This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. It is the product of almost two decades of research and includes analyses, chronologies, historical documents, and interviews from the apartheid and post-apartheid eras.
1984
Sisulu awarded honourary degree from University of York in Canada.
P.W. Botha and Samora Machel sign the Nkomati Accord.
Bishop Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Troops and police had moved into the townships at the end of 1984 engaged in running battles with youths - armed with stones and petrol bombs - in an effort to re-establish control.
Fietas, Johannesburg: A 'white' resident of Pageview lodges a complaint about the 'azaan', the Islamic call to prayer, which is supposed to be read aloud from the mosque to call the faithful to perform their prayers at the mosque. A compromise is reached where the public address system of the mosque is turned down to a volume that cannot be considered a public disturbance.
Fietas, Johannesburg: The last remaining trader in Pageview, Baba Saheb, leaves Pageview and his family's butcher shop to move to Lenasia. He was locked out of his shop following an eviction order, which he had ignored. The matter had been taken to court and the Department of Community Development was ordered to open the shop, but left with few options Mr. Saheb and his family moved.
Fietas, Johannesburg: The Department of Community Development demolishes the wrong house. In Pageview many of the houses are attached to each other and in this case, instead of demolishing the correct house, the Department destroyed the neighbouring house, owned by Mr. Ahmed Cassim.
KaNgwane proclaimed a self-governing territory.
Public Service Act No 111:
Provided for the organisation and administration of the public service, and laid down terms of office and conditions of employment and discharge for members of the public service.
Assent gained: 12 July 1984; commencement date not found
Repealed by s 43 of Proc 103 of 1994.
Industrial Conciliation Act No 8:
Prohibited unions with head offices outside the homeland from organising within the homeland. COSATU continued despite these restrictions.
Commenced: 1 July 1983
Diplomatic Privileges Act No 4:
Regulated the recognition of diplomats and privileges afforded in reciprocity.
Commenced: 22 February 1985
Gazankulu: Application of Laws to Added Areas Amendment Act No 7:
Commenced: 25 October 1985
Commission of Inquiry into South African Council of Churches
Mandate: To inquire into and report on –
a)the inception, development, objects and activities of the South African Council of Churches, including the way it functions and is managed;
b) the way in which the South African Council of Churches and individuals connected with it solicit or obtain money and assets (at present or in the past), the purpose for which these funds are used and the organisations and individuals from or through whom they are solicited or received.
c)any other matter pertaining to the South African Council of Churches, its present and past office bearers or officers and other persons connected with it, on which the Commission is of the opinion that a report should be made in the public interest.
Date of Report: 1984
Chair: ELOFF, C.F.
Ref: RP 74/1983
Commission of Inquiry into Township Establishment and Related Matters
Mandate: To inquire into, report on and make recommendations regarding –
a)methods and proposals for the accelerated provision of affordable new housing by giving particular attention to simplifying and expediting township establishment by, for instance, removing or streamlining any impeding legislation and regulations;
b)ways of transferring land to competent institutions, or any other measures in cases where township establishment does not proceed as desired;
c) ways to facilitate efficient use of land, for example by relaxing some of the restrictions on the subdivision or the placing of more than one housing unit on an erf or holding; and d) any other methods which may promote the provision of sufficient residential erven and reduce their cost.
Date of Report: 29 March 1983
Chair: VENTER, A.A.
Ref:RP 20, 21 and 54/1984
First report: RP 20/1984.
Second report: RP 21/1984.
Third report: RP 54/1984.
The elections in the (Coloured) House of Representatives had a poll of 18,1% of eligible voters, the percentage poll in the (Indian) House of Delegates was 16,2% of eligible voters, this was a result of the campaigning against the election by black political organisations.
50 members of community councils resigned after pressure from students, youth and civic organisations. There were 30 petrol bomb attacks against community councillors. 99-year leasehold rights for African people were extended to the Western Cape. There were 58 incidents of sabotage. 469 strikes occurred involving 181 942 workers. 300 families in Mogopa in Western Transvaal were forcibly removed from their ancestrial homes.
50,13% of pupils in the Department of Education and Training passed their matriculation examinations.
The ban on all outdoor meetings was renewed for another year.
530 people were detained in terms of security legislation. Another 1127 people were detained under other laws.
Sergeant Jan Harm van As was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the death in detention of Paris Malatji. This was the first conviction for a death in detention.
Some political prisoners released were Heman Andimba Toivo ja Toivo, David Kitson and Dorothy Nyembe.
The National Policy for General Education Affairs Act is passed. This brings education structures into line with the new constitution of 1983. A 'general affairs' education department is set up to oversee finance, teachers' salaries and registration, and curricula. 'Own affairs' Departments of Education and Culture are set up for whites, coloureds and Indians. African education remains under the DET. Education in the ten 'homelands' fall under their own departments.
Sister Bernard Ncube elected President of FEDTRAW (Federation of Transvaal Women)
Mamphela Rampele enters South African Development Research Unit of UCT as research fellow. Appointed senior research officer in Dept of Social Anthropology, obtains PHD.
January 1984
Sisulu is throughly examined by a specialist physician, Dr. Dawid Le Roux. Sisulu is declared healthy except for the normal infirmities of old age and that his left eye is very weak. Offer of conditional release rejected.
1 January 1984
Lebowa: Royal Allowance Act No 3:
Commenced: 1 January 1984
4 January 1984
The (Coloured) Labour Party opts for an election for the eighty representatives to the Coloured House of Representatives, without first holding a referendum.
8 January 1984
South African security forces begin withdrawal from southern Angola.
16 January 1984
A second series of meetings is held between South Africa and Mozambique in Pretoria and in Maputo. Four working groups discuss security matters and economic relations.
26 January 1984
The South African Indian Council (SAIC) calls for a referendum in the Indian community on the acceptability of the Constitution.
February 1984
Herman Toivo Ja Toivo released from prison in Namibia.
14 February 1984
Elections for the Coloured and Indian Parliament under the new Constitution are announced by the government. They are to be held on 22 August 1984; with nomination day likely to be 16 July 1984.
15 February 1984
By-elections are held for two seats in the House of Assembly. The Northern Transvaal seat is won by the CP, the Natal seat is retained by the PFP. Both results are disappointments for the National Party.
The judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Activities of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) accuses it of pursuing strategies of resistance to government policies and of identifying with the liberation struggle. However, it stops short of recommending a total ban on foreign funding, as requested by the Commissioner of Police.
20 February 1984
At the end of the third meeting between Mozambique and South Africa, in Maputo, a joint statement is released announcing that the two countries have agreed on the central principles concerning security arrangements between them; and that they intend to enter into a formal agreement in this regard.
27 February 1984
The recommendations of the Strydom Committee on the Group Areas Act and related laws - that central business districts in major centres be opened to all race groups - welcomed by city councils, the Association of Chambers of Commerce and other organisations.
10 March - 11 March 1984
The ANC mounts a sabotage attack on a petrol depot in which five storage tanks are damaged.
14 March 1984
The nuclear power station at Koeberg becomes operational.
16 March 1984
President Samora Machel of Mozambique and Prime Minister Botha, sign the Nkomati Accord, a non-aggression and good-neighbourliness pact, on the border between the two countries.
16 March 1984
Agreement on Non-aggression and Good Neighbourliness signed by South Africa and Mozambique (Nkomati Accord).
16 March 1984
On 16 March Mocambique and South Africa signed the Nkomati peace accord.
17 March 1984
A Defence Force spokesman confirms in Cape Town that South Africa is to stop supplying the United States and Britain with intelligence reports on the movements of Soviet warships around the Cape by the end of the year.
23 March 1984
Dorothy Nyembe is released and participates in activities of Natal Organization of Women (NOW).
24 March 1984
The harbour of Richards Bay is to be extended at a cost of approximately $75 million.
26 March 1984
The Mozambique-South Africa Joint Security Commission meets for the first time in Maputo, as further raids are carried out against ANC houses and offices by the Mozambican authorities.
31 March 1984
It is disclosed that South Africa and Swaziland signed a non-aggression pact in February 1982. The two countries now also agree to exchange trade representatives and to establish trade missions in their respective countries.
April 1984
Walter Sisulu writes a letter to Lindiwe about Matanzima's release plans.
1 April 1984
South Africa recalls its ambassador to Britain for urgent consultations, after four South Africans and a Briton are charged in Coventry with illegally exporting military equipment to South Africa.
1 April 1984
Black Communities Development Act No 4:
Introduced freehold ownership (Budlender 1989: 5). The Act stated that only a 'competent person' could lease or rent property. A person was 'competent' if she/he had section 12 rights in terms of the 1945 Natives (Urban Areas)Consolidation Act. (For further information see RRS 1984: 161-3.)
This Act provided for purposeful development of black communities outside the national states and amended and consolidated certain laws which applied to such communities.
Commenced: 1 April 1984, except s 55: to be proclaimed; ss 56 & 57: 1 November 1985
Repealed by s 72 of the Abolition of Racially Based Land Measures Act No 108 of 1991, with the exception of chapters VI and VIA.
5 April 1984
The Hoexter Commission presents its fifth and final report to Parliament recommending major reforms in the judicial system and containing incisive attacks on the administration of the apartheid system.
11 April 1984
General Magnus Malan tables a wide-ranging Defence White Paper focussing on strengthened border defences to counter sabotage attacks by organizations seen as proxies for the Soviet Union.
24 April 1984
Carnegie Report on Poverty in South Africa reveals the doubling of blacks living below the poverty line (1960-1980).
2 May 1984
South Africa, Mozambique and Portugal sign a new agreement in Cape Town on the supply of electric power to South Africa from the Cahora Bassa Hydro-electric Dam in north-west Mozambique.
5 May 1984
Over 7,000 people attend a rally in Pretoria to mark the foundation on 4 May 1984 of the Afrikaner Volkswag (People's Guard), a cultural organization led by Professor Care] Boshoff. The new Conservative group is expected to challenge the influence of the Broederbond.
10 May 1984
South Africa:Signs amendment to the Convention on Civil Aviation.
10 May - 12 May 1984
Talks take place in Cape Town between Swaziland and South Africa concerning trade and regional security. South Africa is to open a consulate in Swaziland. It is reported that more than sixty ANC members are in detention in Swaziland and four have been handed over to the South African authorities.
11 May 1984
South Africa's longest serving white political prisoner, David Kitson, is released, seven months short of completing his twenty-year sentence for sabotage and barely three weeks before the Prime Minister is due to meet Margaret Thatcher in London.
16 May 1984
South Africa concedes that almost two million black people have been relocated since 1960, but maintains that only 456,860 were moved for ideological reasons. The fact that some forced removals have taken place is admitted by the Minister for Cooperation and Development, Dr. Piet Koornhof.
18 May 1984
Saboteurs blow up two railway lines south of Johannesburg.
23 May 1984
The Minister of Law and Order states that a total of fourteen armed attacks and explosions have occurred between January and May 1984.
Signs treaty with Italy for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
25 May 1984
Signs multilateral treaty to amend the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage.
29 May - 12 June 1984
Prime Minister Botha visits eight countries in Europe - Portugal, Great Britain, West Germany, Belgium, France, Austria, italy and Switzerland - and has an audience with Pope John Paul II on 11 June 1984. He is accompanied on his tour by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 'Pik' Botha. The tour is seen in South Africa as a diplomatic breakthrough signaling the end of South Africa's isolation
30 May 1984
Group Areas Amendment Act No 101:
Amended the 1966 Act in order to give effect to the policy of declaring certain central business districts as free trade areas (RRS 1986: 11). Free trade areas were not permitted in black townships since these were established in terms of the 1945 Natives (Urban Areas) Consolidation Act and other laws and not in terms of the 1966 Group Areas Act.
Commenced: 30 May 1985
Repealed by s 48 of the Abolition of Racially Based Land Measures Act No 108 of 1991.
June - September 1984
Further ANC sabotage attacks occur in Durban, Roodepoort and Johannesburg, involving bomb explosions, causing deaths and injuries.
16 June 1984
Sporadic clashes with police take place during the annual commemoration of 16 June 1976. The day is marked by pronouncements by the ANC, the PAC and the United Nations Secretary-General, all calling for an end to repression.
18 June 1984
Chief Gatsha Buthelezi is summoned to Cape Town by Dr. Piet Koornhof and informed that the Rumpff Commission of Inquiry into the implications of the possible transfer of KaNgwane and lngwavuma, KwaZulu to Swaziland has been disbanded.
18 June - 21 June 1984
North American Regional Conference for Action against Apartheid, United Nations Headquarters, New York, organised by the Special Committee against Apartheid.
18 June 1984
Aliens and Immigration Laws Amendment Act No 49:
Amended the 1937 Aliens Act, the 1939 Aliens Registration Act and the 1972 Admission of Persons to the Republic Regulation Act, used against squatters (RRS 1984: 345-6). Several critics warned that the 'amendment act would lead to a massive clamp-down on Africans present in white-designated areas but officially regarded as citizens of the "independent" homelands' (RRS 1984: 345). It is not clear from the Race Relations Survey whether this did in fact occur. What is more than clear is that those South Africans eligible to carry passes, if found not carrying one, were arrested and prosecuted for a wide range of influx control related offences (e.g. being in a prescribed area for longer than 72 hours without permission or having taken up employment without the necessary permission being granted).
Commenced: 18 June 1984
Repealed by s 60 of the Aliens Control Act No 96 of 1991.
19 June 1984
The Foreign Minister gives an assurance that the government will not go ahead with plans for the cession of land to Swaziland, unless it has the majority support of the people concerned.
21 June 1984
Proclamation No 8:
Concerning a state of emergency.
Commenced: 21 June 1984
21 June 1984
Government Notice No 66:
Restricted the movement of certain persons at institutions of learning.
Commenced: 21 June 1984
26 June 1984
The nineteenth quintuennial congress of the Universal Postal Union in Hamburg, expels South Africa on account of its apartheid policy.
28 June 1984
Exiled South African Jenny Schoon, and her daughter Katryn, are killed by a parcel bomb in Lubango, Angola, probably intended for her husband Marius Schoon, named in security trials as an agent of the ANC.
Owen Horwood announces his resignation from the post of Minister of Finance. He is replaced by Barend du Plessis, hitherto Minister of Education and Training.
The NP loses the provincial by-election in Potgietersrus to a right-wing coalition led by the CP, but retains Rosettenville, Johannesburg, with an increased majority in a three-cornered fight with the CP and NRP.
29 June 1984
Exiled South Africa anti-apartheid campaigner Jeanette Schoon and her six-year-old daughter were killed by a parcel bomb in Angola, her father said.
1 July 1984
Citizenship Act No 38:
Specified who were citizens, who could become citizens and who could lose their citizenship.
Commenced: 1 July 1985
9 July 1984
Signs Protocol amending the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.
12 July 1984
A car bomb explosion in Durban kills five and injures twenty-six.
13 July 1984
The last all-white Parliament ends its last session in Cape Town.
16 July 1984
Supreme Court Act No 2:
Provided for the separation of the Ciskei judiciary from South Africa.
Commenced: 16 July 1984
27 July 1984
Republic of Ciskei Constitution Amendment Act No 10:
Removed the post of Vice-President.
Commenced: 27 July 1984
30 July 1984
Campaigning for the new tricameral Parliament begins.
30 July 1984
South Africa has held up supplies of British weapons to Lesotho and the UK has complained several times about the delays, officials said today. South Africa has decided to close its Consulate in Wellington instead of waiting for New Zealand's new Government to carry out its pledge to shut down, New Zealand's Prime Minister David Lange said.
August 1984
Elections for Coloured and Indian Chambers of Parliament.
Boycotts and demonstrations in schools affected about 7% of the school population. In August demonstrations affected 800 000 school children
7 August - 9 August 1984
Conference of Arab Solidarity with the Struggle for Liberation in Southern Africa, organised by the Special Committee against Apartheid, in cooperation with the League of Arab States.
8 August 1984
The government is to grant self-government to KaNgwane. This is seen as confirmation that it has finally abandoned its land deal with Swaziland, of which KaNgwane was to have been a part.
14 August 1984
Lesotho rejects South Africa's proposal for a draft security treaty.
16 August 1984
An explosion, believed to have been caused by a bomb, ripped through police offices near Johannesburg today, a police spokesman said.
17 August 1984
The Security Council rejected and declared null and void the new racist constitution of South Africa. It urged governments and organisations not to accord recognition to the "elections" under that constitution. (Resolution 554)
22 August 1984
Elections to the House of Representatives among the Coloured community show overwhelming support for the Labour Party. Official results record only a 30.9 per cent turn out and protests and boycotts are followed by 152 arrests.
28 August 1984
Elections to the House of Delegates among the Indian community are marked by a low poll, protests, boycotts and active opposition by the UDF. Results show eighteen seats for the National Peoples Party (NPP), seventeen for Solidarity, one for the Progressive Independent Party (PIP), four for independents.
30 August 1984
Prime Minister Botha declares that the government does not see the low turnout at the poils as invalidating the revised constitution.
31 August 1984
KaNgwane proclaimed a self-governing territory.
31 August 1984
South Africa declared the black homeland of Kangwane on the Swaziland border a self-governing territory. The Swazi Council of Chiefs of South Africa, which backs a controversial plan to incorporate Kangwane into Swaziland, warned of possible bloodshed in the territory if it is granted independence.
September 1984
Mr P.W. Botha was elected the first executive state president in September.
September - 24 January 1984 - 1986
From September 1984 to 24 January 1986, 955 people were killed in political violence incidents, 3 658 injured. 25 members of the security forces were killed and 834 injured. There were 3 400 incidents of violence in the Western Cape.
2 September - 3 September 1984
The revised Constitution comes into effect.
3 September 1984
As South Africa's new Constitution was inaugurated at least 26 people died in riots and police counterattacks in black townships, according to press and news agency reports. Reuter reported that the military has been brought in to guard Government buildings in Sharpeville and other black townships.
3 September 1984
175 people were killed in political violence incidents. On September 3 violence erupted in the Vaal Triangle, within a few days 31 people were killed.
5 September 1984
P.W. Botha is unanimously elected to the post of Executive President by an Electoral College composed of the majority parties in each house - fifty NP members of the white House of Assembly, twenty-five Labour Party members of the Coloured House of Representatives, and thirteen National People's Party members of the Indian House of Delegates.
10 September 1984
Fresh detention orders were issued for seven opponents of the South African Government freed by a court on Friday. The seven, including Archie Gumede, President of the two million strong anti-apartheid United Democratic Front, had been held without charge since just before the controversial elections to a new Parliament in August.
11 September 1984
Following unrest and rioting in the townships, the Minister of Law and Order prohibits all meetings of more than two persons, discussing politics or which is in protest against or in support or in memorium of anything, until 30 September 1984. The ban extends to certain areas in all four provinces, but is most comprehensive in the Transvaal.
12 September 1984
South African riot police used tear gas and whips in Soweto as unrest continued and a sweeping ban on meetings critical of the Government came into effect. Opposition leaders criticised the ban, saying that the Government appeared to be overreacting to the unrest, in which about 40 people have died in the past fortnight.
13 September 1984
Six political refugees, including the President of the United Democratic Front (UDF) seek refuge in the British consulate in Durban, and ask the British government to intervene on their behalf.
13 September 1984
Six South African dissidents hunted by police in a big security clampdown today entered the British Consulate in Durban, British officials said. Police had been trying to rearrest the six, leaders of the United Democratic Front and the natal Indian Congress, following their release from detention last Friday on the orders of a judge. Major military manoeuvres were conducted by the South African Defence Force in its biggest exercise since World War II, which, the Times contends in a separate article, will surely be interpreted by the neighbouring States as a show of hostile preparedness. The exercise seemed to illustrate the successes and the failures of South Africa's efforts to circumvent the international arms embargo imposed in 1977, the paper adds, noting that Western military specialists were impressed by the manoeuvres.
14 September 1984
The inauguration of the new President, P.W. Botha, takes place. Under the revised Constitution, the post of President combines the ceremonial duties of Head of State with the executive functions of Prime Minister. Mr. Botha is also chairman of the Cabinet, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and controls the National Intelligence Service which includes the Secretariat of the State Security Council.
Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister, gives an assurance that the six refugees will not be required to leave the consulate against their will, but also states that Britain will not become involved in negotiations between the fugitives and the South African government.
15 September 1984
Members of a new Cabinet responsible for general affairs of government and three Ministers' Councils are appointed and sworn in on 17 September 1984.
The leader of the Labour Party, the Reverend H.J. (Allan) Hendrikse and A. Rajbansi of the NPP are appointed to the Cabinet as Chairmen of the Ministers' Councils, but neither is given a ministerial portfolio.
17 September 1984
Over the weekend, South Africa's new President, Pieter W. Botha, announced the appointment of a Cabinet which, for the first time in South Africa's history, includes non-whites. The two non-white Cabinet members, the Reverend Allan Hendrickse, leader of the Labour Party, and Amichand Rajbansi, whose National People's Party is drawn from the Indian community, were sworn into office in Cape Town, along with the other members of the new 19-man Cabinet for General Affairs, which is otherwise all-white.
18 September 1984
South Africa's black gold miners today called off their first legal strike, which lasted just one day but, according to mine owners, saw 250 workers injured during police action against pickets.
19 September 1984
Riot police firing birdshot, tear gas and rubber bullets clashed with 8,000 striking gold miners, killing seven and injuring 89,
police said today.
24 September 1984
Minister of Foreign Affairs, 'Pik' Botha, announces that in retaliation for the British government's refusal to give up the six men, the government will not return to Britain four South Africans due to face charges of having contravened British customs and excise regulations, and believed to be employed by ARMSCOR.
25 September 1984
South Africa and the UK faced what could be their worst diplomatic crisis for several years because of tension over six dissidents hiding from police in the British Consulate in Durban. Pretoria said last night that in retaliation for London's refusal to evict the fugitives it would not send four South African back to Britain to stand trial on charges of illegal export of arms.
26 September 1984
Five of the political detainees are released and on the same day the banning order on Dr. Beyers Naudé is lifted.
Schools re-open, but 93,000 pupils continue to boycott classes.
28 September 1984
South Africa was told by IAEA to open all nuclear plants to international inspection or face sanctions by the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The resolution was passed by 57 votes to 10, with 23 abstentions. The US and other Western nations opposed it. The resolution was tabled by Morocco on behalf of African States.
2 October 1984
The death toll in rioting and clashes with police has risen to over sixty.
2 October 1984
The Government took into custody the leader of South Africa's most prominent anti-apartheid group and held him under security law.
The arrest came as four blacks were killed in a day of unrest in black townships - raising to at least 61 the number of people killed in the past month in ethnic violence - and 130,000 black students boycotted classes.
3 October 1984
A cease-fire agreement between the Mozambique Government and the insurgent National Resistance Movement (MNR) was announced in Pretoria by South African Foreign Minister Roelof Botha, who acted as the intermediary.
5 October 1984
L. le Grange states that the South African Defence Force units will be deployed increasingly in a supportive role to the police in maintaining an effective protective force against radical elements. On 6-9 October they are deployed in Soweto.
6 October 1984
Three of the six protesters leave the British Consulate in protest against South Africa's action in linking their sit-in with the Coventry case. They are immediately arrested and detained by security police.
8 October 1984
South Africa:Signs treaty relating to certificates of airworthiness for imported aircraft with the United States.
8 October 1984
The Mozambique Government, its right-wing guerrilla opponents and South African officials met in Pretoria to thrash out details of a cease-fire plan to end civil conflict in Mozambique.
9 October 1984
The three anti-apartheid protesters in the British Consulate in Durban, declare they will not leave the building voluntarily. The British government will have to evict them.
11 October 1984
Anti-apartheid leader Allan Boesak said that the United Democratic Front (UDF) would campaign against South African Army conscription. Mr. Boesak returned from a tour on which he met European and US
Government officials.
16 October 1984
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that it had decided to award the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize to Bishop Desmond Tutu. The Committee said Bishop Tutu, General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC), had been a unifying leader figure in the campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa. "The Committee wishes to attract attention to the non-violent struggle for liberation to which Desmond Tutu belongs, a struggle in which black and white South Africans unite to bring the country out of conflict", a spokesman added.
17 October 1984
The United Nations Security Council, by fourteen Votes to none, with the United States abstaining, passes a resolution reiterating its condemnation of the South African regime's policy of apartheid and condemning its continued defiance of United Nations resolutions, the continued massacres of the oppressed people and the arbitrary detention and arrest of their leaders.
18 October 1984
Member of UK Parliament Donald Anderson, one of the Labour Party's spokesmen on foreign affairs, told a news conference after a five-day visit to South Africa that he believed South Africa's system of legalised racial segregation could not last. Mr. Anderson urged Britain to use economic leverage for change before the white-ruled country exploded into racial violence.
22 October 1984
The Minister of Law and Order rejects conditions set on 18 October 1984 by the three remaining fugitives in the British Consulate in Durban for their voluntary exit. They ask the government to waive detention-without-trial orders or to provide them with passports to enable them to plead their case before the United Nations Anti-Apartheid Committee.
23 October 1984
A combined force of about 7,000 South African Defence Force troops and police seal off the townships of Sebokeng, Sharpeville and Boipatong and carry out house-to-house searches, arresting 358 people, some of whom are immediately charged in special courts. its purpose is to eliminate criminal and intimidatory forces from the townships.
The government forfeits 400,000 Pounds Sterling bail when the 'Coventry four' fail to appear to answer arms smuggling charges, prevented from doing so by the South African government. Warrants are issued for their arrest.
23 October 1984
700 police and army personnel were used in the Vaal Triangle.
24 October 1984
The United Nations Security Council endorses a lengthy resolution condemning South Africa's apartheid regime, demanding the immediate cessation of massacres and the prompt and unconditional release of all political prisoners and detainees.
26 October 1984
Violence erupted in the black South African township of Sebokeng, 48 hours after 7,000 police and troops swamped the area and made hundreds of arrests in an attempt to stamp out unrest. Police today reported overnight violence in townships throughout the country, with crowds of up to 2,000 stoning police who retaliated with teargas, rubber bullets and birdshot.
30 October 1984
South African Foreign Minister Pik Botha left for Cape Verde where he is due to hold talks tomorrow with US negotiator Chester Crocker on the future of Namibia.
31 October 1984
Internal Security Amendment Act No 22:
Prohibited any meeting of more than twenty persons to be held without the permission of the Minister of Law and Order.
Commenced: 31 August 1984
1 November 1984
Sweden is to tighten the rules limiting investment by Swedish companies in South Africa and make it illegal to sell vehicles and electronics to the South African police and military, the Government announced today. A two-day work boycott in Transvaal Province was called for next Monday and Tuesday in protest at a range of grievances by blacks, the United Democratic Front (UDF) said today. It said that unless demands ranging from a rollback of rent increases in black townships to education reforms were met South Africa would face increasing violence.
2 November 1984
South Africa:Amends air services agreement with Great Britain.
2 November 1984
Two South Africans of Indian descent, including the grand-daughter of Mahatma Gandhi, were told they could not travel to New Delhi to attend the funeral of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Officials of the Natal Indian Congress (NIC) said Farouk
Meer and Ela Ramgobin, both opponents of South Africa's apartheid, were denied passports.
5 November 1984
South African Foreign Minister Pik Botha held talks with Foreign Minsiter Yitzhak Shamir during a private visit that, according to Reuter, has caused embarrassment and anger in Israel. Senior officials said privately that Israel, which wants to improve ties with black Africa, had tried unsuccessfully to persuade Mr. Botha not to ask for official meeting during his stay. Prime Minister
Shimon Peres would not see the visiting Minister. The visit is officially described as private but Mr. Botha was met at the airport by Mr. Shamir last night.
5 November - 6 November 1984
A two-day general strike by black workers in the country's industrial heartland was called by anti-apartheid groups in protest of living conditions for blacks under the apartheid system.
There were a number of stayaways from work called in 1984. The major stayaway occurred on 5 and 6 November when 500 000 workers and 400 000 students stayed away.
7 November 1984
Five more people died in overnight violence in South African townships bringing the death toll during a two-day strike by black workers to 21, police and transport officials said.
8 November 1984
Security police today raided the offices of the United Democratic Front.
9 November 1984
Following pressure from township residents, resignations have occurred among black municipal councillors.
9 November 1984
South African police detained at least eight people after a two-day black workers' strike.
14 November 1984
South Africa:Signs international telecommunications treaty.
In a continued attempt to forestall further unrest, the authorities arrest several leading trade union activists belonging to organizations affiliated to the UDF.
16 November 1984
Police arrested 2,300 people in the black township of Sebokeng in what was believed to be the biggest raid against blacks living in work hostels, authorities said today.
17 November - 18 November 1984
The opposition PFP opens its membership to all races, despite the Prohibition of Political Interference Act which forbids mixed political parties. The Party leadership also votes to oppose military conscription now that the South African Army is being used regularly to suppress mounting black unrest. The decision draws strong opposition within the Party.
18 November 1984
The Progressive Federal Party (FPP) decided to ignore a 1968 Act banning multi-racial membership in a single political grouping and open its ranks to anyone regardless of colour.
21 November 1984
Demonstrations begin outside the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C. and continue on an almost daily basis as anti-apartheid protesters demand a stronger anti-South Africa policy from the United States government.
21 November 1984
U.S. Congressman Walter Fauntroy and two other civil rights activists were arrested for sit-in at South African embassy in Washington. Transafrica established a "Free South Africa" movement to press for the release of 18 black strike leaders.
21 November 1984
The South African Institute of Race Relations urged the lifting of a 24-year-old ban on the African National Congress (ANC).
23 November 1984
South Africa:Signs multilateral agreement regulating the appointment of a Southern African tourism coordinator.
26 November 1984
Cyril Ramaphosa, a lawyer and General Secretary of National Union of Mineworkers, was arrested in Lebowa, on charge of organising or planning to take part in a meeting in Namakgale. The local magistrate had banned meetings in the town.
27 November 1984
250 persons demonstrated outside the South African embassy in Washington in protest against apartheid and President Reagan's policy of constructive engagement. Charles Hayes, Black Congressman and Reverend Joseph Lowery, Baptist Minister were arrested for staging a sit-in at the embassy.
29 November 1984
The NP retains three House of Assembly seats in by-elections, with reduced majorities, losing ground to right-wing parties opposed to the new Constitution.
4 December 1984
Bishop Desmond Tutu, addressing a United States House of Representatives subcommittee, describes the policy of constructive engagement as immoral and evil and hostile to the conditions of blacks in South Africa.
4 December 1984
Anti-apartheid demonstrations continued in front of the South African Embassy in Washington and spread to other US cities where South Africa has Consulates.
5 December 1984
Government Notice No 149:
Authorised the arrest and conviction of people found loitering within a municipal area.
Commenced: 5 December 1984
10 December 1984
American President Reagan, in a speech made on International Human Rights Day, calls on the Pretoria government to engage in effective dialogue with the black population and to broaden the changes taking place, so as to address the aspirations of all South Africans.
10 December 1984
Three leaders of the anti-apartheid United Democratic Front(UDF) and two officials of the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) were freed from jail, the UDF and AZAPO said. South Africa announced the withdrawal of detention orders against 14 leading opponents of its racial discrimination policies but immediately charged six of them with treason. The six, including three men detained without trial after spending several weeks in the sanctuary of the British Consulate in Durban, led opposition to a new Constitution. Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Bishop Desmond Tutu in Oslo.
12 December 1984
The three anti-apartheid activists still in the British Consulate in Durban, leave the building. A. Gumede and one other are immediately arrested and charged with treason.
12 December 1984
Norway is to reprimanded three oil companies for selling Norwegian crude to South Africa, an Oil Ministry spokesman said today. He said the reprimands would be part of a tough new Government policy on trade with South Africa. (REUTER-Oslo).
Two of the three anti-apartheid activists who ended a three-month sit-in at the British Consulate in Durban today were promptly arrested by police. A spokesman at police headquarters in Pretoria said they would appear in court tomorrow on charges of high treason, which can carry the death penalty. (REUTER, AFP, EFE )
13 December 1984
During the proceedings of the thirty-ninth regular session of the United Nations General Assembly, a series of seven resolutions on the theme of apartheid are adopted.
The United Nations Security Council reaffirms the mandatory arms embargo, and, for the first time requests that all states refrain from importing arms, ammunition and military vehicles produced in South Africa.
13 December 1984
Two anti-apartheid activists arrested yesterday after they ended a three-month sit-in at the British Consulate appeared in court today charged with high treason. Their case was linked to that of six other opponents of the Government who worked for organisations affiliated to the United Democratic Front (UDF). All eight face charges of treason, which can carry the death penalty, and alternative charges of contravening the Internal Security Act. All the men charged with treason opposed a new constitution introduced this year.
27 December 1984
Swaziland and South Africa agree to exchange trade representatives who will have the same rights and privileges as diplomatic personnel.
28 December 1984
It is announced that Colonel Hoare, the leader of the attempted Seychelles coup, will shortly be eligible for release from prison under a recent amnesty.