Winnie Mandela in the Rand Supreme Court.
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.

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.
9 – The National Party withdraws from the coalition government, giving the African National Congress full political control.

4 – Rashaad Staggie, Hard Livings gang leader, is killed by the vigilante group People Against Gangsterism and Drugs.^[2]
Mimi Coertse receives the highest accolade an artist can receive from the Austrian government, the Oesterreichishe Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst.

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.

11 – The constitution is amended by the Constitutional Assembly.
30 – Colonel Eugene de Kock of the South African Police is sentenced to 212 years in prison.
General Magnus Malan 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.

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.

Bafana Bafana wins African Cup of Nation.

25 February – Josia Thugwane wins his second national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:11:46 in Pinelands.

v t e 1996 in Africa
Sovereign states	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zaire Zimbabwe
States with limited recognition	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Somaliland
Dependencies, colonies and other territories	Ascension Island Mayotte Réunion Saint Helena Tristan da Cunha Western Sahara