1994 in South Africa

See also: 1993 in South Africa, other events of 1994,1994 in South African sport,1995 in South Africa and the Timeline of South African history.

Events

January

• 16 January - The Pan Africanist Congress suspends its armed struggle

February

• 28 February - At midnight Walvis Bay was handed over Namibia
• Bophuthatswana public servants go on strike

March

• 1 March The African National Congress president Nelson Mandela and Inkatha Freedom Party leader Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi in Durban
• 5 March Weapons are stolen from the South African Air Force's 10 Air Depot at Voortrekkerhoogte
• 7 March President Lucas Mangope of Bophuthatswana, declears that the homeland's won't be registering for the April elections. Unrest breaks out and the Bophuthatswana Defence Force is called in
  • The Transitional Executive Council's law and order subcouncil recommends that Section 29 of the Internal Security Act and Section 206 of the Criminal Procedure Act be repealed immediately
• 8 March Closing date for submission of South Africa's new flag
  • The Transitional Executive Council threatens strong action against the Bophuthatswana government
• 9 March The Nokia 2110 is launched in South Africa at a cost of R4,199
  • Three people are killed and about 40 injured when police opened fire on demonstrators in Mmabatho, Bophuthatswana
  • Bophuthatswana President Lucas Mangope rejects the Independent Electoral Commission chairman Judge Johann Kriegler's plea for free political activity in the homeland
  • The staff of the Bophuthatswana Broadcasting Corporation is fired and the two television stations and three radio stations are closed down
  • The Inkatha Freedom Party, Freedom Front fail to submit their candidates' lists to the Independent Electoral Commission's offices in Johannesburg by the 4.30pm deadline
• 10 March President Lucas Mangope flees Mmabatho to Sun City
  • The Inkatha Freedom Party's central committee met in Ulundi and decided against participation in the April election
• 11 March Three Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) members are killed by the Bophuthatswana Defence Force
  • The South African Defence Force troops move into Bophuthatswana to protect the South African embassy
  • The Freedom Front submits its candidates' list but the Inkatha Freedom Party fails to meet the Independent Electoral Commission's new cut-off which means that the Inkatha Freedom Party would no longer be able to contest the April election
• 12 March Dr. Tjaart van der Walt is appointed as Bophuthatswana's new administrator
• 15 March Nelson Mandela and Professor Itumeleng Mosala (president of the Azanian People's Organisation), address separate rallies in Mmabatho
  • South Africa's new national flag is unveiled
• 16 March State President FW de Klerk announces that the government had made a number of contingency plans to prevent the right wing from attempting to take over authority over towns as part of their resistance against the new constitution
  • The Ciskei's government agrees to pay pension benefits to public servants who threatened "Bophuthatswana-style action" if their demands were not met
• 18 March Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini suggests that the Zululand region is on the point of a unilateral declaration of independence
• 21 March The Inkatha Freedom Party rejects an initiative by President De Klerk to bring it into the election and starts planning a campaign of opposition to the Interim Constitution and April's election
  • Prisoners begin countrywide protest for the right
    • 21 prisoners are killed in a cell fire at the Queenstown Prison
    • About 2,000 prisoners broke out of their cells and toyi-toyied in the courtyards at Pietermaritzburg Prison
    • 3,000 prisoners are also on hunger strike including 614 at East London, 29 at Krugersdorp, 148 at Port Shepstone, 16 at Pollsmoor (Cape Town) and 210 at Brandviel
  • A bomb explodes at the offices of the National Party in the right-wing town of Ventersdorp
• 22 March Ciskei military leader Brigadier Oupa Gqozo resigns
• 24 March State President FW de Klerk states that South African Defence Force troops could be deployed in KwaZulu-Natal
• 26 March Right-wingers march in Pretoria in a show of strength and the Afrikaner Volkstaat and Conservative Party leader Ferdi Hartzenberg addresses the marchers at Church Square
  • KwaZulu Chief Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi meets State President FW de Klerk for talks about contingency planning for strife-torn KwaZulu-Natal
  • The home of African National Congress regional premier candidate Jacob Zuma is torched by a mob in Nxamalala, near Inkandla, in northern KwaZulu-Natal
• 27 March Disgruntled nuclear and rocket scientists threaten to expose South Africa's closely guarded secrets about the arms programme unless they are paid R4.5-million in retrenchment benefits
  • South Africa is readmitted to the Olympic games by the International Olympic Committee
• 28 March More than 30 people are killed and hundreds injured in battles in the Johannesburg area as tens of thousands of Zulus converged on the city centre to demonstrate their support for King Goodwill Zwelithini
  • Shell House massacre were security guards at Shell House, the African National Congress HQ in Jeppe Street, Johannesburg, open fire on demostrators
  • More than 200 people are arrested in Phuthaditjhaba, QwaQwa after a march by thousands of public servants on the homeland's parliament deteriorated into violence and the South African Defence Force troops are sent in
• 29 March Mangosuthu Buthelezi states that the Inkatha Freedom Party will fight the African National Congress "to the finish" unless the elections are postponed
  • The Transitional Executive Council recommends emergency measures in KwaZulu-Natal

April

• South Africa establishes a Consulate-General in Mumbai, India
• India establishes a High Commission in Pretoria and opens a second Consulate-General in Durban
• 1 April A state of emergency is declared in KwaZulu-Natal
• 6 April A joint committee consisting of the Independent Electoral Commission, KwaZulu and the South African Government concludes that elections would be impossible in KwaZulu under present conditions.
• 8 April A meeting between the African National Congress president Nelson Mandela, King Goodwill Zwelithini, State President FW de Klerk and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi , chief minister of KwaZulu takes place at a secret venue
• 14 April International mediation to break the constitutional deadlock between the African National Congress and Inkatha Freedom Party fails
  • Television debate between FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela with no clear winner
  • Lesotho's Deputy Prime Minister, Selometsi Baholo, is shot dead by dissident soldiers during an apparent kidnapping attempt
• 15 April Five days of intensive meetings between Mangosuthu Buthelezi, FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela start with the Kenyan roving ambassador Professor Washington Okumu brokering the negotiations
• 18 April The Star's photographer, Ken Oosterbroek, is among several people killed during a firefight between hostel dwellers and National Peacekeeping Force troops in Tokoza
• 19 April Inkatha Freedom Party agrees to contest the first nonracial elections, to be held in a week time
• 24 April Nine people are killed and 92 injured in central Johannesburg when a 90kg car bomb explodes on the corner of Bree and Von Wielligh Streets outside the African National Congress regional and national headquarters just before 10am
• 25 April A bomb explodes at a taxi rank near the Randfontein station with no injuries
• 26 29 April the first democratic elections take place which the African National Congress wins

May

• 3 May - South Africa resumes full membership of the World Health Organisation
• 5 May - Bill Clinton, President of the United States, announces the doubling of $600 million United States assistance to South Africa over the next 3 years
• 6 May - South Africa establishes diplomatic relations with Ghana, Mali and Senegal
• 10 May Nelson Mandela is sworn in as the first President of South Africa and FW de Klerk and Thabo Mbeki become joint deputy presidents
• 25 May - The United Nations lifts its arms embargo on South Africa

August

• 22 August - South Africa and India sign a trade agreement

December

• 17 - 22 December - The African National Congress hold their 49th National Conference in Bloemfontein

Unknown date

• Trevor Manuel is selected by the World Economic Forum as a "Global Leader for Tomorrow"

Births

Deaths

• 18 April - Ken Oosterbroek, photographer for The Star, is killed in the crossfire during pre-election fighting in Thokoza
• 9 May - Elias Motsoaledi, political activist, dies after a long illness
• [22 May] - Aegidius Jean Blignaut, short story writer and creator of Hottentot Ruiter, dies in London, UK, at the age of 95.

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