The following lists events that happened during 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.
• Paraffin Safety Association of Southern Africa is founded.

• 31 January - Master KG, musician & record producer
• 17 February – Sasha Pieterse, actress
• 1 March – Jane de Wet, 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
• 30 June - Makhadzi, singer

• 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 that was organized in South Africa by winning 2–0 against Tunisia in the final.