2004 in South Africa

← 2003 2002 2001 2004 in South Africa → 2005 2006 2007
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	2004 in South African sport List of years in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 2004 in South Africa.

Incumbents

• President: Thabo Mbeki.^[1]
• Deputy President: Jacob Zuma.
• Chief Justice: Arthur Chaskalson.

Events

January

• 1 – Asher Karni, an Israeli and South African businessman from Sea Point who is alleged to have supplied nuclear technology to Pakistan, is arrested at Denver International Airport, Colorado.

March

• 7 – 64 suspected mercenaries are arrested at Harare, Zimbabwe. 20 of them are South African including their leader, Simon Mann, a former British Army officer and security expert.^[2]
• Building of the new Giriyondo Border Post between South Africa and Mozambique in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park begins.^[3]

April

• 14 – The third democratic elections are held and won by the African National Congress.
• 16 – A set of shell beads, estimated to be 75,000 years old, is discovered at the excavations at Blombos cave near Stilbaai in the Western Cape.

June

• Nelson Mandela announces he is "retiring from retirement".

July

• 1 – A South African Air Force Oryx helicopter crash lands near the Johannesburg International Airport, with no fatalities.
• 6 – A South African Air Force SE-316B Alouette III helicopter crash lands at Grahamstown, with no fatalities.
• Avian influenza is diagnosed in ostriches in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape.

August

• 23 – SAS Mendi, a Valour-class frigate, and HMS Nottingham, a Type 42 destroyer, meet at the site where the World War I troopship SS Mendi sank. Wreaths are laid in remembrance to those who died in service of their country.
• 25 – Sir Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, is arrested at his home in Cape Town for his alleged involvement in the Equatorial Guinea coup plot.
• 27 – Simon Mann, former British Army officer, security expert and mercenary, is found guilty of attempting to buy arms for the alleged Equatorial Guinea coup plot and is sentenced to 7 years imprisonment, while the 66 co-accused are acquitted.

September

• 1 – Six people are killed and more than 100 are injured in a gas explosion in the Sasol synthetic fuel plant in Secunda.
• 9 – The first locally assembled Agusta A109 light utility helicopter makes its first flight at Denel's Kempton Park facilities.

December

• 15 – South Africa announces that it will buy the Airbus A400M transport aircraft.

Deaths

• 13 March – Dullah Omar, lawyer and politician. (b. 1934)
• 9 May – Brenda Fassie, singer. (b. 1964)
• 27 May – Nimrod Sejake, activist. (b. 1920)
• 7 September – Beyers Naudé, cleric, theologian and activist. (b. 1915)
• 12 September – Rachel Simons, communist trade unionist. (b. 1914)
• 12 December – Phaswane Mpe, poet and novelist. (b. 1970)
• 25 December – Ian Syster, long-distance runner. (b. 1976)

Sports

See also

• 2005 in South African television

References