1976 — Golfer Dale Hayes wins the South African Open after an obligatory 18-hole play-off at Houghton, beating John Fourie by three strokes.
1980 — World champion Baby Jake Matlala makes his professional debut against Fraser Plaatjies in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, winning on points over four rounds. But it wasn’t without controversy. Soweto-based Matlala hadn’t been awarded a professional licence at that stage, but he had assumed he would escape the gaze of the Johannesburg-based national commission. But his indiscretion was noticed and he was suspended for several months. Matlala, who fought again only in June the following year, went on to win four world titles at junior-flyweight and flyweight. He died in 2013 at the age of 51.
2000 — Shaun Bartlett strikes early as Bafana Bafana draw 1-1 with Algeria in Kumasi, Ghana, to top Group B at the Africa Cup of Nations co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria. Bartlett put SA ahead in the second minute of the match, but Fawzi Moussouni equalised for Algeria eight minutes into the second half. Both teams advanced to the knockout stage.
2008 — Former world heavyweight champion Corrie Sanders, facing money troubles, returns to the ring to engage in what will be his final fight. He goes up against former sparring partner Osborne Machimana, but Sanders is no longer in the shape he used to be. Machimana lands a single, heavy blow to Sanders’s ample abdomen in the opening round and Sanders goes down, staying there for the full count. He was 46 when he was shot dead during a robbery at a party in 2012. Fighting on the same bill as Sanders, Silence Mabuza makes the first defence in his second reign as IBO bantamweight champion, stopping Eden Sonsona of the Philippines in the eighth round.
2013 — Tokelo Rantie strikes to give Bafana Bafana the lead in the first half of their Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal against Mali in Port Elizabeth, but it isn’t enough. Seydou Keita, a former Barcelona player, equalised in the 58th minute and the match eventually went to penalties. In the shoot-out, Siphiwe Tshabalala slotted SA’s first spot kick, but Dean Furman and May Mahlangu had their efforts stopped by Soumalia Diakite, while Lehlohonolo Majoro missed.
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