1977 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1977 in South Africa.

Incumbents

 * State President: Nico Diederichs.
 * Prime Minister: John Vorster.
 * Chief Justice: Frans Lourens Herman Rumpff.

Events

 * January
 * 8 – The railway line near Soweto is maliciously damaged.


 * February
 * 1 – KwaZulu is granted self-governance.
 * 24 – A bomb explodes at the Daveyton Police Station, causing only superficial damage.


 * March
 * 5 – British Formula One driver Tom Pryce dies during the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami when his car strikes and kills marshal Frederik Jansen van Vuuren.
 * 7 – A Pretoria restaurant is destroyed by a bomb.


 * April
 * 1 – Pik Botha, South Africa's ambassador in the United States of America, is appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs.


 * June
 * 4 – Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa is served a 5-year restriction order.
 * 15 – Monty Motlaung and Solomon Mahlangu, two Umkhonto we Sizwe cadres, kill two civilians and are arrested.
 * 29 – The United Party is renamed the New Republic Party.


 * July
 * 15 – The railway line at Umlazi in Durban is maliciously damaged.
 * 29 – The Antipolis, a Greek oil tanker, runs aground on the rocks near Victoria Road in Oudekraal, Cape Town.


 * August
 * A Soviet surveillance satellite detects South Africa's nuclear test preparations and alerts the United States.
 * Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko is detained for breaking a banning order.


 * September
 * 23 – The Netherlands suspends its cultural agreement with South Africa.


 * November
 * 4 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 418 places a mandatory arms embargo against South Africa.
 * 25 – Fourteen people are injured when a bomb explodes at the Carlton Centre.
 * 30 – A bomb explodes on a Pretoria-bound train.
 * 30 – A whites only general election is held. The National Party wins.
 * The railway at Dunswart (Boksburg) and Apex (Benoni) is maliciously damaged and a train driver is slightly injured.


 * December
 * 12 – Guerrillas attack the Germiston police station.
 * 14 – A bomb explodes at the Benoni railway station.
 * 16 – The Venpet-Venoil collision between two supertankers occurs off the coast of Cape St. Francis.
 * 22 – An unexploded bomb is found in OK Bazaars in Roodepoort.


 * Unknown date
 * Former members of the United Party join the Progressive Reform Party, which is renamed the Progressive Federal Party.
 * Cedric Mayson, a Methodist minister, is banned for 5 years.

Births

 * 20 January – Paul Adams (cricketer), cricketer
 * 21 January – Bradley Carnell, football player
 * 30 January – Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, national minister
 * 31 January – David Terbrugge, cricketer
 * 14 February – Elmer Symons, motorcycle enduro racer (d. 2007)
 * 6 March – Khoto Sesinyi, Mosotho footballer
 * 14 March – Matthew Booth (soccer), soccer player
 * 24 April – Zola (musician), musician, poet, actor and presenter.
 * 11 May – Victor Matfield, Springbok rugby player
 * 21 May – Quinton Fortune, soccer player & coach
 * 13 June – Stanton Fredericks, soccer player
 * 18 June – Riaad Moosa, comedian, actor and doctor
 * 6 July – Makhaya Ntini, cricketer
 * 12 August – Zanne Stapelberg, soprano singer
 * 26 August – Gareth Cliff, radio host, television personality and businessman
 * 2 October – Justin Kemp, cricketer
 * 21 October – Brett Goldin, actor (d. 2006)
 * 12 November – Benni McCarthy, soccer striker & coach
 * 12 November – Susan Wessels-Webber, hockey player
 * 17 November – Ryk Neethling, swimmer
 * 25 November – MacBeth Sibaya, soccer player
 * 2 December – Siyabonga Nomvethe, soccer player
 * 7 December – Delron Buckley, footballer

Deaths

 * 29 January – Buster Nupen 75, cricketer. (b. 1902)
 * 20 February – Christoffel Venter 84, South African Air Force general. (b. 1892)
 * 5 March – Tom Pryce 27, a Welsh racing driver, (b. 1949) killed during the 1977 South African Grand Prix in Midrand
 * 8 March – Moses Kottler, sculptor. (b. 1896)
 * 12 September – Steve Biko 30, black consciousness activist. (b. 1946)

Locomotives

 * The South African Railways places the first of 150 Class 6E1, Series 7 electric locomotives in mainline service.

Motorsport

 * 5 March – The South African Grand Prix takes place at Kyalami.