1978 in South Africa

Incumbents

• State President:
  • Nico Diederichs (until 21 August).^[1]
  • Marais Viljoen (acting from 21 August until 9 October).^[1]
  • John Vorster (from 10 October).^[1]
• Prime Minister:
  • John Vorster (until 2 October).
  • P.W. Botha (from 9 October).

Events

January

• Former African National Congress member Steve Mtshali, state witness in various trials, is shot and wounded.

February

• 2 – Guerrillas attack the Daveyton police station.
• 2 – Kaiser Matanzima breaks all diplomatic ties with South Africa and announces that all South African Defence Force members seconded to the Transkei Army will leave Transkei by 31 March.
• 2 – The Eastern Cape Attorney-General refuses to prosecute policemen involved in the arrest and detention of Steve Biko.
• A bomb capable of destroying a 22 storey building is found in a Johannesburg office block and defused.

March

• 10 – A bomb explodes outside the offices of the Bantu Affairs building in Port Elizabeth, killing one civilian.

April

• 14 – Abel Mthembu, former deputy president of the ANC in the Transvaal, turns state witness at the Pretoria ANC trial.

May

• 4 – The South African Defence Force launches an airborne attack on Cassinga in Angola during Operation Reindeer.
• 4 – Azanian People's Organisation members Ishmael Mkhabela and Lybon Mabasa are arrested in Soweto.

August

• 21 – Marais Viljoen becomes acting State President of South Africa.^[1]
• 23 – Operation Saffraan, a South African Defence Force retaliatory raid, is carried out in Zambia.

September

• The African National Congress attempts to kill about 500 of its own cadres by poisoning their food because an infiltrated enemy agent could not be identified.^[2]

October

• 9 – P.W. Botha succeeds John Vorster as Prime Minister of South Africa.^[1][3]
• 10 – John Vorster becomes State President of South Africa.^[1]
• 31 – The South African Railways sets a still unbeaten world rail speed record.^[4][5]

December

• A bomb explodes at the Soweto Community Council offices.

Unknown date

• The South African Defence Force attacks several SWAPO bases in Angola during Operation Bruilof.
• The SADF's 32 Battalion moves into southern Angola to flush out SWAPO members during Operation Seiljag.
• George Bizos becomes a senior member of the Johannesburg Bar.
• The Atomic Energy Corporation builds South Africa's first nuclear weapon device.

Births

• 22 March – Heinz Winckler, singer.
• 3 April – John Smit, Springbok rugby player.

Deaths

• 8 January – Rick Turner, activist and academic. (b. 1941)
• 12 January – Monty Naicker, medical doctor and activist. (b. 1910)
• 6 July – Papwa Sewgolum, golfer. (b. 1930)
• 21 August – Nico Diederichs, State President of South Africa. (b. 1903)

Railways

Class 7E

Class 9E, Series 1

Locomotives

• Three new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways:
  • August – The first of 58 Class 34-800 General Motors Electro-Motive Division type GT26MC diesel-electric locomotives.^[5][6]
  • The first of one hundred Class 7E electric locomotives, the SAR's first 25 kV AC locomotive.^[4]
  • The first of twenty-five Class 9E, Series 1 electric locomotives, the SAR's first 50 kV AC locomotive, on the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore line.^[4][6]
• 31 October – SAR Class 6E1, Series 4 locomotive no. E1525 reaches a speed of 245 kilometres per hour (152 miles per hour) on a stretch of track between Westonaria and Midway, a still unbeaten world rail speed record on 3 feet 6 inches (1,067 millimetres) Cape gauge track.^[4][5]
• The SAR rebuilds Class 6E1, Series 5 no. E1600, a 3 kV DC electric locomotive, as a test-bed for use during 25 kV AC electrification.^[4]

Sports

Motorsport

• 4 March – The South African Grand Prix takes place at Kyalami.

References