29 April 1981
Assembly on 29 April 1981, voters returned the National Party (NP) to power, albeit with a reduced majority in the House of Assembly compared to previous elections . The opposition party, Progressive Federal Party (PFP) gained considerable ground  right-wing opposition groups, led by the Herstigte Nasionale Party (HNP; Reconstituted National Party), increased their votes more than five times their previous total , but gained no seats. The election was the 18th general election since South Africa since the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910.
References

Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999), Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood.|O’Malley, P.‘1981’, from the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, [online], Available at www.nelsonmandela.org [Accessed: 25 April 2014]