Incumbents

The Cabinet, together with the President and the Deputy President, forms part of the Executive.

Events

3 – Six policemen from the North East Rand Dog Unit set their dogs on three suspected illegal immigrants, allowing the animals to savage the three men while the officers hurl racial insults.^[2]^[3]

9 – Robert McBride, official in the Department of Foreign Affairs, is arrested for gun smuggling by the Mozambican police.
18 – A recently restored South African Air Force Museum ex-Rhodesian Air Force Percival Provost Mk 52 crashes. Denel Aviation test pilot Rick Culpan dies from his injuries four days later.
21 – The Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA) is founded.

4 – Ferdi Barnard, Civil Cooperation Bureau member, receives 2 life sentences plus 63 years in prison for the murder of David Webster.

7 – Theuns Swanepoel, the "Rooi Rus" policeman who gave the order to open fire on Soweto uprising rioters, dies without confessing.^[4]
Highly acclaimed South African Soap opera Isidingo debuts on SABC 3.
16 – Bulelani Ngcuka is elected as the first National Director of Public Prosecutions.

21 – President Nelson Mandela calls for a summit over the Congo conflict, inviting the leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe to attend.^[5]
25 – A pipe bomb explodes at Cape Town's Victoria & Alfred Waterfront's Planet Hollywood restaurant, seriously injuring 26 people of which two later die in hospital.

3 – South Africa supports the intervention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Namibia, Zimbabwe and Angola in support of Kabila.^[6]
14 – Robert McBride is conditionally released from prison in Mozambique.
16 – A South African Air Force Impala Mk I crashes at AFB Bloemspruit.

1 – e.tv is launched.
9 – The Constitutional Court invalidates the sodomy laws in the case of National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality and Another v Minister of Justice and Others.
29 – Nelson Mandela receives the Truth and Reconciliation report.

5 June – Thulani Malinga, super middleweight boxer, wins the World Boxing Federation (WBF) title.

Bafana Bafana participate in their first ever FIFA World Cup hosted in France, eventually being eliminated in the group stages.

The South Africa national cricket team wins the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy (now ICC Champions Trophy), which is the only ICC trophy the country has won till date.

^ Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Heads of State: 1994-2017 (Accessed on 5 June 2017)
^ "Police jailed over dog attack". CNN. 29 November 2001. Archived from the original on 22 October 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2007.
^ Tendai Dumbutshena (17 November 2000). "Racist, barbaric incident leaves SA shellshocked". Zimbabwe Mirror. Archived from the original on 3 June 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2007.
^ "South Africa's torturer dies without confessing".
^ "Mandela calls summit over Congo". 21 August 1998. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
^ "South Africa shifts position on Congo". 3 September 1998. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
^ "South Africa opposes Congo talks". 10 December 1998. Retrieved 8 February 2015.

v t e 1998 in Africa
Sovereign states	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
States with limited recognition	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Somaliland
Dependencies and other territories	Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla (Spain) Madeira (Portugal) Mayotte / Réunion (France) Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)