South African forces raid Matola

Three MK members, pursued by police, entered a Pretoria bank and took hostages. A police assault killed the three combatants and two civilians.

ANC combatants used rifles, rockets and grenades and scattered leaflets demanding Walter Sisulu's release from Robben Island.

Coordinated explosions at major coal-to-oil facilities demonstrated MK's growing capacity to strike strategic economic targets.

After months of boycotts, authorities closed schools mainly in the Cape rather than address demands for equal education.

Media workers demanded higher pay and recognition of their union, connecting workplace rights with opposition to racial inequality in the press.

Boycotts and demonstrations marked twenty years of the republic by challenging a state founded on the exclusion of the Black majority.

Rocket fire struck the major military complex outside Pretoria, symbolically targeting the armed institutions protecting apartheid.

The General Assembly designated 1982 for worldwide action to secure sanctions against South Africa and intensify pressure on apartheid.

The trade-union organizer died after prolonged Security Branch interrogation. His death triggered protests and a major labour funeral.

Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Raymond Mhlaba and Andrew Mlangeni were moved from Robben Island, partly as the state began considering political contacts.