1965 in South Africa explained

The following lists events that happened during 1965 in South Africa.

Incumbents

• State President: Charles Robberts Swart.^[1]
• Prime Minister: Hendrik Verwoerd.
• Chief Justice: Lucas Cornelius Steyn.

Events

January

• 8  - Adam Faith, a British pop singer, cancels his tour of South Africa because the South African government prohibited mixed audiences at concerts.

April

• 1  - Frederick John Harris is hanged for exploding the bomb at Johannesburg Park Station that killed 77-year-old Ethel Rhys and injured 23 others on 24 July 1964.

May

• 4  - Units of the South African Defence Force begin to be issued with the R1 7.62 mm rifle, made in South Africa under license.

October

• 4  - At least 150 are killed when a commuter train derails at the outskirts of Durban.

November

• Rhodes University in Grahamstown installs a computer, the first university in South Africa to do so.

Unknown date

• The African National Congress establishes its headquarters in Morogoro, Tanzania.

Births

• 1 February  - Dave Callaghan, cricketer.
• 14 February  - Themba Ndaba, actor.
• 17 March  - Andrew Hudson, cricketer.
• 18 March  - Yvonne Chaka Chaka, singer.
• 2 June  - Thoko Didiza, politician.
• 10 June  - Tiaan Strauss, rugby player.
• 13 July  - Hannes Strydom, rugby player.
• 25 September  - Augustine Makalakalane, football player.
• 1 December  - Henry Honiball, rugby player.
• 18 December  - John Moshoeu, footballer. (d. 2015).

Deaths

• 1 April  - Frederick John Harris, school teacher and bomb planter. (b. 1937)
• 1 July  - Wally Hammond, English first-class cricketer and South African sports administrator. (b. 1903)
• 19 July  - Ingrid Jonker, Afrikaans poet. (b. 1933)

Railways

Locomotives

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

• The first of sixty-five Class 33-000 General Electric type U20C diesel-electric locomotives.^[2]
• The first of one hundred Class 5E1, Series 4 electric locomotives.^[2]

Notes and References

1. http://www.archontology.org/nations/south_africa/sa_pres1/ Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Heads of State: 1961-1994
2. South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610mm and 1065mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended