2006 in South Africa

Incumbents

• President: Thabo Mbeki.
• Deputy President: Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
• Chief Justice: Pius Langa.

  Events

• 10 - Three miners are killed and four others are injured when a magnitude 2.4 earthquake traps twelve miners underground at the TauTona gold mine near Carletonville.
• 26–28 - A large fire breaks out on the slopes of Table Mountain, taking one life.

• 14 February - Hey, hey, Valentine's Day! The world's roundest baby was born in Matatiele, Bhi Bhi Steinke. Lover of Jelly Beans, socks and Jaffa cakes, and one-time, super athlete.
• 18–23 - The Koeberg nuclear power station automatically disconnects from the national power grid after when a loose bolt damages a rotor, leaving large parts of the Western Cape without electricity supply. Load shedding in the form of erratic rolling blackouts persist during the week, causing around R500 billion in losses to industry, according to some estimates.

• 1 - Local government elections are held.
• 5 - Tsotsi wins the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards.
• 8 - David Goldblatt is awarded the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography.
• 13 - The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union starts a week-long national strike over the restructuring of Transnet.
• 14 - Kofi Annan, United Nations secretary-general, addresses parliament in Cape Town urging African leaders to improve conditions in Africa.
• 14–15 - Members of the South African Students' Congress and African National Congress Youth League stage violent protests at the North-West University's Mafikeng campus over the exclusion of some students because of unpaid fees.
• 23 - Eight miners are trapped underground when a fire breaks out at the Buffelsfontein mine in Stilfontein.
• 23–24 - About 150,000 security guards go on a two-day nationwide strike, but continues into April and May.
• 25 - R69,000,000 is stolen in a cash heist from a South African Airways aircraft at Johannesburg International Airport.
• 27 - 5,000 Telkom workers stage a protest march against Telkoms's profit-sharing scheme in Pretoria.
• 30 - Six South Africans die when the al-Dana, a motorised dhow, sinks off Manama, Bahrain.

• 3 - Herman van Rooyen and Rudi Gouws, two Boeremag treason trial accused, escape from the Pretoria High Court.
• 3 - The Alexandros T, a Greek bulk carrier, sinks about east of Port Elizabeth.
• 6 - A giant rotor to replace the damaged rotor at Koeberg nuclear power station arrives in Cape Town on board the South African Navy's replenishment ship SAS Drakensberg.
• 24 - The first of four South African Air Force Super Lynx 300 helicopters flies at AgustaWestland's Yeovil factory in England.

• 8 - Jacob Zuma, former Deputy President of South Africa, is acquitted of rape charges.

• 1 - The 16th World Economic Forum on Africa is convened in Cape Town.

• 16 - The first South African Air Force twin-seat SAAB JAS 39D Gripen arrives in South Africa.

• 5 - Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, arrives in Cape Town and meets with Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.
• 20 - The corruption trial of Jacob Zuma, former Deputy President of South Africa, is struck off the roll at the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
• 22 - A Sasol Tigers Aero L-29 Delfín crashes into Table Bay off Milnerton while on a validation flight for the Africa Aerospace and Defence air show, killing the pilot Martin van Straten.
• 30–3 October - Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, arrives in Durban on a four-day state visit.

• 7 - The Marriage Alliance protests in Pretoria against same-sex marriage.
• 12 - Herschelle Gibbs, cricketer, is questioned by the New Delhi police in Mumbai, India in connection with his alleged role in a 2000 cricket match-fixing scandal.
• 16 - South Africa is selected for the first time as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2007–2008 period.

• 1 - Nelson Mandela is awarded the Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award.
• 14 - The National Assembly passes the Same-sex marriage bill.

  Births

Deaths

• 18 January - Anton Rupert, billionaire businessman and philanthropist.
• 27 February - Tsakani Mhinga, singer and songwriter.
• 31 October - P.W. Botha, former Prime Minister and State President.

  Railways

Locomotives

• April - Transwerk completes the rebuilding of the first of five Class 39-000 Electro-Motive Diesel type GT26CU-3 locomotives for Spoornet from a Class 34-600 locomotive.

  Sports

Athletics

• 12 February - George Mofokeng wins his first national title in the men's marathon, clocking 2:15:06 in Port Elizabeth.