1976 in South Africa
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The following lists events that happened during 1976 in South Africa.
Incumbents
- State President: Nico Diederichs.
- Prime Minister: John Vorster.
- Chief Justice: Frans Lourens Herman Rumpff.
Events
- January
- 5 – The SABC begins the country's first television service.
- March
- 27 – The South African Defence Force withdraws from Angola and concludes Operation Savannah.
- May
- 29 – Eskom announces that it will order two nuclear power stations from France.
- June
- 16 – Student riots break out in Soweto and Hector Pieterson, Hastings Ndlovu and two white officials of the West Rand Board are some of the casualties.
- 23 – Prime Minister John Vorster and United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger hold talks in West Germany over the Rhodesian issue.
- August
- 25–26 – Prime Minister John Vorster and President of Zambia Kenneth Kaunda meet at Victoria Falls.
- September
- 13 – The Cillié Commission of Inquiry into the 16 June riots in Soweto begins.
- 30 – Michael Lapsley, Anglican priest and social activist, arrives in Lesotho after his visa was not renewed in South Africa.
- October
- 26 – Transkei gains independence from South Africa.
- Unknown date
- Umkhonto we Sizwe's central operations headquarters is established and the process of establishing training camps in Angola begins with the establishment of Gabela Training Camp.
Births
- 16 January – Jonathan Solomons, South African football player
- 20 January – Ian Syster, long-distance runner (d. 2004)
- 30 January – Kaya Malotana, former rugby player & tv rugby analyst
- February – Johan Thom, visual artist
- 9 February – Colin Moss, actor and TV host
- 22 February – Faan Rautenbach, rugby player
- 2 March – Gaffie du Toit, rugby player
- 5 March – Wayne Denne, field hockey player
- 11 March – Black Coffee (DJ), DJ and record producer
- 30 March – Chantal Botts, badminton player
- 31 March – Thandiswa Mazwai, singer & songwriter
- 2 April – Rory Sabbatini, golfer
- 5 April – David Staniforth, field hockey goalkeeper
- 20 April – Calvin Marlin, football player
- 25 April – Breyton Paulse, rugby player
- 19 May – Zuluboy, rapper & actor
- 12 June – Stewart Carson, badminton player
- 3 July – Bobby Skinstad, Springboks captain
- 1 August – Lucky Lekgwathi, football player
- 24 August – DJ Tira, DJ, Record Producer and Businessman, founder of Afrotainment
- 11 September – Vuyo Dabula, actor
- 13 September – Linda Sokhulu, actress
- 3 October – Carl Beukes, actor
- 14 October – Tokollo Tshabalala, Kwaito musician, most well-known for being a member of music group TKzee
- 3 December – Mark Boucher, cricketer
- 15 December – Kabelo Mabalane, Kwaito musician, TV personality & Pastor
- 30 December – Ashley Callie, actress (d. 2008)
Deaths
- 19 March – Stuart Cloete, novelist, essayist and biographer (b. 1897)
- 26 April – Sid James, South African-born British actor (b. 1913)
- 16 June – Melville Edelstein, sociologist, killed due to Soweto uprising (b. 1919)
- 16 June – Hastings Ndlovu, Soweto uprising casualty (b. 1961)
- 16 June – Hector Pieterson, Soweto uprising casualty (b. 1963)
- 9 September – Ivan Mitford-Barberton, sculptor, writer and herald (b. 1896)
- 6 November – Sydney Skaife, entomologist and naturalist (b. 1889)
Railways
Locomotives
Three new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways:
- March – The first of one hundred Class 35-400 General Electric type U15C diesel-electric locomotives.
- September – The first of one hundred Class 35-600 General Motors Electro-Motive Division type GT18MC diesel-electric locomotives.
- The first of one hundred Class 6E1, Series 6 electric locomotives.