1961 in South Africa

[[Image:Flag of South Africa 1928-1994.svg\|border\|35px\|alt=	link=South Africa]]	1961 in South Africa	[[Image:Flag of South Africa 1928-1994.svg\|border\|35px\|alt=	link=South Africa]]
1958 1959 1960 « 1961 » 1962 1963 1964

List of years in South Africa

Incumbents

State President: Charles Robberts Swart (starting 31 May)

Events

February

14 – Decimalisation of currency replaces the South African pound with the South African rand.^[1]

March

15 – South Africa withdraws from the Commonwealth.
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions submits a memorandum to the United Nations General Assembly calling for economic sanctions against South Africa.

May

30 – Charles Robberts Swart resigns as Governor-General of South Africa.
31 – South Africa becomes a republic.
31 – Charles Robberts Swart becomes the first State President of South Africa.

June

4 – The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hassim Jawad, announces that Iraq will not recognise the South African government because of its apartheid policies.

October

The National Party wins the South African election, winning 105 of 160 seats in Parliament.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the president of the African National Congress, Dr Albert Luthuli.

November

Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress, is established.^[2]

December

16 – Umkhonto we Sizwe commences its sabotage campaign with a bomb attack on the Durban office of the Department of Bantu Administration and Development.^[2]

Unknown date

Eendrag Men's Residence opens its doors to students of Stellenbosch University.
Mimi Coertse is awarded the Medal of Honour of Die Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns.
The Department of Indian Affairs is established.

Births

1 February - Jeremy Maggs, TV personality
4 March - Roger Wessels, golfer
10 April - Tian Viljoen, tennis player
16 April - Schalk van der Merwe, tennis player
1 May - Christo Steyn, tennis player
23 June - Ivan Wingreen, cricketer (died 2014)
30 August - Brian Mitchell, boxer
6 September - Adolf Malan, rugby union player
28 September - Wayne Westner, golfer
10 October - Jonathan Butler, singer-songwriter and guitarist
14 October - Kevin Moir, tennis player
5 December - Ada Booyens, race walker

Sports

Rugby

13 May – The South African Springboks beat Ireland 24-8.

References

↑ Heffermann, Lutz (1997). The South African Stamp Colour Catalogue (21st ed.). Lutz Heffermann, Johannesburg. p. 58.
1 2 Jeffery, Anthea (2009). People's War - New Light on the Struggle for South Africa (1st ed.). Johannesburg & Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-86842-357-6.

1961 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 Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) 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 Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe

States with limited recognition	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Somaliland

Dependencies and other territories	Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla / Plazas de soberanía (Spain) Madeira (Portugal) Mayotte / Réunion (France) Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, June 18, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.