The following lists events that happened during 1973 in South Africa.

Incumbents

State President The State President of the Republic of South Africa ( af, Staatspresident) was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, albeit, outside the Commonweal ...

: Jim Fouché.Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Heads of State: 1961-1994
(Accessed on 14 April 2017) * Prime Minister: John Vorster. * Chief Justice: Newton Ogilvie Thompson.

Events

;January * 8 – Two South African policemen are killed and two injured in an explosion near the Zambezi River in north-western

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

. * 9 – the first strike of the 1973 Durban strikes occurs ;February * 1 – Venda and

Gazankulu Gazankulu was a bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government to be a semi-independent homeland for the Tsonga people. It was located in both the Northern Transvaal, now Limpopo province and Eastern Transvaal, now Mpumalanga ...

are granted self-government. ;March *

Steve Biko Bantu Stephen Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he was at the forefront of a grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known ...

banned A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...

by the government. ;August * 25 – Harry Schwarz wins the leadership of the United Party in the Transvaal, replacing Marais Steyn. ;Unknown date * The Natal Parks Board starts buying up farms to form the

Itala Game Reserve Ithala Game Reserve is situated in 290 km2 of rugged, mountainous thornveld, about 400 km north of Durban, in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is one of the youngest game parks in South Africa. The altitude varies from 400 m ...

. * Michael Lapsley, an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

priest, arrives in South Africa. * African and Arab states impose an oil embargo on South Africa.

Births

* 22 January – Brandon Silent, football player & coach. * 13 February – Dino Quattrocecere, figure skater. * 1 March – Robert Marawa, sports journalist, sports commentator, television presenter and radio host. * 5 March –

Dumisa Ngobe Vincent Dumisani Ngobe (born 5 March 1973) is a South African former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. He played 32 times for the South Africa national team and works currently as head of development for Mpumalanga Black ...

, football player * 8 March – Jill Brukman, backstroke and medley swimmer. * 20 March – Nicky Boje, cricketer. * 15 April –

Werner Swanepoel Werner Swanepoel (born 15 April 1973) is a former South African rugby union player. He played as a scrum half for the Springboks from 1997 to 2000. His appearances for the Springboks were curtailed by virtue of his career coinciding with that ...

, rugby player. * 10 May – Ollie Le Roux, rugby player. * 31 May – Amanda Taylor, synchronized swimmer. * 16 July – Shaun Pollock, former cricketer & commentator. * 19 July –

Nathalie Boltt Nathalie Boltt (born 19 July 1973) is a South African actress, director and writer known for ''Riverdale'' and ''District 9''. Her initial break into acting was in her birth country, South Africa, as Joey Ortlepp on the SABC 3 drama ''Isidingo' ...

, actress. * 29 July – AJ Venter, rugby player. * 25 August –

Nico Panagio Nicolaos Panagiotopoulos, professionally known as Nico Panagio, is a South African television presenter, actor, and businessman known for being the host of Survivor South Africa since 2010. He is also known for his previous role on the soap oper ...

, actor & tv presenter. * 18 September – Mark Shuttleworth, entrepreneur and space tourist. * 29 October –

Adam Bacher Adam Marc Bacher (born 29 October 1973) is a South African cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler. He is the nephew of former South African captain and cricket chief Ali Bacher. Biography Bacher entered Sout ...

, cricketer. * 31 October –

Cobus Visagie Cobus Visagie (born 31 October 1973) is a South African former rugby union footballer who played at tighthead prop. Early life Visagie attended the Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch and then studied Auditing and Accounting at Stellenbosch Un ...

, rugby player. * 18 November –

Michele MacNaughton Michele MacNaughton (born 18 November 1973 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal) is a retired female field hockey player from South Africa, who represented her native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the st ...

, field hockey player. * 27 November – Sharlto Copley, producer, actor, and director. * 29 November – Raphael Smith, screenwriter and songwriter. * 16 December – Themba Mnguni, football player.

Deaths

* 21 February – Cecil Kellaway, actor. (b. 1890)

Railways

Locomotives

Two new Cape gauge and one narrow gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways: * April – The first of one hundred Class 34-400 General Electric (GE) type U26C diesel-electric locomotives.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 * The first of one hundred Class 6E1, Series 4 electric locomotives. * September–December – Twenty Class 91-000 GE type UM6B narrow gauge diesel-electric locomotives on the Avontuur Railway.

References

{{Year in Africa, 1973, state=collapsed South Africa Years in South Africa History of South Africa