Church Street, Pretoria bombing: Difference between revisions

The '''Church Street bombing''' was a terrorist [[car bomb]] attack on 20 May 1983 in the [[South Africa]]nAfrican capital [[Pretoria]] by [[UmkhontouMkhonto we Sizwe]] (MK), the [[paramilitary]] wing of the [[African National Congress]]. The [[improvised explosive device|bombing]] killed 19 people, including the two perpetrators, and wounded 217.<ref name="BBC1983">{{cite news|title=1983: Car bomb in South Africa kills 16|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=14 March 2015|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/20/newsid_4326000/4326975.stm}}</ref><ref name=trc-sapa98>{{cite news|url=http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media/1998/9805/s980506b.htm|title=ANC Mastermind Campaign Justifies Pretoria Church Street Blast|date=6 May 1998|publisher=SAPA|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref> The Church Street Bombing was the most deadly attack by the ANC against South Africa's ruling [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]].{{cn|date=February 2020}}

The [[terrorism in South Africa|terrorist]] attack consisted of a car bomb set off outside the Nedbank Square Building, which was rented by the [[South African Air Force]], on Church Street West, Pretoria, at 4:30 pm on 20 May 1983.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/20/newsid_4326000/4326975.stm|title=1983: Car bomb in South Africa kills 16|work=BBC UK News|date=20 May 1983 |accessdate=2024-05-02}}</ref><ref name="SAHO">{{cite web|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/car-bomb-explodes-outside-air-force-headquarters|title=Car bomb explodes outside Air Force headquarters|work=South Africa History online|accessdate=2024-05-02}}</ref> The target was supposedly South African Air Force (SAAF) [[headquarters]], but as the bomb was set to go off at the height of [[rush hour]], those killed and wounded included [[civilian]]scivilians. The bomb [[explode]]dexploded ten minutes earlier than planned, killing two of the perpetrators, Freddie Shangwe and Ezekial Maseko, along with 1917 other people. At least 20 [[ambulance]]sambulances took the dead and wounded to hospitals.<ref name="BBC1983"/><ref name="SAHO"/>

The ANC's submission said the bombing was in response to a South African cross-[[Lesotho-South Africa border|border]] raid into [[Lesotho]] in December 1982, which killed 42 ANC supporters and civilians, and the assassination of [[Ruth First]], an ANC activist and the wife of Joe Slovo, in [[Maputo]], [[Mozambique]]. It claimed that 11 of the casualties were SAAF personnel and hence a military target. The legal representative of some of the victims argued that as administrative staff including telephonists and typists they could not accept that they were a legitimate military target.<ref name=trc-sapa97>{{cite news|url=http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media%5C1997%5C9705/s970512a.htm|date=12 May 1997|title=Tambo ordered Church Street blast: ANC|publisher=SAPA|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref>

Ten MK operatives, including Aboobaker Ismail, applied for [[amnesty]] for this and other bombings. The applications were opposed on various grounds, including that it was a [[terrorist]] attack disproportionate to the political motive. The TRC found that the number of civilians versus [[South African National Defence Force|military]] personnel killed was unclear. [[South African Police|Police]] statistics indicated that seven members of the [[South African Air Force|SAAF]] were killed. The commission found that at least 84 of the injured were SAAF members or employees. Amnesty was granted by the TRC in 2000.<ref name=amnesty>{{cite web|url=http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/decisions%5C2001/ac21003.htm|title=Truth and Reconciliation Commission Amnesty Committee AC/2001/003|date=16 January 2000|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref>

[[Category:1983 crimesmurders in South Africa]]

[[Category:1983 murdersbuilding in Africabombings]]

[[Category:1980sBuilding murdersbombings in South Africa]]

[[Category:20th-centuryAttacks masson murdermilitary installations in Africathe 1980s]]

[[Category:Attacks on buildingsCar and structurestruck bombings in 1983the 1980s]]

[[Category:ImprovisedAttacks explosiveattributed deviceto bombingsuMkhonto inwe 1983Sizwe]]

[[Category:Massacres1980s massacres in South Africa]]

[[Category:May 1983 crimes]]