1980 in South Africa
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The following lists events that happened during 1980 in South Africa.
Incumbents
- State President: Marais Viljoen.[1]
- Prime Minister: P.W. Botha.
- Chief Justice: Frans Lourens Herman Rumpff.
Events
- January
- 12 – The British Sports Council begins a fact-finding tour to investigate racial discrimination in South African sport.
- 14 – The local community at Soekmekaar resists forced removal and damages the police station.
- 25 – Four Umkhonto we Sizwe terrorists kill two civilians and hold bank staff and customers hostage in Silverton.[2]
- March
- 12 – The Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk and its three sister churches announce that they have no objection to reconsideration of the Immorality- and Mixed Marriages Acts.
- 12 – Nine people are sentenced to imprisonment for training as guerrillas and recruiting others.
- 26 – A mine lift cage at the Vaal Reefs gold mine falls 1.9 kilometres (1.2 miles), killing 23.
- Two insurgents are killed by police in Bophuthatswana while another escapes.
- April
- 4 – Umkhonto we Sizwe attacks the Booysens Police Station in Johannesburg with grenades, rocket launchers and AK47s.
- 21 – Over 60 coloured high schools, teacher training colleges and the University of the Western Cape begin class boycotts.
- 29 – In Johannesburg hundreds of coloured school children are arrested in terms of the Riotous Assemblies Act, 1956.
- May
- 2 – Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall is banned for fear that it may become a song of liberty by black pupils.
- 6 – Thozamile Botha, a Port Elizabeth activist, breaks his banning order and escapes to Maseru, Lesotho.
- 25 – The South African Defence Force attacks the town of Chifufua in Angola during Operation Sceptic.
- June
- 1 – Bombs explode at Sasol One and Two and Natref Eight at Sasolburg and Secunda, with no injuries and RM58 damage.
- 4 – Patrick Makau, Umkhonto weSizwe member, and his child die in a bomb attack in Manzini, Swaziland.
- Expelled African National Congress official Tennyson Makiwane is shot dead.
- August
- Special Branch policeman Detective-Sergeant T.G. Zondi is shot at in Sobantu Village.
- September
- 3 – Zimbabwe breaks diplomatic and consular relations with South Africa but maintains a commercial mission in Johannesburg.
- October
- 14 – The Soweto community calls for a stayaway to protest against rent increases.
- 15 – A bomb damages a railway line in Dube, Soweto and Minister Piet Koornhof visits the scene.
- 29 – Umkhonto we Sizwe insurgents throw grenades into the West Rand Administration Board buildings, injuring two.
- 30 – A bomb explodes at the Transkei consul's residence in Port Elizabeth, with no injuries.
- November
- 21 – A terrorist is killed in Chiawelo and a child is injured by police in the process.
Births
- 4 January – Justin Ontong, cricketer
- 6 June – Mmusi Maimane, politician and Democratic Alliance leader
- 3 July – Roland Schoeman, swimmer
- 12 August – Karin Kortje, singer
- 3 November – René Kalmer, long-distance runner
Deaths
- 24 February – Clement Martyn Doke, linguist. (b. 1893)
- 13 March – Lilian Ngoyi (Mma Ngoyi), dressmaker, activist and trade unionist. (b. 1911)
- 9 May – Kate Molale, activist. (b. 1928)
- 12 June – Billy Butlin, South African–born Canadian holiday camp entrepreneur. (b. 1899)
- 7 July – Johannes Meintjes, artist and writer. (b. 1923)
- 23 September – Jim Fouché, second State President. (b. 1898)
Railways
Locomotives
Three new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways:
- August – The first of 101 Class 36-200 General Motors Electro-Motive Division SW1002 diesel-electric locomotives. [3][4][5]
- The first of thirty Class 34-900 General Electric type U26C diesel-electric locomotives.[4][5]
- The first of fifty 25 kV AC Class 7E1 electric locomotives on the Richards Bay coal line.[4][5]
Sports
Athletics
- 11 October – Thompson Magawana wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:12:50 in Faure.
Motorsport
- 1 March – The South African Grand Prix takes place at Kyalami.
Rugby
- 10 May – The British and Irish Lions begin an 18-match tour of South Africa despite protests from anti-apartheid groups. The tourists lose three of the four Tests.
References
- ^ Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Heads of State: 1961-1994 (Accessed on 14 April 2017)
- ^ South African History Online - Silverton Siege 1980
- ^ Middleton, John N. (2002). Railways of Southern Africa Locomotive Guide - 2002 (as amended by Combined Amendment List 4, January 2009) (2nd, Dec 2002 ed.). Herts, England: Beyer-Garratt Publications. pp. 38, 44, 46.
- ^ a b c South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended
- ^ a b c Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 129–131, 140–143. ISBN 0869772112.
