• State President: Jim Fouché.^[1]
• Prime Minister: John Vorster.
• Chief Justice: Lucas Cornelius Steyn.

April

• 14-16 – A summit meeting of the leaders of East and Central African States in Lusaka results in the issue of the Lusaka Manifesto on 16 April.
• 17 – Dorothy Fisher is the first woman and the fifth person to receive a heart transplant under Dr. Christiaan Barnard.
• 25 to 1 May – The African National Congress holds its first national consultative conference in Morogoro, Tanzania. It becomes known as the "Morogoro Conference".

May

• 1 – The Department of Intelligence and Security of the African National Congress is established under Moses Mabhida.

June

• 4-10 – P.W. Botha, Minister of Defence, visits France accompanied by General R.C. Hiemstra, Chief of the Defence Force, Lieutenant-General W.P. Louw, Chief of the Army and Lieutenant-General J.P. Verster, Chief of the Air Force.

Unknown date

• Dorothy Nyembe is convicted of defeating the ends of justice by harbouring members of Umkhonto we Sizwe and is sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in Barberton Prison.
• South Africa's Atomic Energy Board creates a commission to evaluate the technical and economic aspects of peaceful nuclear explosives for use in mines.

• 3 February – Retief Goosen, golfer.
• 10 February – James Small, rugby player (d. 2019).
• 16 February – Mpho Moerane, businessman and politician (d. 2022)
• 5 March – Derek Crookes, cricketer.
• 22 March – David Nyathi, soccer player
• 12 April – Lucas Radebe, captain of the South Africa national football team.
• 2 June – Taha Karaan, scholar and jurist (d. 2021)
• 8 June – Jerry Sikhosana, soccer player
• 24 June – Thabo Mngomeni, soccer player
• 28 June
  • Linda Buthelezi, soccer player
  • Phil Masinga, soccer player. (d. 2019)
• 27 July – Jonty Rhodes, cricketer.
• 28 August – Nthati Moshesh, actress.
• 14 September – Chris Rossouw (rugby union, born 1969), rugby player
• 25 September – Hansie Cronje, all-rounder cricketer. (d. 2002)
• 17 October – Ernie Els, golfer.
• 18 October – Japie Mulder, rugby player.
• 20 October – Helman Mkhalele, soccer player
• 27 November – Alan Dawson (cricketer), cricketer
• 24 December – Sean Cameron Michael, actor and singer.
• 29 December – Brendan Venter, rugby player.

Locomotives edit

• The South African Railways places the first of twenty Class 6E1, Series 1 electric locomotives in mainline service.^[2][3]