The following lists events that happened during 1996 in South Africa.

Incumbents

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

.Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Heads of State: 1994-2017
(Accessed on 5 June 2017) *

Deputy President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

F.W. de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk (, , 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996 in the democratic government. As South A ...

(until 30 June) along with Thabo Mbeki. * Chief Justice: Michael Corbett then vacant.

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

The Cabinet, together with the President and the

, forms part of the Executive.

National Assembly

Provincial Premiers

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

Province: Raymond Mhlaba * Free State Province: Mosiuoa Lekota (until 18 December),

Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri Ivy Florence Matsepe-Casaburri (18 September 1937 – 6 April 2009) was a South African politician. She was the second premier of the Free State and South Africa's Minister of Communications from 1999 until her death. She served briefly as ...

(since 18 December) * Gauteng Province: Tokyo Sexwale *

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

Province: Frank Mdlalose * Limpopo Province: Ngoako Ramathlodi *

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

Province:

Mathews Phosa Nakedi Mathews Phosa (born 1 September 1952) is a South African attorney and politician and was also an anti-apartheid activist. He is a former premier of Mpumalanga as well as a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National ...

* North West Province: Popo Molefe *

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

Province:

Manne Dipico Manne Emsley Dipico, first Premier of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa, was born in Kimberley on 21 April 1959. He was appointed Chairman of the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) in 2006. He is Chairman of Ponahalo Holding ...

* Western Cape Province:

Hernus Kriel Hermanus Jacobus Kriel (14 November 19415 July 2015) was the first Premier of the Western Cape province. He previously served as the Minister of Law and Order in the South African government under Frederik Willem de Klerk. He was born in 1941 in ...

Events

;January * 15 – King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho is killed in a car accident. ;February * 26 – South Africa and Algeria restore diplomatic ties. * Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in his capacity as Grand President of the British Commonwealth Ex-Services League, visits South Africa. ;March * 11 – The trial of General Magnus Malan and 19 co-accused begins in the Durban Supreme Court. * 19 – President

is granted a divorce from Winnie Mandela in the Rand Supreme Court. * 23 – Approximately 6,000 Inkatha Freedom Party supporters armed with fighting sticks, spears, clubs and battle axes rally in the Tugela Ferry area of

in defiance of a national ban on traditional weapons. ;April * 15 – The Truth and Reconciliation Commission begins its formal hearings. ;May * 2 – South Africa and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

exchange letters granting each other most-favoured-nation status. * 8 – South Africa's new constitution is adopted by the Constitutional Assembly. * 9 – The National Party withdraws from the coalition government, giving the African National Congress full political control. ;June * 19 – Cuban Foreign Minister

Roberto Robaina Gonzalez The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

visits South Africa. ;July * Nelson Mandela visits the United Kingdom on a

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...

. ;August * 4 – Rashaad Staggie, Hard Livings gang leader, is killed by the vigilante group People Against Gangsterism and Drugs. * Mimi Coertse receives the highest

accolade The accolade (also known as dubbing or adoubement) ( la, benedictio militis) was the central act in the rite of passage ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. From about 1852, the term ''accolade'' was used much more generally to ...

an artist can receive from the Austrian government, the Oesterreichishe Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst. ;September * 6 – The Constitutional Court delivers judgment on the new constitution. * 11 – A mining agreement on wages and working conditions is signed between the Chamber of Mines and the National Union of Mineworkers. ;October * 11 – The constitution is amended by the Constitutional Assembly. * 30 – Colonel Eugene de Kock of the South African Police is sentenced to 212 years in prison. * General Magnus Malan and 19 co-accused are acquitted on all charges relating to the massacre of 13 people in KwaMakhuta township south of Durban in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

. * The first South African National Census since the end of apartheid is held. ;December * 4 – A number of agreements relating to culture, double taxation, fiscal evasion and a memorandum of understanding relating to defence equipment are signed by Thabo Mbeki, Deputy President of South Africa, on a state visit to India. * 10 – The new constitution is signed into law. ;Unknown date * Trevor Manuel is appointed Minister of Finance. * Paraffin Safety Association of Southern Africa is founded.

Births

* 17 February – Sasha Pieterse, actress * 1 March – Jane de Wet, actress * 3 March – Andile Phehlukwayo, cricketer * 5 March –

Kirsten Beckett Kirsten Beckett (born March 5, 1996) is a South African artistic gymnast. She was part of the South African 2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwea ...

, artistic gymnast * 29 March –

Lungi Ngidi Lungisani True-man Ngidi (born 29 March 1996) is a South African professional cricketer who plays for the South Africa national cricket team. In the 2018 South African Cricket Annual Awards, he was named as one of the five Cricketers of the Yea ...

, cricketer * 22 April –

Ilze Hattingh Ilze Hattingh (born 22 April 1996) is a South African former professional tennis player. Born in Durban, Hattingh was introduced to tennis at the age of seven. On the ITF Junior Circuit, she was ranked as high as world No. 49, which she achie ...

, tennis player * 22 April –

Herschel Jantjies Herschel Jerome Jantjies (born 22 April 1996) is a South African professional rugby union player for the South Africa national team and the in the URC. His regular position is scrum-half. Rugby career Jantjies was born in Stellenbosch, wher ...

, rugby player * 26 May –

Lara Goodall Lara Goodall (born 26 April 1996) is a South African cricketer who represents South Africa in Women's One Day Internationals and Women's Twenty20 Internationals. In February 2019, Cricket South Africa named her as one of the players in the Powe ...

, cricketer

Deaths

* 15 January – King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho. (b. 1938) * 28 March – Siegfried Mynhardt, actor. (b. 1906) * 16 December – Laurens van der Post, author and political adviser. (b. 1906)

Sports

Bafana Bafana wins African Cup of Nation that was organized in South Africa by winning 2-0 against Tunisia in the final.

Athletics

* 25 February –

Josia Thugwane Josia Thugwane (born 15 April 1971) is a South African retired long-distance runner, best known for winning the gold medal in the marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Thugwane, who is of Ndebele heritage, is the first black athlete to earn a ...

wins his second national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:11:46 in Pinelands.

References

{{Year in Africa, 1996, state=collapsed South Africa Years in South Africa History of South Africa