1979 in South Africa

* 1978
* 1977
* 1976
*   *

|  | 1979

South Africa |

* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
*   *

|
|
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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 1979 in South Africa.

## Incumbents

[edit]

* State President:
* John Vorster (until 4 June).[1]
* Marais Viljoen (acting from 4 June, elected from 19 June).[1]
* Prime Minister: P.W. Botha.
* Chief Justice: Frans Lourens Herman Rumpff.

## Events

[edit]

January

* 8 - South Africa and Lesotho sign a monetary agreement.
* 14 - Police clash with Umkhonto we Sizwe guerrillas near Zeerust and arrest one while six escape into Botswana.
* 23 - A bomb explodes near the New Canada railway station in Soweto.
* 24 - A large amount of explosives is found and defused on the railway line between Fort Beaufort and King William's Town.

February

* Sergeant Benjamin Letlako, a Police Special Branch member, is shot dead in Katlehong.

April

* Explosives are discovered and defused on a railway line near Soweto.

May

* 5 - Guerrillas open fire in the Moroka Police Station, killing one and wounding three more policemen and three civilians.
* 29 - Bishop Abel Muzorewa becomes the transitional Prime Minister of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.

June

* 4 - Following the Information Scandal, John Vorster resigns as State President of South Africa.[1]
* 4 - Marais Viljoen becomes acting State President of South Africa for the second time.[1]
* 19 - Marais Viljoen becomes State President of South Africa.[1]
* Explosives are discovered and defused on a railway line in the Eastern Transvaal.

September

* 22 - A Vela satellite detects a flash in the southern Atlantic Ocean, believed to be a South African-Israeli nuclear test.

November

* Guerrillas open fire and hurl grenades in the Orlando Police Station charge office, killing two policemen and wounding two.
* Grenades are thrown into the home of Special Branch policeman Lt Magezi Ngobeni and five children are wounded.

December

* A bomb explodes and damages the railway line near Alice.
* A bomb explodes at the Sasol Oil Refineries and cause massive structural damage.

Unknown date

* The National Council of Lawyers for Human Rights is established.
* The African National Congress's Special Operations, reporting directly to Oliver Tambo, is established.
* The African National Congress' Nova Catengue Training Camp is attacked and destroyed by the South African Air Force.

## Births

[edit]

* 8 January - Butch James, rugby player
* 10 January - Louise Carver, singer-songwriter, pianist
* 29 January - Mfuneko Ngam, cricketer
* 5 February - Steve Lekoelea, soccer player
* 14 February - Wesley Moodie, tennis player
* 23 February - Jaco van Zyl, golfer
* 25 February - Wikus van Heerden, rugby player
* 18 March - Bonnie Mbuli, actress
* 25 March - Kgomotso Christopher, actress and voice over artist best known for her time in Isidingo as Katlego Sibeko
* 6 April - Manaka Ranaka, actress
* 9 April - Ryan Cox, professional road racing cyclist. (d. 2007)
* 3 June - Deon Carstens, rugby player
* 23 June - Marilyn Agliotti, field hockey player
* 6 July - Zandile Msutwana, actress
* 10 July - Marius Joubert, rugby player
* 4 August - Robin Peterson, cricketer
* 12 September - Gcobani Bobo, rugby player
* 17 September - Neill Blomkamp, film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator.
* 22 September - Bakkies Botha, rugby player
* 9 October - Hendrik Odendaal, swimmer
* 11 October - Zonke, singer
* 21 November - Jason Hartman, singer-songwriter
* 16 December - Trevor Immelman, golfer
* 24 December - DJ Cleo, recording artist, DJ and record producer
* 28 December - Elvis Blue, singer, musician

## Deaths

[edit]

* 6 April - Solomon Mahlangu, Umkhonto we Sizwe operative hanged (b. 1956)
* 12 June - David Sibeko, Pan Africanist Congress representative to the United Nations. (b. 1938)
* 8 August - Lionel Cooper, mathematician. (b. 1915)
* 10 November - Harry Hart, athlete. (b. 1905)

## Railways

[edit]

Class 6E1, Series 8

### Locomotives

[edit]

* The South African Railways places the first of 105 Class 6E1, Series 8 electric locomotives in mainline service.[2][3]

## Sports

[edit]

### Motorsport

[edit]

* 3 March - The South African Grand Prix takes place at Kyalami.
* Jody Scheckter becomes Formula One World Champion.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Heads of State: 1961-1994 (Accessed on 14 April 2017)
2. ^ 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
3. ^ Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 128–129\. ISBN 0869772112.

* v
* t
* e

Years in South Africa (1901–present)

* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000

* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

* v
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* e

1979 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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