1982 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1982 in South Africa.

Incumbents

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

Events

;January

7 – A bomb damages the office of the West Rand Administration Board in Soweto.
8 – Umkhonto we Sizwe guerrillas attack Koeberg nuclear power plant in Cape Town.
11 – The United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid launches the International Year of Mobilisation for Sanctions against South Africa.

;February

15 – Four COSAS-Members are bombed by the Security Branch under orders of Brigadier Schoon at a mine dump outside Kagiso. Three die and one is injured.
18 – The South African Navy frigate sinks with the loss of 16 lives after colliding with .
24 – Andries Treurnicht and another 22 National Party MPs vote for no confidence in Prime Minister P.W. Botha.
South Africa and Swaziland sign a non-aggression pact.

;March

6 – F.W. de Klerk replaces Andries Treurnicht as leader of the National Party in the Transvaal.
9-14 – The South African Defence Force's Operation Super takes place.
14 – A bomb explodes at the African National Congress headquarters in London.
20 – A bomb explodes at the Langa Commissioners Court.

;April

30 – Prime Minister P.W. Botha and President of Zambia Kenneth Kaunda meet on the Botswana border to discuss the political situation in South West Africa and South Africa.

;May

12 – A bomb damages the office of the West Rand Administration Board in Soweto for the second time.
21 – A bomb explodes at the offices of the Department of Coloured Affairs in Pinetown near Durban.
28 – A fuel depot and power transformer in Hectorspruit is damaged by a limpet mine.

;June

3 – A bomb damages the railway near Dube in Soweto.
4 – One person is killed when a bomb explodes in a lift at the offices of the Presidents Council in Cape Town.
28 – The railway depot at Vryheid is damaged in an explosion.
28 – In Scheepersnek, two bombs cause extensive damage to the railway depot, pump station, stores and vehicles.
28 – The Durban-Witwatersrand oil pipeline is damaged by a bomb.

;July

In Port Elizabeth the police station commander's office and New Law Courts are damaged in an attack.

;August

28 – The Umvoti Mounted Rifles base in Red Hill, Durban is attacked.

;September

24 – Umkhonto we Sizwe places explosives on a railway bridge near Upington that fails to detonate.
Two insurgents are killed by police in Boksburg.

;October

26 – Three bombs explode at the Drakensberg Administration offices in Pietermaritzburg.
A special branch policeman and an insurgent are killed in a skirmish in KwaZulu-Natal.

;November

8 – A bomb causes severe damage at the Mobil fuel storage depot in Mkuze.
20-21 – Umkhonto we Sizwe uses RPG-7s to attack a rural police station and temporary South African Army garrison at Tonga.

;December

10 – The South African Defence Force stages a pre-dawn raid on houses inhabited by African National Congress in Maseru, Lesotho.
16 – The United Freedom Front bombs offices of South African Airways in Elmont, NY and IBM in Harrison, NY.
18-19 – Four explosions cause massive damage at the Koeberg nuclear power station just north of Cape Town.
31 – A bomb damages the Johannesburg Magistrates court 200m from John Vorster Square.
One person is killed and 70 injured in a bomb blast at the Southern Free State Administration Board in Bloemfontein.

;Unknown date

Bulelani Ngcuka is jailed for three years for refusing to give evidence in the political trial of Patrick Maqubele and others.

thumb|Brighter version of the 1928 South African flag used from 1982 to 1994

South Africa adopts a brighter version of the 1928 flag.

Births

2 January – Ricky Januarie, rugby player.
8 March – Brett Evans, football player.
17 March – Steven Pienaar, football player.
18 March – Sisanda Henna, producer, director, and actor.
24 March – Fourie du Preez, rugby player.
2 May – Johan Botha (cricketer), cricketer.
18 May – Katlego Mashego, football player.
11 June – Chere Burger, dressage rider.
9 June – Reneilwe Letsholonyane, football player.
25 July – Monde Zondeki, cricketer
27 August – Khuli Chana, Motswako rapper.
6 October – Gio Aplon, rugby player.
19 October – Louis Oosthuizen, golfer.
21 October – Thapelo Mokoena, actor.
16 November
Anke Pietrangeli, singer.
Jannie du Plessis, rugby player.
9 December – Lee-Ann Liebenberg, model. She is notable as 2005 FHM-South Africa's Sexiest Woman In the World.
22 December – Teko Modise, football player.

Deaths

5 February – Neil Aggett, trade unionist and activist. (b. 1953)
Twenty-five 25 kV AC Class 7E2, Series 1 electric locomotives.
The first of six Class 9E, Series 2 General Electric Company 50 kV AC electric locomotives on the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore line.

Sports

Athletics

16 October – Gabashane Rakabaele wins his third national title in the men's marathon in Durban.

Motorsport

23 January – The South African Grand Prix takes place at Kyalami.