P. W. Botha delivers the Rubicon speech

At a Soweto rally she read Nelson Mandela's refusal to accept release in exchange for renouncing resistance while the government continued violence against the people.

Police fired on people marching to a funeral on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Sharpeville, killing at least twenty according to official findings.

A cross-border attack killed ANC members, South African refugees and Botswana citizens, violating Botswana's sovereignty.

Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sparrow Mkhonto and Sicelo Mhlauli were murdered after organizing Eastern Cape communities against apartheid local government.

Emergency rule in 36 districts expanded detention, curfew and censorship powers in response to sustained township resistance.

Hidden police opened fire from a railway truck in Athlone, killing young residents and exposing covert tactics used against township protest.

Delegates from 33 unions launched a large nonracial federation committed to industrial organization and the wider struggle for democracy.

The government ended the partial emergency, but repression and resistance continued and a broader emergency followed only months later.

The government introduced extensive detention, censorship and security powers across the country before the tenth anniversary of the Soweto uprising.

Security forces detained activists and restricted gatherings, while communities commemorated the students killed in 1976 and renewed demands for liberation.