1955 in South Africa
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Events
- January
- Mimi Coertse makes her debut as the First Flower girl in Parsifal at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, with Karl Böhm conducting.
February
- 9 -- 2000 armed police men forcefully removed the black families of Sophiatown to the Meadowlands
- March
- 4-5 – The Inaugural Conference of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) is held at the Trades Hall in Johannesburg.
- 23 – The Meadowridge garden city opens near Cape Town.
- 25 – The Appeal Court bench increases from six to eleven members.
- April
- 22 – The National Tea and Coffee Company is founded.
- May
- 19 – The Black Sash, a non-violent white women's resistance organization, is founded by Jean Sinclair, Ruth Folley, Elizabeth McLaren, Tertia Pybus, Jean Bosazza and Helen Newton-Thompson.
- June
- 20 – The Senate is enlarged from 48 to 89 members, giving the National Party a majority of 77.
- 25 – The Congress of the People, a multi-racial convention, starts in Kliptown, Soweto.
- 30 – The United Kingdom and South Africa sign the Simonstown Agreement for bilateral naval defence.
- August
- 30 – Rondalia (a tourist club) is founded.
- December
- 1 – The Voortrekker Covenant celebrations are held in Pietermaritzburg.
- 17-18 – The African National Congress' 44th Annual Conference is held in Bloemfontein.
- 18 – Lillian Masediba Ngoyi becomes a member of the Transvaal African National Congress' executive.
Births
- 26 March – Rob Louw, rugby player, father of Robbie Louw & Roxy Louw
- 8 April – Gerrie Coetzee, 1983-1984 World Boxing Association heavyweight champion.
- 7 May
- Shaleen Surtie-Richards, actress & TV host.
- Mark Tovey, football player
- 10 May – Mbongeni Ngema, playwright and composer (d. 2023)
- 14 May – Peter Kirsten, cricketer.
- 1 June – Mbongeni Ngema, playwright, actor, writer, composer, screenwriter, musician, director and theatre producer. Most well known for creating Sarafina.
- 21 June – Gwede Mantashe, politician
- 5 July – Nana Coyote, musician.
- 17 July – Jomo Sono, former footballer, football coach & founder of Jomo Cosmos F.C.
- 25 July – Bantu Holomisa, founder & leader of the United Democratic Front (South Africa)
- 27 August – Pieter Groenewald, politician, leader of the Freedom Front Plus
- 23 September – Lulama Xingwana, politician.
- 2 October – Angie Motshekga, politician, national minister.
- 6 October – Schalk Burger (rugby union, born 1955), rugby player & father of rugby player Schalk Burger
- 25 October – Glynis Barber, South African-born British actress.
- 3 November – Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, politician.
- 8 December – Ian Greig, South African-born English cricketer.
Deaths
- 13 March – Benjamin Jennings Caddy, militant trade unionist. (b. 1881)
