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See also: 1986 in South Africa, other events of 1987, 1988 in South Africa and the Timeline of South African history.

Events

January

• 1 January - South African Defence Force servicemen are attacked in Alexandra, Johannesburg and at least one injured
• 3 January - Three people are injured when a limpet mine explodes at the corner of Jeppe and Delvers Streets in Johannesburg
• 8 January - At the AECI plant, a police officer is shot at and in the skirmish that followed, two policemen and one civilian are injured
• 9 January - A bomb explodes at the OK Bazaars, a national supermarket chain, in Eloff Street, Johannesburg during a protracted strike
  • A riot squad policeman is killed and two injured when a grenade is thrown into their vehicle
  • Police raid English-language newspapers seizing documents related to an advertisement calling for the legalising of the African National Congress
• 21 January - KwaMakutha massacre, 12 people are killed including 7 children, in KwaMakutha near Amanzimtoti, when the home of the United Democratic Front activist Bheki Ntuli is attacked by a group of men armed with AK-47 rifles
• 23 January - Two guerrillas are killed in Soweto
• 24 January - One Transkei soldier or police officer is injured in an Umkhonto we Sizwe attack in Mendu, Willowvale
• 30 January - Three soldiers and one police officer are killed in an attack in Alexandra, Johannesburg
• 31 January - The home of town councillor Senokoane in Diepmeadow, Soweto is attacked and six people are injured including two police officers

February

• A limpet mine explosion causes damage to a shop in Matatiele
• 2 February - The single quarters of the Bokomo Police Station is attacked twice with grenades and one policeman is injured
• 5 February - An Explosion at bus shelter outside the Groote Schuur Hospital injures 1 person
• 18 February - A number of people are killed in a grenade attack on Tladi Secondary School
• 19 February - Chief Lushaba and Samuel Jamile of the Inkatha Freedom Party are injured when a grenade is thrown at them

March

• 3 March - A terrorist is shot and killed by police in Gugulethu after he allegedly fired on their patrol with an AK-47
• 9 March - One police officer, two municipal police officers are killed in Gugulethu. One terrorist is also possibly killed but this is unconfirmed
• 11 March - Police confirm a skirmish at Zone 13 Mdantsane in Ciskei but gave no details
  • A terrorist is shot and killed in a house in New Crossroads
• 12 March - Sweden announces a total boycott on trade with South Africa effective from October
• 13 March - Four municipal police officers are killed, one injured in Atteridgeville
• 16 March - A grenade is thrown at the home of a police officer in Kagiso but no injuries
• 17 March - During a police raid in Inanda, a terrorist and a woman are killed. Another man and a baby are injured in the raid
  • Three explosions damage the railway line between Newcastle and Johannesburg
• 28 March An anti-tank landmine kills four and injures one person in the Josefsdal area near the Swaziland border

April

• 1 April - Three soldiers are killed and two injured when a grenade is thrown into their Hippo armoured personnel carrier in either Mabopane or Mamelodi
  • A grenade is thrown at home of Councillor Radebe in Dobsonville with no injuries
• 2 April - Three policemen are injured in Nyanga when a grenade is thrown at them
• 8 April - Two terrorists and a police officer are killed in a shootout at Ventersdorp
• 9 April - Three police officers come under attack in Meadowlands Zone 10 (casualties unknown)
• 10 April - Ciskei, South Africa and Transkei sign a security pact in Cape Town prohibiting cross-border violence between the three states
• 14 April - The home of a police officer in Chesterfield, Durban comes under grenade attack with no injuries
• 15 April - A special branch police officer is killed by a sniper and another injured south of Durban in Umbumbulu
• 16 April - An explosion in the parking area of a Newcastle supermarket injures two people
• 20 April - A grenade is thrown at group of soldiers at the Dube train station in Soweto (no casualties reported)
• 23 April - The home of a police officer in Bonteheuwel comes under grenade attack
• 24 April - During a riot police raid in Umlazi, Durban, two terrorists are killed and three riot police officers are injured.
  • Police invade UCT campus in an unprecedented show of force.
• 30 April - Four police officers are injured in a grenade attack on their barracks in Osizweni, Newcastle

May

• 5 May - Two people are killed and twenty injured in a landmine explosion on a road close to Messina near the Zimbabwe border
  • Two mini-limpets explode at the Johannesburg Civic Centre with no injuries
• 6 May - The National Party wins the General Elections
• 9 May - A police officer, three soldiers and a terrorist are killed in a skirmish in Mamelodi
• 16 May - An explosion at Newcastle train station's waiting room occurs and while police are investigating the blast, a second bomb explodes injuring a police officer
• 19 May - An explosion at the Carlton Centre in central Johannesburg
• 20 May - Two bombs exploded at the Johannesburg magistrate’s court, the first a minor explosion that acted as a decoy is followed by a second more powerful charge minutes later which killed three police officers and injuring four others, six bystanders are also injured

June

• 4 June - State President of South Africa Pieter Willem Botha visits Sharpeville
• 11 June - During a police raid in Emdeni, Soweto, police were ambushed. A terrorist and a police officer are killed
• 12 June - Two police officers are found dead in Witbank
  • A Limpet mine explodes at the Athlone Magistrates Court in Johannesburg
• 15 June - The home of a councillor in Gugulethu comes under grenade attack and four people are injured, two of them special constables
• 21 June - A police patrol is attacked with grenades in which seven police officers are injured

July

• 6 July - Umkhonto we Sizwe ambush the police in Mdantsane, two police officers are killed and three injured. A cadre is also shot and killed
  • Milestone meeting is held in Dakar, Senegal between 52 mainly Afrikaans-speaking intellectuals led by Dr Frederik van Zyl Slabbert and the banned African National Congress led by Thabo Mbeki
• 8 July - Police crush an alleged terrorist and his sister to death in shack in Motherwell after they allegedly were fired on
  • A limpet mine explodes at 11h12 in the bar of Village Main Hotel, Johannesburg
• 9 July - Mozambique and the Soviet Union reject the findings of the Margo Commission on the air disaster in which Samora Machel, Mozambiqian President, was killed
• 9-12 July - 61 White South Africans, mainly from the Afrikaans community, meet the African National Congress in Dakar, Senegal in search of a democratic alternative for South Africa
• 12 July - During a police raid in Athlone, Johannesburg, a terrorist is killed and four arrested
• 18 July - A police officer and wife are injured in attack on their home in Mamelodi East
• 20 July - A car bomb explodes outside a block of flats in District Six, Cape Town with no injuries
• 25 July - A grenade is thrown at home in Pimville but harmlessly explodes outside the house
• 30 July - An anti-tank landmine injures three people on the farm Bodena which is owned by Danie Hough
  • A car bomb explodes outside the Witwatersrand Command which kills one soldier and injures 68 people

August

• The South African Defence Force launch Operation Modular
• 3 August - 23 conscripts make a public announcement in Cape Town of their refusal to serve in the SADF
• 5 August - A terrorist is killed in shootout with police on Ntsekisa Road in New Brighton, Johannesburg
• 13 August - An Emdeni police Sergeant is injured when a grenade is thrown at his vehicle
• 23 August - A shop in Emdeni which is frequented by soldiers is attacked with grenades
• 24 August - A grenade is thrown at a police vehicle in Emdeni. Two police officers and eight bystanders are injured
• 27 August - The home of the former Mayor of Soweto, Kunene is attacked and two council police officers are killed
• 30 August - A grenade is thrown at five soldiers outside barracks; estimated eight SADF members killed or injured

September

• The South African Army kill four and capture two terrorists near the Zimbabwe border. After the two terrorists were handed over to police, they escaped killing two police officers. The army later tracked them down and they were killed in fire-fight
• The Commander of KwaNdebele National Guard Unit in Marble Hall and his son (a police officer) is shot and killed by AK-47 fire
• 2 September - Police in Sandton kill a terrorist after he allegedly threw a grenade at a roadblock
• 17 September - Religious leaders including Desmond Tutu hold talks with the African National Congress in Zambia
• 23 September - South Africa and Malawi sign an agreement for the training of nurses from Malawi in South Africa
• 24 September - Ten people including two police officers are injured in grenade attack on a police patrol in Soweto
• 28 September - Two bombs explode at the Standard Bank arena in Johannesburg

October

• 1 October - A bomb placed outside door of Amichand Rajbansi's NPP office in Lenasia explodes hours after official opening with no injuries
• 28 October - Near the Swaziland border soldier is killed and a terrorist wounded in a skirmish

November

• 6 November - A special constable and two civilians are killed by sniper fire in Khayelitsha
• 12 November - Two limpet mines explode and a third one is safely detonated by police at the Zola Municipal offices in Soweto
• 14 November - During a South African Defence Force commemoration march in Cape Town, a limpet mine explodes in bin injuring a soldier
• 18 November - A Limpet mine is found and defused at the Johannesburg post office
• 23 November - During a police raid on house in Umlazi, Durban two terrorists and alleged collaborator are killed. Two police officers are injured in the raid
• 28 November - South African Airways Flight 295 crashes into the Indian Ocean near Mauritius
• 30 November - Three explosions occur at the Dube municipal training centre in Soweto with no injuries

December

• 10 December - During a police raid on shack in the Port Elizabeth area, they meet heavy resistance from the terrorists. The police drive a Casspir over the shack, killing four
• 12 December - A group of police officers are fired upon by terrorists from a moving car in Soweto; two police officers are killed and four injured

Unknown date

• Bulelani Ngcuka joins the United Democratic Front in the Western Cape

Sport

Athletics

• 2 May – Zithulele Sinqe wins his second national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:10:51 in Stellenbosch.

Births

• 14 May – François Steyn, Springboks rugby player

Deaths