1956 in South Africa

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "1956 in South Africa" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

← 1955 1954 1953 1956 in South Africa → 1957 1958 1959
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	List of years in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1956 in South Africa.

Incumbents

• Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II
  .
• Governor-General and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Ernest George Jansen
  .
• Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom
  .
• Chief Justice: Albert van der Sandt Centlivres.

Events

February

• 1 – The South African government severs
  diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union as a result of its support for the South African Communist Party.^[1]

• 16 – The Riotous Assemblies Act no. 17 is passed, prohibiting any outside gathering that the Minister of Justice deems a threat to public peace.
• 17 –
  The Magic Flute (Mozart
  ).

• 9 – Women's march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria in protest against the pass laws.

December

• 5 – 156 leading activists are arrested, heralding the start of the
  Treason Trial. Among those arrested is Lillian Masediba Ngoyi
  .
• 19 – The Four year long
  Treason Trial begins at the Drill Hall in Johannesburg
  .

• Lillian Masediba Ngoyi is elected president of the Federation of South African Women.
• Lillian Masediba Ngoyi becomes the first woman to be elected to the African National Congress National Executive Committee.
• Segregation is introduced on buses.
• Albert Lutuli
  is arrested.

Births

• 31 January – Trevor Manuel, politician.
• 2 February – Zweli Mkhize, politician, national minister
• 17 April – Jerry Mofokeng, actor.
• 29 May – Anant Singh, film producer, and businessman.
• 10 July –
  Umkhonto we Sizwe
  operative
• 26 July – Gordon Igesund, football coach.
• 1 September – Jeremy Baskin, trade unionist and labour market analyst.
• 30 October –
  Springboks
  coach.
• 13 November – Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, politician, national minister
• 15 December – Tony Leon, politician.
• 16 December – Duncan Faure, musician, member of Rabbitt.
• 23 December –
  Springboks
  coach.

Deaths

• 5 April - Manilal Gandhi, editor, activist, and second son of Mahatma Gandhi, (b. 1892)

Sports

• South Africa at the 1956 Summer Olympics

References