1981 in South Africa explained

The following lists events that happened during 1981 in South Africa.

Incumbents

Events

January

25 - The largest part of the town Laingsburg is swept away within minutes by one of the strongest floods ever experienced in the Great Karoo.
30 - The South African Defence Force launches Operation Beanbag and raids a suspected Umkhonto we Sizwe safe area in the suburb of Matola, Maputo, Mozambique, killing 12 to 24 people. The numbers reported killed vary.

February

9 - Tuks FM (107.2FM), the University of Pretoria's campus radio station, is established.^[2]
Two people are injured when a bomb explodes in a Durban shopping centre.

April

1 - The South African Railways and Harbours changes its name to the South African Transport Services.
14 - A section of railway line between Richards Bay and Vryheid is destroyed by Umkhonto we Sizwe and coal trucks are derailed.
16 - Bishop Desmond Tutu is arrested and his passport is confiscated.
21 - Limpet mines explode and destroy two transformers at a sub-station in Durban.

May

6 - The railway in the Hoedspruit area is damaged.
14 - The United Nations General Assembly publishes a blacklist of 65 multi-national companies and some 270 sports persons who have links with South Africa.
21 - A bomb explodes and damages the Port Elizabeth rail link to Johannesburg and Cape Town.
25 - A pamphlet bomb explodes in Durban.
25 - The Fort Jackson Police station is attacked.
25 - The railway line near Soweto is damaged.
25 - The railway line on the Natal South Coast is damaged.
25 - Power lines are cut in Vrede.
25 - A series of terrorist actions in support of Republic Day protests are admitted by Umkhonto we Sizwe.
27 - A bomb explodes in Durban destroying a South African Defence Force recruiting building.^[3] ^[4]

June

1 - Three offices of the Progressive Federal Party are firebombed in Johannesburg, with no injuries.
4 - The police station in Meyerton is attacked by terrorists.
11 - The railway line on the Natal North coast is maliciously damaged.
16 - The railway line near East London is maliciously damaged.
26 - Two bombs explode at the Durban Cenotaph.
28 - The railway near Empangeni is maliciously damaged.
30 - Zwelakhe Sisulu, President of the Black Media Workers Association of South Africa, is arrested under the Internal Security Act.

July

3 - A limpet mine is found at the fuel storage yard in Alberton and defused.
21 - Six bomb explosions at sub-stations in Pretoria, Middelburg, and Ermelo disrupt power supply.
26 - Two bombs explode at 05:50 and 06:10 in central Durban. Three people are injured and extensive damage is caused to motor vehicle firms.

August

6 - A bomb explodes in an East London shopping complex minutes before rush hour.
8 - A bomb explodes in a Port Elizabeth shopping centre in similar manner to the East London bomb.
11 - The Voortrekkerhoogte Military Base outside Pretoria is attacked with RPG-7s. Two British citizens, Nicolas Heath and Bonnie Lou Muller, are identified as accomplices in the assault.
19 - The railway line near East London is maliciously damaged.
23 - The South African Defence Force attacks South-West Africa People's Organisation bases in Xangongo and Ongiva, southern Angola during Operation Protea.

September

2 - Two policemen and two civilians, one a child, are killed during an attack on Mabopane Police station.
12 - A bomb damages the main railway line at Delville Wood near Durban.

October

10 - Umkhonto we Sizwe attacks government offices of the Department of Co-operation and Development. Four civilians are injured.
21 - Umkhonto we Sizwe destroys a transformer in Evander and a water pipeline feeding Sasol III (Secunda CTL) in Secunda.
26 - Two policemen are killed during an attack on Sibasa Police station.

November

1 - The Jeppes Reef House near the Swaziland border, occupied by the South African Defence Force, comes under RPG-7 attack.
1 - The South African Defence Force attacks South-West Africa People's Organisation bases in Chitequeta, south-eastern Angola, during Operation Daisy.
9 - A bomb explodes at the Orlando Magistrates Court in Soweto.
12 - Rosslyn sub-station in Pretoria is damaged by 4 limpet mines.
27 - Cedric Mayson, a former Methodist minister, is arrested.

December

4 - South Africa grants Ciskei independence.
9 - The offices of the Chief Commissioner of the Department of Co-operation and Development in Cape Town is attacked.
14 - A Pretoria sub-station is bombed.
23 - Eastern Cape provincial buildings in Duncan Village are damaged in an Umkhonto we Sizwe attack.
26 - The Wonderboompoort Police station is attacked.

Unknown date

Trevor Manuel becomes the General Secretary of the Cape Areas Housing Action Committee.
Bulelani Ngcuka is detained by police for eight months.
A Security Police counter-insurgency unit is started by Dirk Coetzee, Jan Viktor and Jac Buchner with 16 police officers at Vlakplaas.

Births

13 January - Ayanda Borotho, actress
22 January - Khabonina Qubeka, actress, TV presenter, dancer, choreographer, fitness & wellness coach
1 February - Graeme Smith, cricketer
2 February - Marlene van Staden, politician (d. 2023)
3 February - Jo-Ann Strauss, 2001 Miss South Africa
10 February - Maggie Benedict, actress
11 February - Alexander Peternell, equestrian rider
15 February - Lee-Anne Pace, golfer
20 February
- Akona Ndungane, rugby player
- Odwa Ndungane, rugby player
24 February - Jean De Villiers, Springboks captain
26 February - Bridget Masinga, 3rd in the 2002 Miss South Africa pageant, actress, television and radio personality
3 March - Julius Malema, Member of Parliament and the founder & leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters
16 April
- Nasief Morris, football player
- Gareth Echardt, figure skater
4 May - Jacques Rudolph, cricketer
11 May - Terry Pheto, actress
21 May - Jacques le Roux, tenor singer
26 May - Zakes Bantwini, musician, recording artist and record producer.
29 May - Iain Evans, field hockey player
10 June - Albie Morkel, cricketer
12 June - Gurthrö Steenkamp, rugby player
19 June
- Quintin Geldenhuys, South African-born Italian rugby player
- Dorian James, badminton player
22 June - Linda Mkhize, rapper and producer (d. 2018)
6 July - Jenna Challenor, long-distance runner
30 July - Juan Smith, rugby player
4 September - Lesley Manyathela, football player (d. 2003)
8 September - Ashwin Willemse, rugby player & tv rugby analyst
29 September - Siyabonga Sangweni, football player
19 October - Lucas Thwala, football player
22 December - Tumi Morake, comedienne, actress & TV personality
26 December - Shu-Aib Walters, football player

Deaths

19 November - Griffiths Mxenge, activist. (b. 1935)

Railways

Locomotives

5 February - Rebuilding of the Class 26 4-8-4 steam locomotive, popularly known as the Red Devil, is completed at the Salt River Works in Cape Town.^[5]
Two new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways:
- May - One hundred Class 37-000 General Motors Electro-Motive Division type GT26M2C diesel-electric locomotives.^[6]
- The first of eighty-five Class 6E1, Series 9 electric locomotives.^[6]

Sports

Athletics

17 October - Mark Plaatjes wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:16:17 in Potchefstroom.

Rugby

30 May - The South African Springboks beat Ireland 23–15.
6 June - The Springboks beat Ireland 12–10.
14 August - The South African Springbok tour in New Zealand elicits protests.

Notes and References

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
Web site: History Retrieved 1 October 2010 . 25 June 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120102051023/http://www.tuksfm.co.za/Custom/history.html . 2 January 2012 . dead.
Web site: GTD ID:198105270005. Global Terrorism Database. 2023-11-09.
Web site: GTD ID:198105270006. Global Terrorism Database. 2023-11-09.
http://www.trainweb.org/tusp/wardale.html The Ultimate Steam Page
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