The increasing popular resistance and violent township protests amid the 1980s forced the South African government to declare a State of Emergency. On 20 July 1985, President P.W. Botha announced that violence in the country showed that "ordinary law and order was inadequate”.
eventREF E-0066336Revised
Event record
The State of Emergency is declared in thirty six magisterial districts.
- Updated
- 30 Sep 2019
Military vehicles on the streets during one of the country's numerous States of Emergency Image source
How we know this
- 01Anon, (n.d.),‘State of Emergency in the mid-1980's’, from South Africa [online] Available at: overcomingapartheid.msu.edu, [Accessed: 15 June 2011]
- 02South African History Archives, 'A State of Emergency', [Online], Available at: www.saha.org.za, [Accessed: 23 July 2013]
Last updated · 30 Sep 2019
South African History Online. (2011, July 19). The State of Emergency is declared in thirty six magisterial districts.. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0066336
South African History Online (2011) 'The State of Emergency is declared in thirty six magisterial districts.', South African History Online, 19 July. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0066336 (Accessed: 9 October 2026).
South African History Online, The State of Emergency is declared in thirty six magisterial districts. [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0066336, (accessed 9 October 2026).
"The State of Emergency is declared in thirty six magisterial districts.." South African History Online, 19 July 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0066336. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
South African History Online. "The State of Emergency is declared in thirty six magisterial districts.." South African History Online. July 19, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0066336.
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