The following lists events that happened during 1997 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 ...

: Thabo Mbeki. * Chief Justice: 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 (until 4 February), Makhenkesi Stofile (since 4 February) * Free State Province:

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 ...

* 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 (until 1 March), Ben Ngubane (since 1 March) * 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

;February * 4 – The Constitution of South Africa comes into effect. ;March * 19 – Denel and

Aérospatiale Aérospatiale (), sometimes styled Aerospatiale, was a French state-owned aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société nationale industrielle aérospatiale ( ...

sign a co-operation agreement. * 28 – President

and

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

H. D. Deve Gowda sign the Red Fort Declaration on a Strategic Partnership during Mandela's state visit to India. ;April * 7 – South African soap opera '' Muvhango'' debuts on SABC 2. * 23 – Eugène Terre'Blanche, Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging leader, is convicted of attempted murder and assault in the Magistrates Court in

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river" ...

. * 26 – Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is re-elected as president of the African National Congress's Women's League by 656 votes to 114. ;August *

Dirk Coetzee Dirk Coetzee (15 April 1945 – 7 March 2013) was co-founder and commander of the covert South African Security Police unit based at Vlakplaas. He and his colleagues were involved in a number of extra judicial killings including that of Griffith ...

, David Tshikalange and

Butana Almond Nofomela Butana Almond Nofomela (born 1957) is a former South African security policeman. In 1989 when under sentence of death for murder, he confessed to membership of a police assassination squad that killed and terrorized opponents of apartheid. His ...

, former members of the Vlakplaas

counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionar ...

unit, are granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in respect of the murder of Durban attorney

Griffiths Mxenge Griffiths Mlungisi Mxenge (27 February 1935 – 19 November 1981) was born in KwaRayi, a rural settlement outside of King Williams Town, Eastern Cape. He was a civil rights lawyer, a member of the African National Congress (ANC) and a South Af ...

in November 1981. ;October * 2 – After broadcasting in its homeland for 7 months, the BBC preschool series '' Teletubbies'' premieres on South African television for the first time. The series begins on M-Net as part of its children's programming block '' K-T.V.''. * 10 – A combined version of Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika and

Die Stem van Suid-Afrika Die Stem van Suid-Afrika (, ), also known as "The Call of South Africa" or simply "Die Stem" (), is a former national anthem of South Africa. There are two versions of the song, one in English and the other in Afrikaans, which were in use earl ...

becomes the National Anthem. * 30 – The South African National Defence Force announces that it had completed destroying its stock pile of anti-personnel mines. * South Africa and India sign the terms of reference of the India-South Africa Commercial Alliance and agreements in tourism, geology and mineral resources. The science and technology co-operation program is ratified. ;December * 16–20 – The African National Congress holds its 50th National Conference in

Mafikeng Mafikeng, officially known as Mahikeng and previously Mafeking (, ), is the capital city of the North West province of South Africa. Close to South Africa's border with Botswana, Mafikeng is northeast of Cape Town and west of Johannesburg. In ...

. ;Unknown Date * Cabinet and parliamentary approval is announced by Thabo Mbeki of the Defence Review which enables the South African National Defence Force to undertake tenders for R12bn worth of arms equipment.

Births

* 11 February – Nasty C, rapper, songwriter and record producer * 3 October –

Jo-Ane van Dyk Jo-ane Van Dyk (born 3 October 1997) is a South African track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. Achievements All information taken from World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic ...

, javelin thrower * 25 June –

Curwin Bosch Curwin Dominique Bosch (born 25 June 1997) is a South African professional rugby union player for the in the United Rugby Championship and in the Currie Cup. He can play as a fly-half or a fullback. Rugby career 2010–15: Schoolboy rugby B ...

, rugby player * 23 July — Bianca Tredoux, world leader in Occupational Therapy Practices * 5 September — Lesego Kone, Public Figure.

Deaths

* 16 July —

Lydia Lindeque Lydia Lindeque, born Rachel Alida du Toit (15 January 1916 – 16 July 1997), was a South African actor of Afrikaner descent. Initially known by the stage name Alida du Toit, she started touring at the age of seventeen with Paul de Groot's acting ...

, actor. (b.

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

) * 25 November — Hastings Banda, the first president of Malawi, dies in Johannesburg (b. 1898)

Sports

Athletics

* 23 February –

Thabiso Moqhali Thabiso Paul Moqhali (born 7 December 1967) is a retired male marathon runner from Lesotho. He won the gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games held in Kuala Lumpur in a time of 2:19:15 hours, the slowest winning time since 1966. In addition he ...

from

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

wins the South African title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:15:31 in Pinelands.

References

{{Africa topic, 1997 in, state=collapsed South Africa Years in South Africa History of South Africa