1996 in South Africa

• President: Nelson Mandela.[1]
• Deputy President: F.W. de Klerk (until 30 June) along with Thabo Mbeki.
• Chief Justice: Michael Corbett then vacant.

January

• 15 – King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho is killed in a car accident.

February

• 26 – South Africa and Algeria restore diplomatic ties.
• Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in his capacity as Grand President of the British Commonwealth Ex-Services League, visits South Africa.

March

• 11 – The trial of General Magnus Malan and 19 co-accused begins in the Durban Supreme Court.
• 19 – President Nelson Mandela is granted a divorce from Winnie Mandela in the Rand Supreme Court.
• 23 – Approximately 6,000 Inkatha Freedom Party supporters armed with fighting sticks, spears, clubs and battle axes rally in the Tugela Ferry area of KwaZulu-Natal in defiance of a national ban on traditional weapons.

April

• 15 – The Truth and Reconciliation Commission begins its formal hearings.

May

• 2 – South Africa and China exchange letters granting each other most-favoured-nation status.
• 8 – South Africa's new constitution is adopted by the Constitutional Assembly.
• 9 – The National Party withdraws from the coalition government, giving the African National Congress full political control.

June

• 19 – Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina Gonzalez visits South Africa.

July

• Nelson Mandela visits the United Kingdom on a state visit.

August

• 4 – Rashaad Staggie, Hard Livings gang leader, is killed by the vigilante group People Against Gangsterism and Drugs.[2]
• Mimi Coertse receives the highest accolade an artist can receive from the Austrian government, the Oesterreichishe Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst.

September

• 6 – The Constitutional Court delivers judgment on the new constitution.
• 11 – A mining agreement on wages and working conditions is signed between the Chamber of Mines and the National Union of Mineworkers.

October

• 11 – The constitution is amended by the Constitutional Assembly.
• 30 – Colonel Eugene de Kock of the South African Police is sentenced to 212 years in prison.
• General Magnus Malan and 19 co-accused are acquitted on all charges relating to the massacre of 13 people in KwaMakhuta township south of Durban in 1987.
• The first South African National Census since the end of apartheid is held.

December

• 4 – A number of agreements relating to culture, double taxation, fiscal evasion and a memorandum of understanding relating to defence equipment are signed by Thabo Mbeki, Deputy President of South Africa, on a state visit to India.
• 10 – The new constitution is signed into law.

Unknown date

• Trevor Manuel is appointed Minister of Finance.
• Zee Bruce Cooper well known as Zet da zar was killed in the uprising but the body was never found, making him Africa's most wanted man since 1996.

• 17 February – Sasha Pieterse, South African-born American actress
• 3 March – Andile Phehlukwayo, cricketer
• 5 March – Kirsten Beckett, artistic gymnast
• 29 March – Lungi Ngidi, cricketer
• 22 April – Ilze Hattingh, tennis player
• 22 April – Herschel Jantjies, rugby player
• 26 May – Lara Goodall, cricketer
• 14 February – Siphakeme Njabulo Mthabela ,Entrepreneur

• 15 January – King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho. (b. 1938)
• 28 March – Siegfried Mynhardt, actor. (b. 1906)
• 16 December – Laurens van der Post, author and political adviser. (b. 1906)

Bafana Bafana wins African Cup of Nation.