23 December 1985
Amanzimtoti shopping-centre bombing
MK operative Andrew Zondo detonated a bomb in a shopping centre in Amanzimtoti, killing five civilians and injuring more than 40 people.
View in timelineOn 23 December 1985, 19-year-old MK operative Andrew Sibusiso Zondo placed a bomb in a rubbish bin at the Sanlam Centre shopping complex in Amanzimtoti. Five people were killed and more than 40 were injured, including children.
The attack followed the South African government's raid on Lesotho three days earlier, but the bomb was placed in a civilian shopping centre rather than against a military target. The ANC acknowledged that the operation breached its policy of avoiding civilian casualties; the TRC treated it as a gross human-rights violation.
Significance
The attack made civilian casualties a defining part of public experience of the armed struggle and intensified the apartheid state's claim that it was defending the population from insurgent violence.
Why it matters
The attack made civilian casualties a defining part of public experience of the armed struggle and intensified the apartheid state's claim that it was defending the population from insurgent violence.
Disputed interpretations
The attack followed the apartheid government's raid on Lesotho, but the shopping-centre bombing was outside the ANC's stated policy of avoiding civilian targets and was condemned by the TRC as a gross human-rights violation.