# 1977 in South Africa

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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)

## Railways
### Locomotives

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

## Sports
### Motorsport

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