1975 in South Africa
Encyclopedia
March
- 15 March - Ian SmithIan SmithIan Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
, the RhodesiaRhodesiaRhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
n Prime Minister, and senior Ministers visit South Africa for talks - 19 March - The Labour Party wins the second elections to the Coloured Persons' Representative Council
- 27 March - The government announces that it will consolidate the 113 separate homelandHomelandA homeland is the concept of the place to which an ethnic group holds a long history and a deep cultural association with —the country in which a particular national identity began. As a common noun, it simply connotes the country of one's origin...
areas into 36 BantustanBantustanA bantustan was a territory set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa , as part of the policy of apartheid...
s
April
- Nicolaas Johannes DiederichsNicolaas Johannes DiederichsNicolaas Diederichs served as the third State President of South Africa from 1975 to 1978.An economist, Diederichs obtained a doctorate from the University of Leiden. During the 1930s and 1940s he became a prominent figure in Afrikaner nationalist circles...
becomes the 4th State President of South AfricaState President of South AfricaState President, or Staatspresident in Afrikaans, was the title of South Africa's head of state from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic in 1961, and Queen Elizabeth II ceased to be head of state... - 30 April - The World Meteorological OrganizationWorld Meteorological OrganizationThe World Meteorological Organization is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 189 Member States and Territories. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization , which was founded in 1873...
suspends South Africa from membership because of racial discrimination
May
- 6 May The government announces that it will provide all Black children with free and compulsory education
July
- The Progressive PartyProgressive Party (South Africa)The Progressive Party was a liberal party in South Africa that opposed the ruling National Party's policies of apartheid, and championed the Rule of Law. For years its only member of parliament was Helen Suzman...
merged with the Reform PartyReform Party (South Africa)The Reform Party was an anti-apartheid political party that existed for just five months in 1975 and is one of the predecessor parties to the Democratic Alliance...
, a faction of the United PartyUnited Party (South Africa)The United Party was South Africa's ruling political party between 1934 and 1948. It was formed by a merger of most of Prime Minister Barry Hertzog's National Party with the rival South African Party of Jan Smuts, plus the remnants of the Unionist Party...
, and became the Progressive Reform PartyProgressive Reform PartyThe Progressive Reform Party was a South African party that was formed on 26 July 1975 by the fusion of the Reform Party led by Harry Schwarz and Progressive Party led by Colin Eglin...
August
- 25–25 August - The Victoria Falls ConferenceVictoria Falls Conference (1975)The Victoria Falls Conference took place on 26 August 1975 aboard a South African Railways train halfway across the Victoria Falls Bridge on the border between the unrecognised state of Rhodesia and Zambia. It was the culmination of the "détente" policy introduced and championed by B. J...
is held in a South African Railways coach on the Victoria Falls BridgeVictoria Falls BridgeThe Victoria Falls Bridge crosses the Zambezi River just below the Victoria Falls and is built over the Second Gorge of the falls. As the river is the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, the bridge links the two countries and has border posts on the approaches to both ends, at the towns of Victoria...
between Ian SmithIan SmithIan Douglas Smith GCLM ID was a politician active in the government of Southern Rhodesia, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1948 to 1987, most notably serving as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 1 June 1979...
, Rhodesian Prime Minister and the United African National CouncilUnited African National CouncilThe United African National Council is a political party in Zimbabwe.In 1979, led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa, the UANC Party held formal power in Zimbabwe during the short-lived period of the Internal Settlement...
. The conference is officiated by Kenneth KaundaKenneth KaundaKenneth David Kaunda, known as KK, served as the first President of Zambia, from 1964 to 1991.-Early life:Kaunda was the youngest of eight children. He was born at Lubwa Mission in Chinsali, Northern Province of Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia...
, President of ZambiaZambiaZambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
and John VorsterB.J. VorsterBalthazar Johannes Vorster , better known as John Vorster, served as the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and as the fourth State President of South Africa from 1978 to 1979...
, the South African Prime Minister
September
- 24 September - Major Van der Wals and Major Hoitzhausen, South African Defence ForceSouth African Defence ForceThe South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957...
liaison officers are sent to AngolaAngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
to help UNITA
October
- 2 October - The South African Defence ForceSouth African Defence ForceThe South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957...
s invade AngolaAngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
in Operation SavannahOperation Savannah (Angola)Operation Savannah was the name given to the South African Defence Force's 1975–1976 covert intervention in the Angolan Civil War.-Background:...
November
- 11 November - The People's Republic of AngolaAngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
is created - 13–28 November - Battle for Ebo: South African Defence ForceSouth African Defence ForceThe South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957...
and Angolian forces clash at Ebo, in the Cuanza SulCuanza SulCuanza Sul is a province of Angola. It has an area of 55,660 km² and a population of approximately 600,001.Sumbe is the capital of the province. Municipalities in this province include Porto Amboim, Seles, Conda, Amboim, Quilenda, Libolo, Mussende, Quibala, Waku-Kungo, Cassongue and Ebo.Cuanza Sul...
province of AngolaAngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
. - 25 November - A South African Air ForceSouth African Air ForceThe South African Air Force is the air force of South Africa, with headquarters in Pretoria. It is the world's second oldest independent air force, and its motto is Per Aspera Ad Astra...
Cessna 185Cessna 185-Specification for differing configurations:-References:* Jan Churchill, Hit My Smoke: Forward Air Controllers in Southeast Asia, Sunflower University Press, Manhattan KS, ISBN 0-89745-215-1...
is shot down south of Ebo. Pilot 2nd Lieutenant Keith Williamson, Co-Pilot 2nd Lieutenant Eric Thompson and South African ArmySouth African ArmyThe South African Army is the army of South Africa, first formed after the Union of South Africa was created in 1910.The South African military evolved within the tradition of frontier warfare fought by commando forces, reinforced by the Afrikaners' historical distrust of large standing armies...
battalion third-in-command Captain Daniel Taljaard are killed. - 28 November South African NavySouth African NavyThe South African Navy is the navy of the Republic of South Africa.-Formation:The South African Navy can trace its official origins back to the SA Naval Service, which was established on 1 April 1922....
frigatesLeander class frigateThe Leander class, or Type 12I frigates, comprising twenty-six vessels, was among the most numerous and long-lived classes of frigate in the Royal Navy's modern history. The class was built in three batches between 1959 and 1973...
evacuate 26 SADF personnel from behind enemy lines at Ambrizete, 160 km north of LuandaLuandaLuanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
in Angola.
Unknown date
- Lillian Masediba Ngoyi ban confining her to Orlando Township in JohannesburgJohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
and forbidding her to attend any gatherings is renewed, this time for 5 years - South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency UnitKoevoetKoevoet , also known as "Operation K" and officially known as the "South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency Unit" , was a police counter insurgency unit in South-West Africa during the 1970s and 1980s...
, commonly known as Operation K is launched
Deaths
- 8 May - Bram FischerBram FischerAbram Louis Fischer, commonly known as Bram Fischer, was a South African lawyer of Afrikaner descent, notable for anti-apartheid activism and for the legal defence of anti-apartheid figures, including Nelson Mandela at the Rivonia Trial.-Tributes:Fischer is widely acknowledged as a key figure in...
, former South African Communist PartySouth African Communist PartySouth African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H...
leader, dies of cancerCancerCancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
while under house arrestHouse arrestIn justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
at his brother house in BloemfonteinBloemfonteinBloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...