1977 in South Africa

• State President: Nico Diederichs.^[1]
• Prime Minister: John Vorster.
• Chief Justice: Frans Lourens Herman Rumpff.

January

• 8 – The railway line near Soweto is maliciously damaged.

February

• 1 – KwaZulu is granted self-governance.
• 24 – A bomb explodes at the Daveyton Police Station, causing only superficial damage.^[2]

March

• 5 – British Formula One driver Tom Pryce dies during the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami when his car strikes and kills marshal Frederik Jansen van Vuuren.
• 7 – A Pretoria restaurant is destroyed by a bomb.

April

• 1 – Pik Botha, South Africa's ambassador in the United States of America, is appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

June

• 4 – Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa is served a 5-year restriction order.
• 15 – Monty Motlaung and Solomon Mahlangu, two Umkhonto we Sizwe cadres, kill two civilians and are arrested.
• 29 – The United Party is renamed the New Republic Party.

July

• 15 – The railway line at Umlazi in Durban is maliciously damaged.
• 29 – The Antipolis, a Greek oil tanker, runs aground on the rocks near Victoria Road in Oudekraal, Cape Town.

August

• A Soviet surveillance satellite detects South Africa's nuclear test preparations and alerts the United States.
• Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko is detained for breaking a banning order.^[3]

September

• 23 – The Netherlands suspends its cultural agreement with South Africa.

November

• 4 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 418 places a mandatory arms embargo against South Africa.^[3]
• 25 – Fourteen people are injured when a bomb explodes at the Carlton Centre.
• 30 – A bomb explodes on a Pretoria-bound train.
• 30 – A whites only general election is held. The National Party wins.
• The railway at Dunswart (Boksburg) and Apex (Benoni) is maliciously damaged and a train driver is slightly injured.

December

• 12 – Guerrillas attack the Germiston police station.^[4]
• 14 – A bomb explodes at the Benoni railway station.
• 16 – The Venpet-Venoil collision between two supertankers occurs off the coast of Cape St. Francis.
• 22 – An unexploded bomb is found in OK Bazaars in Roodepoort.

Unknown date

• Former members of the United Party join the Progressive Reform Party, which is renamed the Progressive Federal Party.
• Cedric Mayson, a Methodist minister, is banned for 5 years.

• 20 January – Paul Adams (cricketer), cricketer
• 21 January – Bradley Carnell, football player
• 30 January – Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, national minister
• 31 January – David Terbrugge, cricketer
• 14 February – Elmer Symons, motorcycle enduro racer (d. 2007)
• 6 March – Khoto Sesinyi, Mosotho footballer^[5]
• 14 March – Matthew Booth (soccer), soccer player
• 24 April – Zola (musician), musician, poet, actor and presenter.
• 11 May – Victor Matfield, Springbok rugby player
• 21 May – Quinton Fortune, soccer player & coach
• 13 June – Stanton Fredericks, soccer player
• 18 June – Riaad Moosa, comedian, actor and doctor
• 6 July – Makhaya Ntini, cricketer
• 12 August – Zanne Stapelberg, soprano singer
• 26 August – Gareth Cliff, radio host, television personality and businessman
• 2 October – Justin Kemp, cricketer
• 21 October – Brett Goldin, actor (d. 2006)
• 12 November – Benni McCarthy, soccer striker & coach
• 12 November – Susan Wessels-Webber, hockey player
• 17 November – Ryk Neethling, swimmer
• 25 November – MacBeth Sibaya, soccer player
• 2 December – Siyabonga Nomvethe, soccer player
• 7 December – Delron Buckley, footballer

• 29 January – Buster Nupen 75, cricketer. (b. 1902)
• 20 February – Christoffel Venter 84, South African Air Force general. (b. 1892)
• 5 March – Tom Pryce 27, a Welsh racing driver, (b. 1949) killed during the 1977 South African Grand Prix in Midrand
• 8 March – Moses Kottler, sculptor. (b. 1896)
• 12 September – Steve Biko 30, black consciousness activist. (b. 1946) ^[3]

Locomotives

• The South African Railways places the first of 150 Class 6E1, Series 7 electric locomotives in mainline service.^[6][7]

Motorsport

• 5 March – The South African Grand Prix takes place at Kyalami.