1981 in South Africa

Decades:	1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s; 2000s;
See also:	; List of years in South Africa;

The following lists events that happened during 1981 in South Africa.

Incumbents

Events

January

25 – The largest part of the town Laingsburg is swept away within minutes by one of the strongest floods ever experienced in the Great Karoo.
30 – The South African Defence Force launches Operation Beanbag and raids a suspected Umkhonto we Sizwe safe area in the suburb of Matola, Maputo, Mozambique, killing 12 to 24 people. The numbers reported killed vary.^[2]

February

9 – Tuks FM (107.2FM), the University of Pretoria's campus radio station, is established.^[3]
Two people are injured when a bomb explodes in a Durban shopping centre.

April

1 – The South African Railways and Harbours changes its name to the South African Transport Services.
14 – A section of railway line between Richards Bay and Vryheid is destroyed by Umkhonto we Sizwe and coal trucks are derailed.
16 – Bishop Desmond Tutu is arrested and his passport is confiscated.
21 – Limpet mines explode and destroy two transformers at a sub-station in Durban.

May

6 – The railway in the Hoedspruit area is damaged.
14 – The United Nations General Assembly publishes a blacklist of 65 multi-national companies and some 270 sports persons who have links with South Africa.
21 – A bomb explodes and damages the Port Elizabeth rail link to Johannesburg and Cape Town.
25 – A pamphlet bomb explodes in Durban.
25 – The Fort Jackson Police station is attacked.
25 – The railway line near Soweto is damaged.
25 – The railway line on the Natal South Coast is damaged.
25 – Power lines are cut in Vrede.
25 – A series of terrorist actions in support of Republic Day protests are admitted by Umkhonto we Sizwe.
27 – A bomb explodes in Durban destroying a South African Defence Force recruiting building.^[4]^[5]

June

1 – Three offices of the Progressive Federal Party are firebombed in Johannesburg, with no injuries.
4 – The police station in Meyerton is attacked by terrorists.
11 – The railway line on the Natal North coast is maliciously damaged.
16 – The railway line near East London is maliciously damaged.
26 – Two bombs explode at the Durban Cenotaph.
28 – The railway near Empangeni is maliciously damaged.
30 – Zwelakhe Sisulu, President of the Black Media Workers Association of South Africa, is arrested under the Internal Security Act.

July

3 – A limpet mine is found at the fuel storage yard in Alberton and defused.
21 – Six bomb explosions at sub-stations in Pretoria, Middelburg, and Ermelo disrupt power supply.
26 – Two bombs explode at 05:50 and 06:10 in central Durban. Three people are injured and extensive damage is caused to motor vehicle firms.

August

6 – A bomb explodes in an East London shopping complex minutes before rush hour.
8 – A bomb explodes in a Port Elizabeth shopping centre in similar manner to the East London bomb.
11 – The Voortrekkerhoogte Military Base outside Pretoria is attacked with RPG-7s. Two British citizens, Nicolas Heath and Bonnie Lou Muller, are identified as accomplices in the assault.
19 – The railway line near East London is maliciously damaged.
23 – The South African Defence Force attacks South-West Africa People's Organisation bases in Xangongo and Ongiva, southern Angola during Operation Protea.

September

2 – Two policemen and two civilians, one a child, are killed during an attack on Mabopane Police station.
12 – A bomb damages the main railway line at Delville Wood near Durban.

October

10 – Umkhonto we Sizwe attacks government offices of the Department of Co-operation and Development. Four civilians are injured.
21 – Umkhonto we Sizwe destroys a transformer in Evander and a water pipeline feeding Sasol III (Secunda CTL) in Secunda.
26 – Two policemen are killed during an attack on Sibasa Police station.

November

1 – The Jeppes Reef House near the Swaziland border, occupied by the South African Defence Force, comes under RPG-7 attack.
1 – The South African Defence Force attacks South-West Africa People's Organisation bases in Chitequeta, south-eastern Angola, during Operation Daisy.
9 – A bomb explodes at the Orlando Magistrates Court in Soweto.
12 – Rosslyn sub-station in Pretoria is damaged by 4 limpet mines.
27 – Cedric Mayson, a former Methodist minister, is arrested.

December

4 – South Africa grants Ciskei independence.
9 – The offices of the Chief Commissioner of the Department of Co-operation and Development in Cape Town is attacked.
14 – A Pretoria sub-station is bombed.
23 – Eastern Cape provincial buildings in Duncan Village are damaged in an Umkhonto we Sizwe attack.
26 – The Wonderboompoort Police station is attacked.

Unknown date

Trevor Manuel becomes the General Secretary of the Cape Areas Housing Action Committee.
Bulelani Ngcuka is detained by police for eight months.
A Security Police counter-insurgency unit is started by Dirk Coetzee, Jan Viktor and Jac Buchner with 16 police officers at Vlakplaas.

Births

13 January – Ayanda Borotho, actress
22 January – Khabonina Qubeka, actress, TV presenter, dancer, choreographer, fitness & wellness coach
1 February – Graeme Smith, cricketer
2 February – Marlene van Staden, politician (d. 2023)
3 February – Jo-Ann Strauss, 2001 Miss South Africa
10 February – Maggie Benedict, actress
11 February – Alexander Peternell, equestrian rider
15 February – Lee-Anne Pace, golfer
20 February
- Akona Ndungane, rugby player
- Odwa Ndungane, rugby player
24 February – Jean De Villiers, Springboks captain
26 February – Bridget Masinga, 3rd in the 2002 Miss South Africa pageant, actress, television and radio personality
3 March – Julius Malema, Member of Parliament and the founder & leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters
16 April
- Nasief Morris, football player
- Gareth Echardt, figure skater
4 May – Jacques Rudolph, cricketer
11 May – Terry Pheto, actress
21 May – Jacques le Roux, tenor singer^{[citation needed]}
26 May – Zakes Bantwini, musician, recording artist and record producer.
29 May – Iain Evans, field hockey player
10 June – Albie Morkel, cricketer
12 June – Gurthrö Steenkamp, rugby player
19 June
- Quintin Geldenhuys, South African-born Italian rugby player
- Dorian James, badminton player
22 June – Linda Mkhize, rapper and producer (d. 2018)
6 July – Jenna Challenor, long-distance runner
30 July – Juan Smith, rugby player
4 September – Lesley Manyathela, football player (d. 2003)
8 September – Ashwin Willemse, rugby player & tv rugby analyst
29 September – Siyabonga Sangweni, football player
19 October – Lucas Thwala, football player
22 December – Tumi Morake, comedienne, actress & TV personality
26 December – Shu-Aib Walters, football player

Deaths

19 November – Griffiths Mxenge, activist. (b. 1935)

Railways

Locomotives

5 February – Rebuilding of the Class 26 4-8-4 steam locomotive, popularly known as the Red Devil, is completed at the Salt River Works in Cape Town.^[6]
Two new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways:
- May – One hundred Class 37-000 General Motors Electro-Motive Division type GT26M2C diesel-electric locomotives.^[7]^[8]
- The first of eighty-five Class 6E1, Series 9 electric locomotives.^[7]^[9]

Sports

Athletics

17 October – Mark Plaatjes wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:16:17 in Potchefstroom.

Rugby

30 May – The South African Springboks beat Ireland 23–15.
6 June – The Springboks beat Ireland 12–10.
14 August – The South African Springbok tour in New Zealand elicits protests.

References

^ Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Heads of State: 1961-1994 (Accessed on 14 April 2017)
^ Jeffery, Anthea (2009). People's War - New Light on the Struggle for South Africa (1st ed.). Johannesburg & Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Publishers. p. 54. ISBN 978-1-86842-357-6.
^ "History Retrieved 1 October 2010". Archived from the original on 2 January 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
^ "GTD ID:198105270005". Global Terrorism Database. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
^ "GTD ID:198105270006". Global Terrorism Database. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
^ The Ultimate Steam Page
^ ^a ^b South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended
^ Middleton, John N. (2002). Railways of Southern Africa Locomotive Guide - 2002 (as amended by Combined Amendment List 4, January 2009) (2nd, Dec 2002 ed.). Herts, England: Beyer-Garratt Publications. pp. 38, 44.
^ Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 128–129. ISBN 0869772112.