2011 in South Africa

	2011 in South Africa
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List of years in South Africa

Incumbents

• President – Jacob Zuma
• Deputy President – Kgalema Motlanthe

Events

February

• 9 – A 600MW generator fails catastrophically while performing overspeed testing at Duvha Power Station.

May

• 18 – Municipal elections take place.

October

• 7 – The 14th Dalai Lama is unable to attend the 80th birthday celebration of fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, having again been refused a visa to enter South Africa.^[1][2]

Deaths

• 29 January – Fanus Rautenbach, Afrikaans radio and media personality (b. 1928)
• 18 February – Lucas Maree, South African singer (b. 1952)
• 12 March – Hubert du Plessis, South African composer and pianist (b. 1922)
• 16 March – Carel Boshoff, South African politician, founder of Orania. (b. 1927)
• 24 March – Henry Gordon Makgothi, teacher, defiance campaigner and 1956 treason trialist. (b. 1928)^[3]
• 2 June – Albertina Sisulu, anti–apartheid activist, widow of Walter Sisulu. (b. 1918)
• 15 June – Zack du Plessis, Afrikaans actor (b. 1949)
• 22 June – Kader Asmal, politician. (b. 1934)
• 13 July – Al Debbo, South African actor, comedian and singer (b. 1924)
• 18 July – General Magnus Malan, Minister of Defense (b. 1930)
• 11 September – Deon du Plessis, newsman. (b. 1952)^[4]
• 22 December – Zithulele Sinqe, long distance athlete. (b, 1963)^[5]
• 25 December – John Christoffel Kannemeyer, writer, authority on Afrikaans literature (b. 1939).^[6]
• 29 December – Amichand Rajbansi, leader of the Minority Front in the South African Parliament (b. 1942).

Railways

Locomotives

• January – Transnet Rail Engineering at Koedoespoort takes delivery of the first two of ten imported Class 43-000 General Electric type C30ACi diesel-electric locomotives for Transnet Freight Rail.^[7]
• July – The first of the 133 locally built Class 43-000 locomotives rolls out at the Koedoespoort shops in Pretoria.^[8]

References

1. Was South Africa right to deny Dalai Lama a visa? 4 October 2011
2. Dalai Lama criticises China in South Africa video link bbc 8 October 2011
3. Henry Makgothi: The softly-spoken freedom fighter
4. Respected newsman Deon du Plessis dies
5. Zithulele Sinqe dies in crash
6. Top book man dies suddenly
7. Railways Africa, 12 Jan 2011: New Diesels for South Africa
8. Railways Africa, 10 Jul 2012: Class 43 Loco Celebration

Further reading

• Andreas Mehler; et al., eds. (2012). "South Africa". Africa Yearbook: Politics, Economy and Society South of the Sahara in 2011 8. Koninklijke Brill. pp. 511+. ISBN 978-90-04-24178-7.