| 1993
| An APLA commander declares 1993 ‘The Year of the Great Storm’. APLA operatives carry out several attacks on restaurants, churches, farms and pubs, killing mainly white civilians. In March, APLA attacks the Yellowwoods Hotel in Fort Beaufort and a Baha’i church service in Mdantsane, Ciskei. On 1 May, APLA attacks the Highgate Hotel in East London, on 25 July the St James Church in Cape Town, and on 31 December the Heidelberg Tavern in Cape Town. These attacks result in multiple killings and injuries.
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The government announces in March that it has dismantled six nuclear bombs built secretly before 1989. Six children are killed by ANC supporters on 2 March and ten are killed by IFP supporters on 5 March in two separate bus ambushes Table Mountain, Natal.
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Chris Hani is assassinated in April. Senior CP member, Clive Derby-Lewis, and Polish immigrant, Janusz Waluz, are later convicted. Over seventy people die across the country in violence sparked by his murder.
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27 April 1994 is confirmed as the election date. Inkatha and the CP walk out of the talks, later joined by Ciskei and Bophuthatswana. (They later set up the Freedom Alliance). The July announcement of the election date leads to an immediate escalation in deaths related to political violence.
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The Afrikaner Volksfront is launched in May by 21 right-wing groups who demand self-determination in a federal state. Winnie Mandela’s conviction on kidnapping charges is upheld on appeal but her conviction on accessory to assault is overturned in June. The sentence is changed to a fine.
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Members of the Afrikaner Volksfront and the AWB invade the negotiations venue, the World Trade Centre, in June and occupy the building causing damages estimated at R700 000.
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A second ANC-appointed enquiry, the Motsuenyane Commission, reports in August on human rights abuses in ANC detention camps. Conclusions reached (similar to those of the first enquiry) are accepted by the ANC. Alleged perpetrators are named.
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The IFP and KwaZulu Legislative Assembly embark on a Self-Protection Unit training project. Training of SPUs begins at Mlaba Camp in September with the assistance of Vlakplaas commander De Kock with weapons delivered by IFP member Philip Powell. (By April 1994, over 5 000 Inkatha supporters have received training).
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The ANC wins an order in October, restraining members of the ISU from assaulting and torturing people at Nyoni farm, the ISU headquarters in Vosloorus.
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The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk in October. The SADF attacks an alleged APLA safe house in Umtata, Transkei in October. Five children are killed.
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The ANC and the government propose power sharing and a five-year interim government of national unity after elections. Three years of negotiations end with agreement on constitutional issues in November. Agreements are reached on a non-racial, multi-party democracy, a bill of rights, a system of proportional representation and other matters.
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The interim Constitution is finalised and a Transitional Executive Council is installed, with representatives from all parties at the negotiations. The ANC and the government continue talks with the Freedom Alliance in an attempt to resolve issues in time to bring the Alliance into the elections.
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1994 | One person is killed and several injured in an APLA attack on the Crazy Beat disco in Newcastle, Natal on 14 February.
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PAC president Clarence Makwetu announces the suspension of the armed struggle. The Fourth Interim Report of the Goldstone Commission in March concludes that there is prima facie evidence of a hit squad in the KwaZulu Police.
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Amidst a widespread public revolt at his decision to withdraw from the April elections, President Mangope draws in the white right wing including the Volksfront to defend his rule. Hundreds of armed AWB members drive into Bophuthatswana and attack residents. Over forty-five people are killed, including three AWB members.
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The military ruler of the Ciskei, Brigadier Oupa Gqozo, resigns in March. The Transitional Executive Council takes over control of the Ciskei. At least fifty-five people die and hundreds are injured when IFP members march to the centre of Johannesburg on 28 March. IFP marchers are shot at by ANC members from the ANC Shell House head office, killing thirteen.
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In the Ndwedwe killings, eight people are killed while distributing voter education pamphlets north of Durban on 12 April. Members of the AWB’s Ystergarde launch a series of bomb attacks in the Transvaal to sabotage the national election, killing over twenty one people. This includes an attack on the airport, a Germiston taxi rank where ten people are killed, and a car bomb in central Johannesburg on 24 April which kills nine people.
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Less than a week before the election in April the IFP calls on its supporters to vote. South Africa’s first democratic election takes place on 27 April. The ANC wins with 62.6% of the vote, implying 252 of the 400 seats in the National Assembly. A Government of National Unity is constituted. Former Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock and two others are arrested in Pretoria in May. Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as President of South Africa on 10 May.
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