1973 in South Africa explained

The following lists events that happened during 1973 in South Africa.

Incumbents

• State President: Jim Fouché.^[1]
• Prime Minister: John Vorster.
• Chief Justice: Newton Ogilvie Thompson.

Events

January

• 8  - Two South African policemen are killed and two injured in an explosion near the Zambezi River in north-western Rhodesia.
• 9  - the first strike of the 1973 Durban strikes occurs

February

• 1  - Venda and Gazankulu are granted self-government.

March

• Steve Biko is banned by the government.

july

• 7  - Afrikaner Resistance Movement was founded in ventersdorp

August

• 25  - Harry Schwarz wins the leadership of the United Party in the Transvaal, replacing Marais Steyn.

Unknown date

• The Natal Parks Board starts buying up farms to form the Itala Game Reserve.
• Michael Lapsley, an Anglican priest, arrives in South Africa.
• African and Arab states impose an oil embargo on South Africa.

Births

• 22 January  - Brandon Silent, football player & coach.
• 13 February  - Dino Quattrocecere, figure skater.
• 1 March  - Robert Marawa, sports journalist, sports commentator, television presenter and radio host.
• 5 March  - Dumisa Ngobe, football player
• 8 March  - Jill Brukman, backstroke and medley swimmer.
• 20 March  - Nicky Boje, cricketer.
• 15 April  - Werner Swanepoel, rugby player.
• 10 May  - Ollie Le Roux, rugby player.
• 31 May  - Amanda Taylor, synchronized swimmer.
• 16 July  - Shaun Pollock, former cricketer & commentator.
• 19 July  - Nathalie Boltt, actress.
• 29 July  - AJ Venter, rugby player.
• 25 August  - Nico Panagio, actor & tv presenter.
• 18 September  - Mark Shuttleworth, entrepreneur and space tourist.
• 29 October  - Adam Bacher, cricketer.
• 31 October  - Cobus Visagie, rugby player.
• 18 November  - Michele MacNaughton, field hockey player.
• 27 November  - Sharlto Copley, producer, actor, and director.
• 29 November  - Raphael Smith, screenwriter and songwriter.
• 16 December  - Themba Mnguni, football player.

Deaths

• 21 February  - Cecil Kellaway, actor. (b. 1890)

Railways

Locomotives

Two new Cape gauge and one narrow gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways:

• April  - The first of one hundred Class 34-400 General Electric (GE) type U26C diesel-electric locomotives.^[2]
• The first of one hundred Class 6E1, Series 4 electric locomotives.^[2]
• September–December  - Twenty Class 91-000 GE type UM6B narrow gauge diesel-electric locomotives on the Avontuur Railway.^[2]

Notes and References

1. http://www.archontology.org/nations/south_africa/sa_pres1/ Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Heads of State: 1961-1994
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