1980 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1980 in South Africa.

Incumbents

State President: Marais Viljoen.
Prime Minister: P.W. Botha.
Chief Justice: Frans Lourens Herman Rumpff.

Events

;January

12 – The British Sports Council begins a fact-finding tour to investigate racial discrimination in South African sport.
14 – The local community at Soekmekaar resists forced removal and damages the police station.
25 – Four Umkhonto we Sizwe fighters kill two civilians and hold bank staff and customers hostage in Silverton.

;March

12 – The Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk and its three sister churches announce that they have no objection to reconsideration of the Immorality- and Mixed Marriages Acts.
12 – Nine people are sentenced to imprisonment for training as guerrillas and recruiting others.
26 – A mine lift cage at the Vaal Reefs gold mine falls , killing 23.
Two insurgents are killed by police in Bophuthatswana while another escapes.

;April

4 – Umkhonto we Sizwe attacks the Booysens Police Station in Johannesburg with grenades, rocket launchers and AK47s.
21 – Over 60 coloured high schools, teacher training colleges and the University of the Western Cape begin class boycotts.
29 – In Johannesburg hundreds of coloured school children are arrested in terms of the Riotous Assemblies Act, 1956.

;May

2 – Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall is banned for fear that it may become a song of liberty by black pupils.
6 – Thozamile Botha, a Port Elizabeth activist, breaks his banning order and escapes to Maseru, Lesotho.
25 – The South African Defence Force attacks the town of Chifufua in Angola during Operation Sceptic.

;June

1 – Bombs explode at Sasol One and Two and Natref Eight at Sasolburg and Secunda, with no injuries and RM58 damage.
4 – Patrick Makau, Umkhonto weSizwe member, and his child die in a bomb attack in Manzini, Swaziland.
Expelled African National Congress official Tennyson Makiwane is shot dead.

;August

Special Branch policeman Detective-Sergeant T.G. Zondi is shot at in Sobantu Village.

;September

3 – Zimbabwe breaks diplomatic and consular relations with South Africa but maintains a commercial mission in Johannesburg.

;October

14 – The Soweto community calls for a stayaway to protest against rent increases.
15 – A bomb damages a railway line in Dube, Soweto and Minister Piet Koornhof visits the scene.
29 – Umkhonto we Sizwe insurgents throw grenades into the West Rand Administration Board buildings, injuring two.
30 – A bomb explodes at the Transkei consul's residence in Port Elizabeth, with no injuries.

Births

1 January – Megan McKenzie, model, voted South Africa's sexiest woman by readers of FHM in 2003, ranking behind only Halle Berry, sister of cricketer, Neil McKenzie.
4 January – Justin Ontong, cricketer
4 January – BJ Botha, rugby player
10 February – Gabriel Temudzani, actor
5 March – Brent Russell, rugby player
20 March – Surprise Moriri, football player
24 March – Conrad Jantjes, rugby player
14 May – Joe Van Niekerk, rugby player
19 May – Moeneeb Josephs, football player
6 June – Mmusi Maimane, politician and former Democratic Alliance leader
20 June – Kim Engelbrecht, actress best known for her portrayal of Lolly de Klerk on the SABC 3 soap opera; Isidingo
27 June – Kevin Pietersen, cricketer
3 July – Roland Schoeman, swimmer
11 July – Jabu Mahlangu, football player
27 August – CJ van der Linde, rugby player
8 September – Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, olympics middle distance runner silver medalist (d. 2014)
14 September – Hip Hop Pantsula, motswako rapper (d. 2018)
16 September – Mbulelo Mabizela, football player
24 September – Tanit Phoenix, model, actress, and makeup artist
12 August – Karin Kortje, singer
8 October – Cristina Boshoff, folk pop singer & pianist
9 October – Thami Tsolekile, cricketer
3 November – René Kalmer, long-distance runner
9 November– Benson Mhlongo, football player
11 November – Shashi Naidoo, TV presenter & actress
15 November – Kabamba Floors, rugby player
25 November – Aaron Mokoena, football player
25 November – Alviro Petersen, cricketer

Deaths

24 February – Clement Martyn Doke, linguist. (b. 1893)
13 March – Lilian Ngoyi (Mma Ngoyi), dressmaker, activist and trade unionist. (b. 1911)
9 May – Kate Molale, activist. (b. 1928)
12 June – Billy Butlin, South African–born Canadian holiday camp entrepreneur. (b. 1899)
7 July – Johannes Meintjes, artist and writer. (b. 1923)
23 September – Jim Fouché, second State President. (b. 1898)

Railways

thumb|[[South African Class 36-200|Class 36-200 (GM-EMD SW1002)]]

thumb|[[South African Class 7E1|Class 7E1]]

Locomotives

Three new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways:

August – The first of 101 Class 36-200 General Motors Electro-Motive Division SW1002 diesel-electric locomotives.
The first of fifty 25 kV AC Class 7E1 electric locomotives on the Richards Bay coal line.