20 May 1983
Church Street bombing in Pretoria
MK detonated a car bomb outside the South African Air Force headquarters in Pretoria, killing and injuring security personnel, employees and civilians.
View in timelineOn 20 May 1983, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) detonated a car bomb outside the building in Church Street, Pretoria, that housed the administrative headquarters of the South African Air Force. The blast killed 21 people, including 11 Air Force employees and two MK operatives, and injured 219. Civilians were among the remaining dead and injured.
The target was a military headquarters, but it operated from a busy urban building and the bomb exploded during the working day. The attack therefore became one of the clearest examples of the gap between MK's stated policy of avoiding civilian targets and the consequences of operations against security institutions located among civilians.
Significance
The bombing brought the armed struggle into a crowded white urban centre and exposed the human cost of attacks whose military targets were embedded in civilian workplaces.
Why it matters
The bombing brought the armed struggle into a crowded white urban centre and exposed the human cost of attacks whose military targets were embedded in civilian workplaces.
Disputed interpretations
The intended target was the South African Air Force headquarters, but the timing and location produced substantial civilian casualties; the TRC found MK, the ANC and named operatives responsible for a gross human-rights violation.