2015 in South Africa

	2015 in South Africa
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Years in South Africa

The following lists events that took place in 2015 in South Africa.

Incumbents

• President – Jacob Zuma (African National Congress)
• Deputy President – Cyril Ramaphosa (African National Congress)

Events

January

• 5 – Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announces that the matric pass rate for 2014 had dropped by 2,4% to 75.8%, after reaching a record high of 78.2% in 2013.^[1]
• 19 – The Constitutional Court rules that a bulk SMS sent out by the Opposition Democratic Alliance before the 2014 general election, alleging that President Jacob Zuma "stole" R246 million of taxpayers' money to fund controversial upgrades to his private Nkandla homestead, was fair comment.^[2]
• 21 –The shooting of a 14-year old boy by a foreign national in Soweto spurs widespread unrest and looting of foreign-owned shops in the area, and leads to a resurgence of xenophobic violence in the country.^[3]

• 30 – Eugene de Kock, Commander of the South African Police counterinsurgency headquarters under the apartheid government, who was sentenced in 1996 to life imprisonment for crimes that included kidnapping and murder, is granted parole.^[4]

February

• 12 – President Jacob Zuma delivers his eighth State of the Nation Address amid several controversies, including the forced removal of Economic Freedom Fighters MPs by alleged Public Order Police,^[5] the jamming of cellphone signals,^[6] and the arrest of Democratic Alliance members protesting outside the Houses of Parliament.^[7]
• 23 – Leaked documents derived from communications between South Africa's State Security Agency and various agencies are published by Al Jazeera and The Guardian.^[8]

André Brink

March

• 1 – Multiple fires break out on the Cape Peninsula, damaging large expanses of vegetation and several houses.^[9]
• 17 – A group of University of Cape Town students demand the removal of a statue in honour of British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes on campus, claiming that the statue is offensive to black students.^[10] Their protests spurred calls for "transformation" in South African universities, including a proposed name change for Rhodes University in Grahamstown.^[11]
• 24 – The country sees a resurgence in xenophobic violence after Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini said at a gathering that foreigners residing in South Africa should "pack their belongings and go"; he said at a later stage that his comments were misunderstood, and called for a halt to violence towards immigrants. ^[12]

April

• 12 – Helen Zille announces that she will step down as leader of the Official Opposition Democratic Alliance after the party's national congress in May.^[13]

Deaths

• 23 January – Jackie Selebi (64), former National Police Commissioner convicted in August 2010 of corruption, racketeering and fraud.^[14]
• 6 February – André Brink (79), novelist, playwright and member of the Die Sestigers, a movement that utilised Afrikaans literature as a means to speak out against apartheid.^[15]
• 8 March – Colonel H.W. "Bees" Marais (71), experienced helicopter pilot, dies during a forced landing while water-bombing fires at Olifantsbos near Cape Point.^[16]
• 15 March – Collins Chabane, Minister of Public Service and Administration from 26 May 2014 until his death.^[17]

References