1977 in South Africa

Incumbents

• State President: Nico Diederichs.
• Prime Minister: John Vorster.
• Chief Justice: Frans Lourens Herman Rumpff.

  Events

• 8 - The railway line near Soweto is maliciously damaged.

• 1 - KwaZulu is granted self-governance.
• 24 - A bomb explodes at the Daveyton Police Station, causing only superficial damage.

• 5 - British Formula One driver Tom Pryce dies during the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami when his car strikes and kills marshal Frederik Jansen van Vuuren.
• 7 - A Pretoria restaurant is destroyed by a bomb.

• 1 - Pik Botha, South Africa's ambassador in the United States of America, is appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

• 4 - Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa is served a 5-year restriction order.
• 15 - Monty Motlaung and Solomon Mahlangu, two Umkhonto we Sizwe cadres, kill two civilians and are arrested.
• 29 - The United Party is renamed the New Republic Party.

• 15 - The railway line at Umlazi in Durban is maliciously damaged.
• 29 - The Antipolis, a Greek oil tanker, runs aground on the rocks near Victoria Road in Oudekraal, Cape Town.

• A Soviet surveillance satellite detects South Africa's nuclear test preparations and alerts the United States.
• Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko is detained for breaking a banning order.

• 23 - The Netherlands suspends its cultural agreement with South Africa.

• 4 - United Nations Security Council Resolution 418 places a mandatory arms embargo against South Africa.
• 25 - Fourteen people are injured when a bomb explodes at the Carlton Centre.
• 30 - A bomb explodes on a Pretoria-bound train.
• 30 - A whites only general election is held. The National Party wins.
• The railway at Dunswart and Apex is maliciously damaged and a train driver is slightly injured.

• 12 - Guerrillas attack the Germiston police station.
• 14 - A bomb explodes at the Benoni railway station.
• 16 - The Venpet-Venoil collision between two supertankers occurs off the coast of Cape St. Francis.
• 22 - An unexploded bomb is found in OK Bazaars in Roodepoort.

• Former members of the United Party join the Progressive Reform Party, which is renamed the Progressive Federal Party.
• Cedric Mayson, a Methodist minister, is banned for 5 years.

  Births

• 20 January - Paul Adams, cricketer
• 21 January - Bradley Carnell, football player
• 30 January - Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, national minister
• 31 January - David Terbrugge, cricketer
• 14 March - Matthew Booth, soccer player
• 24 April - Zola, musician, poet, actor and presenter.
• 11 May - Victor Matfield, Springbok rugby player
• 21 May - Quinton Fortune, soccer player & coach
• 13 June - Stanton Fredericks, soccer player
• 18 June - Riaad Moosa, comedian, actor and doctor
• 6 July - Makhaya Ntini, cricketer
• 12 August - Zanne Stapelberg, soprano singer
• 26 August - Gareth Cliff, radio host, television personality and businessman
• 2 October - Justin Kemp, cricketer
• 12 November - Benni McCarthy, soccer striker & coach
• 12 November - Susan Wessels-Webber, hockey player
• 17 November - Ryk Neethling, swimmer
• 25 November - MacBeth Sibaya, soccer player
• 2 December - Siyabonga Nomvethe, soccer player
• 7 December - Delron Buckley, footballer

  Deaths

• 29 January - Buster Nupen 75, cricketer.
• 20 February - Christoffel Venter 84, South African Air Force general.
• 5 March - Tom Pryce 27, a Welsh racing driver, killed during the 1977 South African Grand Prix in Midrand
• 8 March - Moses Kottler, sculptor.
• 12 September - Steve Biko 30, black consciousness activist.

  Railways

Locomotives

• The South African Railways places the first of 150 Class 6E1, Series 7 electric locomotives in mainline service.

  Sports

Motorsport

• 5 March - The South African Grand Prix takes place at Kyalami.