2015 in South Africa

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2015
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South Africa
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2015 in South Africa saw a number of social and political protests and movements form. At President Jacob Zuma's 2015 State of the Nation Address, the president was interrupted by an opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, who demanded that he pay back the money used on his Nkandla homestead. South Africa also saw new xenophobic uprisings taking place, mainly targeted towards Africans from other countries. Foreigners were beaten, robbed and murdered during the attacks. The social protest Rhodes Must Fall started in 2015 at the University of Cape Town to protest for the removal of statues erected in South Africa during the colonial era depicting some of the well known colonists who settled in South Africa. In education, South Africa recorded a drop in its matric pass rate from 2013 to 2014. The protest #FeesMustFall was started towards the end of the year and achieved its primary goal of stopping an increase in university fees for 2016. South Africa also saw the discovery of Homo naledi in 2015. The South African national rugby union team came third in the 2015 Rugby World Cup and Trevor Noah started hosting The Daily Show on Comedy Central.

Contents

Incumbents

Cabinet

The Cabinet, together with the President and the Deputy President, forms part of the Executive.

National Assembly

Provincial Premiers

Events

January

February

March

The statue of Cecil John Rhodes in front of the University of Cape Town being removed on 9 April 2015. Goodbye Cecil John Rhodes20 (16481463023).jpg
The statue of Cecil John Rhodes in front of the University of Cape Town being removed on 9 April 2015.

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths

January

Johannes de Villiers Graaff Johannes de Villiers Graaff.jpg
Johannes de Villiers Graaff
Andre Brink Andre Brink Portrait.jpg
André Brink
Clive Rice Clive Rice deur Wessel Oosthuizen.jpg
Clive Rice

February

March

April

May

June

July

September

October

November

See also

Related Research Articles

The following lists events that happened during 2006 in South Africa.

The following lists events that happened during 2007 in South Africa.

Prior to 1994, immigrants from elsewhere faced discrimination and even violence in South Africa due to competition for scarce economic opportunities. After majority rule in 1994, contrary to expectations, the incidence of xenophobia increased. In 2008, at least 62 people were killed in the xenophobic uprising and attacks. In 2015, another nationwide spike in xenophobic attacks against immigrants in general prompted a number of foreign governments to begin repatriating their citizens. A Pew Research poll conducted in 2018 showed that 62% of South Africans expressed negative sentiment about foreign nationals living and working in South Africa, believing that immigrants are a burden on society by taking jobs and social benefits and that 61% of South Africans thought that immigrants were more responsible for crime than other groups. There is no factual evidence to substantiate the notion that immigrants are the main culprits of criminal activity in South Africa, even though the claim is incorrectly made in sometimes by politicians and public figures. Between 2010 and 2017 the number of foreigners living in South Africa increased from 2 million people to 4 million people. The proportion of South Africa's total population that is foreign born increased from 2.8% in 2005 to 7% in 2019, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration, South Africa is the largest recipient of immigrants on the African continent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corruption in South Africa</span>

Corruption in South Africa includes the improper use of public resources for private ends, including bribery and improper favouritism. Corruption was at its highest during the period of state capture under the presidency of Jacob Zuma and has remained widespread, negatively "affecting criminal justice, service provision, economic opportunity, social cohesion and political integrity" in South Africa.

South Africa has been dubbed "the protest capital of the world", with one of the highest rates of public protests in the world.

The following lists events that happened during 2010 in South Africa.

The Constitution of South Africa protects all basic political freedoms. However, there have been many incidents of political repression, dating back to at least 2002, as well as threats of future repression in violation of this constitution leading some analysts, civil society organisations and popular movements to conclude that there is a new climate of political repression or a decline in political tolerance.

Events in the year 2013 in South Africa.

Mangwashi Victoria Phiyega, commonly known as Riah Phiyega, was the National Police Commissioner of the South African Police Service. She was appointed to the office by South African President Jacob Zuma on 12 June 2012 and was the first woman to hold the post. Phiyega was suspended on 14 October 2015 by the President following a recommendation of the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into the deaths of protesting miners in Marikana in 2012.

Events in the year 2014 in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nkandla homestead</span> Building in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The private residence of former South African President Jacob Zuma is situated about 24 km (15 mi) south of the rural town of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal and is commonly referred to as the Nkandla homestead. During Zuma's presidency, the homestead was the subject of a major public controversy, sometimes referred to as Nkandlagate, concerning what were ostensibly security upgrades to Zuma's compound, at a cost of over R246 million. The use of public funds to make these improvements received significant media coverage and political opposition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nkandla compound firepool controversy</span> Political controversy in South Africa

At former South African President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla compound and private residence in South Africa, a swimming pool officially deemed to have a dual purpose as a "firepool" was constructed. It was claimed that the pool was built as a security feature and security upgrade, as a source of water for firefighting. A controversy surrounded the construction of the pool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FeesMustFall</span> 2015–2016 student movement in South Africa

#FeesMustFall was a student-led protest movement that began in mid-October 2015 in South Africa. The goals of the movement were to stop increases in student fees as well as to increase government funding of universities. Protests started at the University of Witwatersrand and spread to the University of Cape Town and Rhodes University before rapidly spreading to other universities across the country. Although initially enjoying significant public support the protest movement started to lose public sympathy when the protests started turning violent.

Events that have occurred or will occur in 2016 in South Africa. The incumbent President of South Africa is Jacob Zuma who was first elected in 2009 and was re-elected in 2014. Politically, South Africa has held municipal elections in 2016. The political party with the majority in most municipalities in South Africa is the African National Congress, however, the Democratic Alliance managed to gain the key metros of Johannesburg, Pretoria and Port Elizabeth. In international sport, a South African team of 68 athletes competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics. South Africa hosted the African football tournament, 2016 Africa Futsal Cup of Nations in April.

Khomotso Johannes Phahlane is the former acting National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), serving from 15 October 2015 to 1 June 2017. He was appointed after the suspension of Riah Phiyega. He was previously head of the SAPS Forensic Service from 2012 to 2015.

Duduzane Zuma is the son of the former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma.

The 2019 Johannesburg riots occurred in the South African city of Johannesburg from 1–5 September 2019, leading to the deaths of at least seven people. The riots were xenophobic in nature, targeting foreign nationals from other African countries. Retaliatory actions by rioters in other African nations was taken against South African brands. The South African Institute of Race Relations stated that the riots were similar in nature and origin to the 2008 xenophobic riots that also occurred in Johannesburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naledi Chirwa</span> South African feminist, legislator and student activist

Naledi Nokukhanya Chirwa-Mpungose is a South African politician and former student activist from Gauteng. She represents the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the National Council of Provinces. She was formerly a member of the National Assembly between May 2019 and June 2024. She rose to prominence through her involvement in the #FeesMustFall student protests at the University of Pretoria between 2015 and 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 South African unrest</span> Riots after Jacob Zumas imprisonment, 9 to 18 July 2021

The 2021 South African unrest, also known as the July 2021 riots, the Zuma unrest or Zuma riots, was a wave of civil unrest that occurred in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces from 9 to 18 July 2021, sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma for contempt of court. Resulting protests against the incarceration triggered wider rioting and looting, much of it said to be undertaken by people not in support of Zuma and fuelled by job layoffs and economic inequality worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic policies. The unrest began in the province of KwaZulu-Natal on the evening of 9 July, and spread to the province of Gauteng on the evening of 11 July, and was the worst violence that South Africa had experienced since the end of Apartheid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">May 2008 South Africa riots</span>

The May 2008 South African riots was a wave of xenophobic riots starting in Alexandra, Gauteng on 12 May 2008 and then spreading to other locations across South Africa. The violence started when South African residents of Alexandra attacked migrants from Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, killing two people and injuring 40 others. Some attackers were reported to have been singing Jacob Zuma's campaign song Umshini Wami.

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