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eventREF E-0011895Revised

9 April 1960

There is an assassination attempt on Verwoerd at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg

There is an assassination attempt on Verwoerd at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg

Updated
30 Sep 2019
There is an assassination attempt on Verwoerd at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg

The first assassination attempt was made on the life of Prime Minister H.F. Verwoerd at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg. His assailant was a disgruntled White farmer, David Pratt, who fired two shots at the Minister at close range. Despite two bullets in his head, he miraculously escaped death. Verwoerd was murdered in 1966 by Dimitrio Tsafendas, a parliamentary messenger.

How we know this

  1. 01Muller, C.F.J. (ed)(1981). Five Hundred years: a history of South Africa; 3rd rev. ed., Pretoria: Academica, p. 500.
  2. 02Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau.

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). There is an assassination attempt on Verwoerd at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011895

South African History Online (2011) 'There is an assassination attempt on Verwoerd at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011895 (Accessed: 24 October 2026).

South African History Online, There is an assassination attempt on Verwoerd at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011895, (accessed 24 October 2026).

"There is an assassination attempt on Verwoerd at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011895. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "There is an assassination attempt on Verwoerd at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011895.

Also on 9 April

  1. 1860Emily Hobhouse is born
  2. 1901Zulu army returns to Nongoma
  3. 1926John Davidson Rockerfeller, US philanthropist, donates $10 million towards the building of a museum in Cairo, Egypt
  4. 1999Niger President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara is assassinated
  5. 2003The first SARS case is suspected in South Africa
  6. 2005NNP federal council decides to disband the party
  7. 2010South African woman, Janice Bronwyn Linden, is sentenced to death in China for smuggling drugs
  8. 2015Rhodes statue removed at UCT

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