List of massacres in South Africa

The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in South Africa (numbers may be approximate):

Name	Date	Location	Deaths	Notes
The Mfecane / Difaqane	1818-1828	Highveld and Natal south of the Tugela	1.000.000 - 2.500.000	The mfecane / difaqane was ordered by Shaka, a Zulu chieftain. [1]
The Janse van Rensburg Trek massacre	JUL 1836	Inhambane (Djinjispruit, Limpoporiver, Mozambique)[2]	49	The massacre was ordered by Manukosi, a chieftain. Johannes Jacobus Janse (Lang Hans) van Rensburg, leader of one of the early Voortrekker treks and his entire trek, except two children saved by a Zulu warrior, were massacred by an impi of Manukosi. [3] Included in the party was Nicholaas Balthasar Prinsloo, who was a Slagtersnek rebel, his wife, Petronella Maria Krugel/Kruger and their family. [4] [5]
Piet Retief Delegation massacre	1838-02-06	Hloma mabuto, uMgungundlovu, Natal also known as kwaMatiwane Hill	100 Boers and servants	The massacre was ordered by Dingane, a Zulu chieftain. The place, at kwaMatiwane Hill, was a site where Dingane had thousands of other enemies executed. Voortrekker leader Piet Retief was killed last. The treaty handing over a tract of land to the Voortrekkers signed between Dingane and Piet Retief two days before the massacre was later found on Retief's remains. A copy of the original still exists. The treaty led to the establishment of the Natalia Republic which stretched from the Tugela to present day Port St. Johns.
Weenen massacre	1838-02-17	Doringkop, Bloukrans River, Moordspruit, Rensburgspruit and other sites around present day Weenen, KwaZulu-Natal	532 Boer men, woman and children[6][7][8]	Amongst those killed were Joachim Johannes Prinsloo, b3c3d6e1, ≈ 30/3/1783 (Acquitted Slagtersnek rebel) [9] and his wife Martha Louisa Prinsloo, b3c3d4e5. [10] The Piet Retief Massacre and the Weenen Massacre was the motivation for the Voortrekkers to confront the Zulus in battle on 16 December 1838 when 470 Voortrekkers fought against an estimated 15000 to 21000 Zulus; which the Voortrekkers won. The battle is known as The Battle of Blood River.
Derdepoort massacre [11]	1899-11-25 [12]	Derdepoort, North-West Transvaal [13]	2 Boer woman were killed, and 17 woman and children taken captive [14]	On 25 November 1899 some of the Bechuanaland Kgatla, under Lentshwe and in alliance with the British under Colonel G. L. Holdsworth, attacked a Boer laager on the Bechuanaland border of the Transvaal. Two women were killed, and 17 woman and children taken captive. [15]
Leliefontein massacre	1902-01-31	Northern Cape, South Africa	35	35 Khoikhoi executed by Boer forces under Manie Maritz as reprisal for an attack on his troops by pro-British locals.
Rand Rebellion	1922-03-08 to 1922-03-18	Johannesburg, Gauteng	153
Durban Riot	1949-01-13 to 1949-01-14	Durban	142
Sharpeville massacre	1960-03-21	Sharpeville	69
Soweto uprising	1976-06-16	Soweto	176
Church Street bombing	1983-05-20	Church Street West, Pretoria, Transvaal at 16:28	17 men, 2 women (8 black, 9 white).
Trojan Horse Incident	1985-10-15	Belgravia Road, Athlone, Cape Town	3 killed
Johannesburg Magistrate's Court bombing	1987-05-20	Johannesburg, Transvaal	3 killed, 4 injured	Limpet mine attack, then car bomb attack half an hour later.
Bisho massacre	1992-09-07	Bisho, Ciskei	29
Boipatong massacre	1992-06-17	Boipatong	45
Saint James Church massacre	1993-07-25	Kenilworth, Cape Town	11
Heidelberg Tavern Massacre	1993-12-30	Observatory, Cape Town	4	During the years of apartheid, Observatory was one of the few de facto 'grey' suburbs where all races lived together. On the evening of 30 December 1993, three men entered a popular student venue on Station Road, called the Heidelberg Tavern and opened fire, killing four people and injuring five. The three APLA operatives - Humphrey Luyanda Gqomfa, Vuyisile Brian Madasi and Zola Prince Mabala - were convicted in November 1994[16] for what became known as the Heidelberg Massacre. On the 16 July 1998, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission granted the three amnesty.[17]
Shell House massacre	1994-03-28	Johannesburg	19-53
Sizzlers massacre	2003-01-20	Sea Point, Cape Town	9, 1 injured	The victims were murdered at a gay massage parlour on Graham Road by Adam Roy Woest and Trevor Basil Theys. Judge Nathan Erasmus described it as the "worst massacre that Cape Town and the country have ever seen".
Marikana massacre	2012-08-16	Lonmin Mine, Marikana	34-47	The Marikana massacre was the single most lethal use of force by South African security forces against civilians since 1960. The shootings have been described as a massacre in the South African media and have been compared to the Sharpeville massacre in 1960. Controversy emerged after it was discovered that most of the victims were shot in the back, and many victims were shot far from police lines.

Notes

1. Ransford, Oliver. The Great Trek. John Murray. Great Britain. 1972. Page 26
2. Visagie, Jan C., Voortrekkerstamouers 1835 - 1845. Protea Boekhuis. Pretoria. 2011. Page 406
3. http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/johannes-jacobus-janse-lang-hans-van-rensburg-leader-one-early-voortrekker-treks%C2%A0-born-s
4. https://www.geni.com/people/Nicolaas-Balthasaar-Prinsloo/6000000003356184701?through=6000000023950718175. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
5. Visagie, Jan C., Voortrekkerstamouers 1835 - 1845. Protea Boekhuis. Pretoria. 2011. Page 406
6. Theal, George McCall (1886). Boers and Bantu: a history of the wanderings and wars of the emigrant farmers from their leaving the Cape Colony to the overthrow of Dingan. Cape Town: Saul Solomon. p. 106.
7. Van der Hoogt, Cornelius W; White, Montagu (1900). "The founding of Natal". The story of the Boers : narrated by their own leaders: prepared under the authority of the South African Republics. New York: Bradley. p. 86. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
8. Johnston, Harry Hamilton (1910). Britain across the seas: Africa; a history and description of the British Empire in Africa. London: National Society's Depository. p. 111.
9. Visagie, Jan C., Voortrekkerstamouers 1835 - 1845. Protea Boekhuis, Pretoria, 2011. ISBN 978-1-86919-372-0. Page 401.
10. Visagie, Jan C., Voortrekkerstamouers 1835 - 1845. Protea Boekhuis, Pretoria, 2011. ISBN 978-1-86919-372-0. Page 401.
11. Van Heyningen, Elizabeth., The Concentration Camps of the Anglo-Boer War, A Social History. Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd. Auckland Park, Johannesburg. 2013. Page 112 - 113
12. Van Heyningen, Elizabeth., The Concentration Camps of the Anglo-Boer War, A Social History. Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd. Auckland Park, Johannesburg. 2013. Page 112 - 113
13. Van Heyningen, Elizabeth., The Concentration Camps of the Anglo-Boer War, A Social History. Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd. Auckland Park, Johannesburg. 2013. Page 112 - 113
14. Van Heyningen, Elizabeth., The Concentration Camps of the Anglo-Boer War, A Social History. Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd. Auckland Park, Johannesburg. 2013. Page 112 - 113
15. Van Heyningen, Elizabeth., The Concentration Camps of the Anglo-Boer War, A Social History. Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd. Auckland Park, Johannesburg. 2013. Page 112 - 113
16. "Heidelberg massacre: Story of reconciliation". 15 December 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
17. "AMNESTY GIVEN FOR HEIDELBERG TAVERN MASSACRE". 16 July 1998. Retrieved 22 June 2014.