The following lists events that happened during 1979 in South Africa.

1979
in
South Africa

Decades:
See also:

Incumbents

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Events

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January
February
  • Sergeant Benjamin Letlako, a Police Special Branch member, is shot dead in Katlehong.
April
  • Explosives are discovered and defused on a railway line near Soweto.
May
June
September
  • 22 – A Vela satellite detects a flash in the southern Atlantic Ocean, believed to be a South African-Israeli nuclear test.
November
  • Guerrillas open fire and hurl grenades in the Orlando Police Station charge office, killing two policemen and wounding two.
  • Grenades are thrown into the home of Special Branch policeman Lt Magezi Ngobeni and five children are wounded.
December
  • A bomb explodes and damages the railway line near Alice.
  • A bomb explodes at the Sasol Oil Refineries and cause massive structural damage.
Unknown date

Births

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Deaths

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Railways

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Class 6E1, Series 8

Locomotives

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Sports

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Motorsport

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Heads of State: 1961-1994 (Accessed on 14 April 2017)
  2. ^ South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended
  3. ^ Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 128–129. ISBN 0869772112.