1975 in South Africa

* 1974
* 1973
* 1972
*   *

|  | 1975

South Africa |

* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
*   *

|
|
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Decades:|

* 1950s
* 1960s
* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s

See also:|

*   * List of years in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1975 in South Africa.

## Incumbents

[edit]

* State President:
* Jim Fouché (until 8 April).[1]
* Jan de Klerk (acting from 9 to 18 April).[1]
* Nico Diederichs (from 19 April).[1]
* Prime Minister: John Vorster.
* Chief Justice: Frans Lourens Herman Rumpff.

## Events

[edit]

February

* 28 – The FNLA approaches the South African Embassy in London and requests 40 to 50 artillery pieces to assist their cause in the Angolan Civil War.

March

* 15 – Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith and senior Ministers visit South Africa for talks.
* 19 – The Labour Party wins the second elections to the Coloured Persons' Representative Council.
* 21 – The Inkatha National Cultural Liberation Movement (Inkatha Yenkululeko Yezizwe) is founded by Zulu Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi.[2]
* 27 – The government announces that it will consolidate the 113 separate homeland areas into 36.

April

* 19 – Nico Diederichs becomes the 4th State President of South Africa.[1]
* 30 – The World Meteorological Organization suspends South Africa from membership because of racial discrimination.

May

* 6 – The government announces that it will provide all Black children with free and compulsory education.

June

* 25 – The People's Republic of Mozambique becomes independent from Portugal.

July

* The Progressive Party merges with the Reform Party, a faction of the United Party, to form the Progressive Reform Party.

August

* 25 – The Victoria Falls Conference between Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith and the United African National Council is held in a South African Railways coach on the Victoria Falls Bridge, officiated by Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda and South African Prime Minister John Vorster.
* The first Cuban forces arrive in Angola to join Russian personnel who are there to assist the MPLA who controls less than a quarter of Angolan territory.[2]
* The United States and Zaire request South Africa to provide training and support for the FNLA and UNITA.[2]

September

* 24 – Majors Kaas van der Wals and Holtzhausen, SADF liaison officers, are sent to Angola to assist UNITA.

October

* 14 – The SADF invades Angola during Operation Savannah in support of the FNLA and UNITA prior to the Angolan elections scheduled for 11 November.[3]

November

* 11 – The People's Republic of Angola becomes independent from Portugal.
* 13–28 – In the Battle for Ebo, SADF and Angolan forces clash at Ebo in the Cuanza Sul province of Angola.
* 19 – The United States Congress approves the Clark Amendment, ending aid to the FNLA and UNITA.
* 25 – A South African Air Force Cessna 185 is shot down south of Ebo, killing pilot 2nd Lieutenant Keith Williamson, co-pilot 2nd Lieutenant Eric Thompson and South African Army battalion third-in-command Captain Danie Taljaard.
* 28 – South African Navy frigates evacuate 26 SADF members from behind enemy lines at Ambrizete, 160 kilometres (99 miles) north of Luanda in Angola.

Unknown date

* Lillian Ngoyi's ban, confining her to Orlando Township in Johannesburg and forbidding her to attend any gatherings, is renewed for five years.
* The South West African Police Counter-Insurgency Unit, commonly known as Operation K, is launched.
* Operation Polo, South Africa's covert military intervention in the Rhodesian Bush War, begins.

## Births

[edit]

* 9 January – André Vos, rugby player
* 29 January – David Tlale, fashion designer and businessman.
* 2 February – Thinus Delport, rugby player
* 4 February – Sthandiwe Kgoroge, actress.
* 21 March – Corné Krige, rugby player.
* 27 March – Bruce Jacobs, field hockey player.
* 14 April – Raymond Seopa, professional footballer.[4]
* 16 April – Selborne Boome, rugby player.
* 23 June – Sibusiso Zuma, soccer player
* 2 July – Stefan Terblanche, rugby player.
* 7 July – Louis Koen, rugby player
* 17 July – Robbie Fleck, rugby player & coach.
* 31 July – Andrew Hall, cricketer
* 7 August – Charlize Theron, actress.
* 1 September – Winnie Ntshaba, actress.
* 11 September – Pierre Issa, soccer player
* 16 October – Jacques Kallis, all-rounder cricketer.
* 24 November – Neil McKenzie, cricketer
* 13 December – Bubu Mazibuko, actress.
* 17 December – Tim Clark, golfer.

Class 36-000 (GE SG10B)

## Deaths

[edit]

* 21 February – Pieter Voltelyn Graham van der Byl, politician (b. 1889)
* 8 May – Bram Fischer, former South African Communist Party leader. (b. 1908)

## Railways

[edit]

### Locomotives

[edit]

* June – The South African Railways places the first of 124 Class 36-000 General Electric type SG10B diesel-electric locomotives in service.[5][6][7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Heads of State: 1961-1994 (Accessed on 14 April 2017)
2. ^ a b c Jeffery, Anthea (2009). People's War - New Light on the Struggle for South Africa (1st ed.). Johannesburg & Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Publishers. pp. 11–12, 14–15\. ISBN 978-1-86842-357-6.
3. ^ Malan, Magnus (2006). My lewe saam met die SA Weermag (1st ed.). Pretoria: Protea Boekhuis. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-86919-113-9.
4. ^ "Raymond Seopa (Player)".
5. ^ 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
6. ^ 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, 43.
7. ^ Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 142–143\. ISBN 0869772112.

* v
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Years in South Africa (1901–present)

* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
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* 1907
* 1908
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* 1910
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* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
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* 2001
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* v
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1975 in Africa

Sovereign states|

* Algeria
* Angola
* Benin
* Botswana
* Burkina Faso
* Burundi
* Cameroon
* Cape Verde
* Central African Republic
* Chad
* Comoros
* Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Republic of the Congo
* Djibouti
* Egypt
* Equatorial Guinea
* Eritrea
* Eswatini
* Ethiopia
* Gabon
* The Gambia
* Ghana
* Guinea
* Guinea-Bissau
* Ivory Coast
* 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
* South Sudan
* Sudan
* Tanzania
* Togo
* Tunisia
* Uganda
* Zambia
* Zimbabwe

States with limited
recognition

* Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
* Somaliland

Dependencies and
other territories

* Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla (Spain)
* Madeira (Portugal)
* Mayotte / Réunion (France)
* Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)

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