6 February - A policeman is killed in attack at East London
10 February - Rocky Malebane-Metsing leads a group of dissatisfied members of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force and the National Executive Committee of the People's Progressive Party to stage a coup d'état in the Bantustan of Bophuthatswana
12 February - Two municipal policemen, guarding an installation, are injured when they are attacked by guerrillas
- A guerrilla opens fire on car driven by ex-Rhodesian soldier, now private security firm official, in Johannesburg
7 March - A guerrilla and a civilian is killed by police during a raid in Queenstown, six policemen are wounded in the raid
8 March - An attack by guerrillas on Phiri Hall police mess kills one policemen and wounds 10 others
12 March - A church-led opposition group headed by Desmond Tutu is banned
14 March - A bomb explodes at Johannesburg City Hall with no injuries
17 March - Mohammed Ichbahl and Aboobaker Ismail set up two bombs at the Krugersdorp magistrate’s court adjacent to the local police station, the first to serve as a decoy and the second, a car bomb, directed at security force personnel but, "unfortunately the decoy failed to explode, due to some malfunction". The car bomb explodes killing two South African Defence Force personnel and a civilian. Twenty other people were injured. South African police accused Hein Grosskopf of the attack, and acknowledged later that he had not been responsible.
18 March - Guerrillas attack a tavern in Atteridgeville frequented by policemen; three policemen are killed in the attack
12 April – In a Mpumalanga township, police corner a guerrilla who then kills himself and two policemen with a grenade. Police later kill a second guerrilla, a policeman is killed and three civilians wounded in the crossfire
15 April – A limpet mine explodes at the Atteridgeville Municipal offices
A bomb explodes prematurely outside Pretoria's Sterland cinema killing the carrier and injuring a bystander. According to an African National Congress guerrillas, the intended target was a nearby government building
19 April – An explosion at a private office block less than 100 m from Parliament damages a branch of Santam bank
22 April – A guerrilla ambushes a municipal police vehicle and wounds four policemen and one civilian in Soweto
25 April – A policeman, Sgt JM Mazibuku, is killed at bus stop in Newcastle by guerrillas
May
1 May - A special guard unit vehicle is attacked in Cape Town with no injuries
3–6 May - An ILO tripartite Conference on Action Against Apartheid is held in Harare, Zimbabwe
4 May - A limpet mine explodes against wall of the Kagiso Police single quarters
Representatives of South Africa, United States of America, Angola and Cuba meet in London to search for a solution to the Angolan war and independence for Namibia
10 May - A child is killed when a grenade is thrown at a policeman's home in Mamelodi by guerrillas
14 May - A guerrilla is killed when police raids his home in Newcastle
24 May - At the Germiston railway station, a guerrilla opens fire policemen and is killed when the police returned fire; three civilians were injured in crossfire
25 May - Two people are killed and 38 injured when a Sofasonke Party rally in Soweto comes under a grenade attack. The African National Congress denies knowledge and blames "armed political renegades"
26 May - A limpet mine detonates during lunch hour outside African Eagle Building in Pretoria, injuring four people from the Ruth Arndt Early Learning Centre
28 May - An explosive device explodes at the bottom of platform staircase at the Johannesburg railway station and injures 1 person
June
A bomb explodes near Soweto's Inhlanzani station with no injuries
3 June - An explosion occurs at the South African Irish Regiment HQ in Anderson Street, Johannesburg
A bomb explodes during lunch hour outside Standard Bank in Roodepoort, killing four and injuring eighteen civilians. According to an African National Congress guerrilla the target had not been civilians but a police station nearby and refuses to give details on what operational difficulties caused this incident.
5 June - A bomb is detonated while a train was standing at Saulsville railway station
20 June - A Ciskei policeman, W/O Swelindawo is injured in explosion at his home in Mdanstane
22 June - Ten people are killed when a limpet mine explodes at an amusement arcade in Winning Side Arcade in Johannesburg
26 June - A limpet mine is discovered and defused at Papagallo Restaurant in East London
27 June - Cuban MiG 23 jet fighters attack the Calueque Water Scheme - twelve South African soldiers die after a direct hit by bomb.
29 June - A bomb kills two South African Defence Force, two Prisons personnel and 13 civilians when it explodes at a cafe in Poynton building
An explosion outside home of member of Presidents Council, Dr Ismail Jajbhay in Lenasia occurs with no injuries
2 July - A car bomb, set by Harold Matshididi and Billy Agie Shoke, explodes near the gate of Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg and two people are killed and thirty-seven injured
5 July - A guerrilla is killed by police in a raid in Gugulethu
7 July - Trevor Manuel, Ebrahim Rasool, Mountrain Qumbela, Hilda Ndude and Mzonke Jacobsis are released from detention
3 August - A car bomb explodes outside the Wits Command, Johannesburg with no injuries
Five guerrillas are killed in two incidents in the Bridgewater area
4 August - A guerrilla is killed and one escapes in a police raid near the Wild Coast Sun hotel in Transkei
5 August - A limpet mine is discovered and safely detonated at the Morula Sun Casino
13 August - An explosion at the Hyde Park Shopping Centre, Johannesburg injures three people
19 August - A mini-limpet mine explodes within the Castle grounds in Cape Town
20 August - A grenade is thrown at the home of mayor, Eddie Makeba in Duncan Village
23 August - An explosion at lunch hour injures 23 people at the Wimpy (restaurant) on Oxford Street, East London
24 August - A limpet mine is discovered outside the Wimpy in Standerton and safely detonated
September
Trevor Manuel is detained for the third time and this time he is released only in 1989
A bomb goes off at the Laudium home of a Pretoria municipal election candidate
Three limpet mines in Lenasia explode at the offices of the Lenasia bus service, at the home of the Lenasia Management Committee and the offices of the House of Delegates
A bomb explodes at the King Williamstown Magistrates Court
A mini-limpet mine explodes at the Woodstock Police Station
A child is injured when the home of a municipal policeman attacked in Soweto
22 December South Africa, Angola and Cuba sign a tripartite agreement at UN headquarters in New York requiring the withdrawal of Cuban forces from Angola and the granting of independence to Namibia by South Africa.