1966 — Local golfer Papwa Sewgolum beats Gary Player, the overnight leader, and Harold Henning by one shot to win his second Natal Open at the Durban Country Club. He won the title two years earlier, when he had to receive the trophy in the rain because he wasn’t allowed into the club house.
1982 — The top three finishers in the Flight Marathon in Benoni hand back their prize money, saying it was too little. Zimbabwean Patrick Nhauro, who competed at the 1984 Olympics, was awarded R80 in bonus bonds while runner-up Mark Plaatjies and third-placed Hoseah Tjale were given R50 each. “It’s an insult,” national champion Plaatjies said. “The going price for a win in a standard marathon is normally R200 or R250 … I have no use for a bonus bond anyway. We work hard to achieve our standards. This event was sponsored, there were over 600 runners here and each one was charged a R4 entry fee — where does all that money go to? We’ve been used by the organisers. After all they get publicity from our efforts in their race.”
1993 — SA beat the DRC 1-0 in a World Cup qualifying match at Stade Municipal, Pointe Noire. Substitute Harold Legodi scored the winner in the 87th minute, but it didn’t help SA advance to the 1994 showpiece in the US.
1996 — John “Shoes” Moshoeu scores two goals as Bafana Bafana thrash Ghana 3-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations semifinal at the FNB stadium. Shaun Bartlett netted the third. The win meant that SA, playing in their maiden continental tournament, had qualified for the final.
1997 — Shaun Pollock scores 75 and Hansie Cronje an unbeaten 70 as the Proteas, needing 257, beat Zimbabwe by four wickets in a triangular series ODI at the Wanderers. Allan Donald took 4/46.
1999 — Unseeded David Adams and Mariaan de Swardt, playing together for the first time, win the Australian Open mixed doubles crown as they beat Wimbledon and US Open champions Serena Williams and Max Mirnyi 6-4 4-6 7-6 in the final in Melbourne. Williams and sister Venus had between them won all the grand slam mixed doubles titles the previous year.
2004 — Bafana Bafana are humiliated 0-4 by Nigeria in an Africa Cup of Nations group match in Tunisia, equalling their worst defeat, suffered at the hands of the same team in 1992. It was the fourth match SA had played against Nigeria and Nigeria had scored 10 goals overall while SA had failed to net even one by that stage.
2006 — Boeta Dippenaar scores 87 as the Proteas reach the 222-run target to beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in their tri-series ODI in Perth by five wickets.
2008 — Bafana Bafana’s Africa Cup of Nations aspirations crash in Ghana when they draw 1-1 with Senegal in their final group match. Elrio van Heerden put SA into the lead in the 14th minute, but a defensive blunder by skipper Aaron Mokoena gifted their opponents the equaliser. SA ended bottom of Group D with fewest goals scored, with two draws and a loss.
2021 — Tazmin Brits scores 66 and Shabnim Ismail takes 5/12 as the South African women hold Pakistan to 115/7 to win the second T20 at Kingsmead by 18 runs.
2022 — Ayabonga Khaka takes 5/26 as the South African women bowl out the West Indies for 160 to tie the second ODI at the Wanderers, only to lose the match through a one-over eliminator. The visitors scored 25 off Shabnim Ismail while Chloe Tryon and Tazmin Brits responded with 17/1.
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