6 January – A truck crashes into a minibus and another vehicle on Van Reenen's Pass in KwaZulu-Natal, killing 18 people and seriously injuring an infant.[1]
15 January – At least 78 miners are confirmed dead and 246 others are rescued following the end of protracted rescue efforts at the closed Buffelsfontein mine in North West Province that began in July 2024.[3]
19 January – A bus crashes into a concrete centre barrier along the N2 highway between Nanaga and Makhanda in Eastern Cape, killing five people and injuring six others.[4]
27 January – A fire at the Booysens slum in Johannesburg destroys 1,500 homes and displaces hundreds of residents.[5]
13 March – South Africa announces the withdrawal of its military contingent from the Southern African Development Community peacekeeping mission to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.[14]
2 April – The Democratic Alliance votes against the passage of the government budget despite being part of the unity government. The budget passes with support from non-coalition member ActionSA.[16]
10 April – American pastor Joh Sullivan is abducted while conducting a church service in Gqeberha. He is rescued on 14 April following a shootout that leaves three of his kidnappers dead.[17]
25 April – A wildfire breaks out at Table Mountain in Cape Town, destroying 3,000 hectares of vegetation and prompting the evacuation of 200 residents.[19]
29 April – Five people, including three police officers, are found dead along the Hennops River near Pretoria.[20]
3 May – A minibus taxi and a pickup-truck collide head-on in the Eastern Cape, killing 15 people.[21]
8 May –
At least 123 vultures are killed in a mass poisoning caused by the consumption of an elephant carcass laced by poachers with pesticides at Kruger National Park.[22]
The bodies of Pretoria-based radio journalist Sibusiso Aserie Ndlovu and his partner, both of whom went missing on 18 February, are discovered in Limpopo Province.[23]
16 May – The World Anti-Doping Agency revokes the accreditation of Africa's only recognized drug-testing laboratory, located in Bloemfontein, citing "inability to satisfactorily address multiple nonconformities".[26]
22 May – An incident at a gold mine outside Johannesburg leaves over 260 miners stranded underground.[27][28]
17 June – A bus and a truck collide near Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, killing 12 people and injuring 30 others.[32]
23 June – A mini-bus taxi and a truck bus collide near Delmas, Mpumalanga, killing 10 people and injuring 24 others.[33]
25 June – The Pretoria High Court orders a suspension of the private burial of former president Edgar Lungu in South Africa amid a dispute between Lungu's family and the Zambian government over the funeral arrangements.[34]
13 July – Senzo Mchunu is suspended as police minister by President Ramaphosa amid allegations of the former's involvement with organized crime groups.[37]