1983 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1983 in South Africa.

Incumbents

;January

26 – One person is killed and five injured by a bomb that explodes at the New Brighton Community Council offices.
30 – A bomb explodes at the Pietermaritzburg Supreme Court.
Dieter Gerhardt is arrested by the FBI in New York.

;February

7 – Cedric Mayson, is charged with treason. He The case was to resume on 18 April but he flees to Britain while on bail.
10 – Umkhonto we Sizwe saboteurs burn 5 square kilometres of land in the Richards Bay area in an arson attack.
11 – The Drakensberg Administration Board offices are damaged by a bomb.
12 – A bomb injures 76 people at the Free State Administration Board offices.
20 – Umkhonto we Sizwe saboteurs try to set the Pelindaba Nuclear Research Station on fire in an arson attack.

;March

12 – A bomb explodes on a railway coach on a Johannesburg-bound passenger train.
21 – A second bomb explodes at the Supreme Court in Pietermaritzburg.

;April

21 – A third bomb explodes at the Supreme Court in Pietermaritzburg.
30 – Prime Minister P.W. Botha meets with Lesotho's Minister of Foreign Affairs about the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.

;May

13 – An improvised explosive device, 37 kg of explosives in a gas cylinder, is found under a bridge on the Southern Freeway in Durban and defused by police.
20 – An Umkhonto we Sizwe car bomb, planted by Abubakar Ismael, explodes outside the South African Air Force Headquarters during the afternoon rush hour period, opposite a building housing military intelligence personnel in Pretoria. 19 people are killed and 220 injured.
23 – The South African Air Force retaliates by attacking African National Congress facilities in the suburb of Matola in Maputo, Mozambique during Operation Skerwe.
Two explosions cause R250,000 worth of damage to the Offices of the Department of Internal Affairs in Roodepoort.
A skirmish on the Botswana border leaves four insurgents and a South African Army soldier dead.

;June

17 – Police defuse a bomb found on a power pylon at New Canada railway station in Soweto.
28 – A bomb explodes at the Department of Internal Affairs in Roodepoort.

;July

7 – Two bombs are found and defused at the Durban Supreme Court while two bombs detonate in Roodepoort at 00:40, causing structural damage to the Department of Internal Affairs offices and the Police Station.

;August

6 – A bomb explodes at Temple Israel in Hillbrow just before Marais Steyn is due to speak there. There are no injuries.
20 – A bomb causes R100,000 in damage to a sub-station near Mamelodi.
20 – The United Democratic Front is launched.
The first of sixty 25 kV AC Class 7E3, Series 1 Hitachi electric locomotives.
The first of one hundred South African Class 8E| centre-cab electric shunting locomotives. Seven more are built for the mining industry.

30 April – Kevin Flanegan wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:16:21 in Durban.