When the clock struck midnight ushering in 2022, South Africans celebrated the possibility of a return to normal after Covid. But normality was not what we got.
Instead we saw conflict — even on the glittering Academy Awards stage — inflation, a food supply crisis, political uncertainty and a full-blown war in Europe.
Here is how the last 12 months went down.
January
Just two days into 2022, parliament is set on fire, destroying two of its main buildings.
The first part of the Zondo commission report is published, implicating several high-profile politicians and businesspeople. Former president Jacob Zuma is implicated for the first time and features prominently in the subsequent Zondo instalments.
The number of Covid cases worldwide crosses the 300-million threshold (though it is now more than double that figure).
Tennis champion Novak Djokovic is deported from Australia after refusing to be vaccinated against Covid.
South African actor Patrick Molefe Shai dies at 65.
Minister of sports, arts & culture Nathi Mthethwa announces a plan to erect a giant South African flag at a cost of R22m
February:
Russian President Vladimir Putin announces a “special military operation” in Ukraine during a televised broadcast, marking the start of a full-scale invasion that Putin has since referred to as a “war”.
Minister of sports, arts & culture Nathi Mthethwa announces a plan to erect a giant South African flag at a cost of R22m.
Rapper, singer and producer Riky Rick commits suicide in Johannesburg at the age of 34.
Actress, radio and TV personality Kuli Roberts dies at the age of 49.
March
The third part of the Zondo report is released, dealing with corruption allegations at Bosasa. Mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe, former minister Nomvula Mokonyane, the late Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson and Zuma are among those featured.
Raymond Zondo is appointed chief justice.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recognises Prince Misuzulu kaZwelithini as the king of the Zulu nation.
During the 94th Academy Awards, actor Will Smith slaps comedian Chris Rock across the face after Rock makes a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
April
The Covid national state of disaster is lifted.
Devastating floods rip through KwaZulu-Natal, damaging infrastructure and killing at least 461 people.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025 at the latest and decline 43% by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
The UN votes 93—24 to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, with 58 countries abstaining.
Global food prices rise to their highest levels since the UN's food price index was launched in 1990, with commodities such as wheat going up nearly 20% as a result of the Ukraine crisis.
May
A case of monkeypox is reported in London, one of the first in a global outbreak that claims 72 lives by the end of the year. The name of the disease is later changed to mpox.
Hillary Gardee, 28, daughter of lawyer and former EFF secretary-general and attorney Godrich Gardee, is found murdered.
Former Johannesburg mayor Mpho Moerane dies in a car crash.
“Cancel that thing,” Ramaphosa tells Mthethwa, referring to the giant flag project.
Former Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama and four senior executives are arrested to face charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.
June
Two of the Gupta brothers, Atul and Rajesh, are arrested in Dubai.
Twenty-one youngsters die at the Enyobeni tavern in East London on June 26.
Former spy boss Arthur Fraser lays criminal charges against Ramaphosa at the Rosebank police station after “the theft of millions of US dollars concealed within the premises of the president’s Phala Phala farm in Waterberg by criminals who were colluding with his domestic worker”.
Two of the Gupta brothers, Atul and Rajesh, are arrested in Dubai
After a gripping trial, a US jury finds that actor Johnny Depp was maliciously defamed by ex-wife Amber Heard, who wrote in a 2018 op-ed that he abused her.
July
Banyana Banyana win the Women's Africa Cup of Nations.
The Judicial Services Commission announces it will recommend the suspension of Western Cape judge president John Hlophe, who is accused of attempting to improperly influence the then Constitutional Court justices Chris Jafta and Bess Nkabinde in favour of Zuma.
August
South Africa's consumer price inflation hits a 13-year high of 7.8%.
Novelist Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, is stabbed multiple times as he is about to give a public lecture in New York.
Six-year-old Shanawaaz Asghar is kidnapped outside his home in Kensington, Cape Town by six armed man. He is later reunited with his family.
National Prosecuting Authority advocate Billy Downer and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan are summoned to appear in court after Zuma launches a private prosecution against them in relation to allegations that Downer leaked documents to Maughan.
Actress Olivia Newton-John dies from cancer at the age of 73.
September
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II dies at Balmoral Castle in Scotland at the age of 96.
Former national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane and five co-accused in a R54m police tender scandal are granted bail.
A tailings dam wall collapses at Jagersfontein mine in the Free State, sending a deluge of mud and water through the town.
Ramaphosa addresses the National Assembly, saying the Phala Phala cash was the proceeds from the sale of buffaloes and denying money laundering was involved.
Sewage pollutes Durban’s beaches, which are closed due to high E coli levels.
October
King Misuzulu Zulu’s coronation takes place at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
Rishi Sunak becomes the third prime minister of the UK of the year, replacing Liz Truss, who had taken over from Boris Johnson.
Elon Musk completes his $44bn acquisition of Twitter.
Zuma’s corruption trial is postponed to January 2023.
Storm Nuku, 10, is killed by his family’s pit bulls in Gqeberha. The Sizwe Kupelo Foundation launches a petition calling for the dog breed to be banned.
November
The 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) takes place in Egypt.
The world population officially reaches 8-billion.
The Constitutional Court orders the release of Chris Hani’s killer, Janusz Waluś, on parole.
The Supreme Court of Appeal upholds a ruling by the Pretoria high court that the decision by Arthur Fraser, in his capacity as commissioner of correctional services, to release Zuma on medical parole was unlawful.
An independent panel presents its Phala Phala report, concluding that “the president may have committed” violations of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act and the constitution “by exposing himself to a situation involving a conflict between his official responsibilities and his private business”.
The Council for Scientific & Industrial Research says South Africans have had more than 1,900 hours of power cuts in 2022 — making it the worst year yet for load-shedding
The Council for Scientific & Industrial Research says South Africans have had more than 1,900 hours of power cuts in 2022 — making it the worst year yet for load-shedding.
December
ANC MPs defeat an attempt to launch an impeachment process in the National Assembly.
Ramaphosa is re-elected president of the ANC at the party's national conference.
Zuma launches a private prosecution against Ramaphosa, accusing him of being an accessory after the fact in the violations that Zuma says were committed by Downer and Maughan.
Hlophe is suspended from his position as judge president of the Western Cape High Court.
Eskom CEO André de Ruyter resigns.
US dancer and DJ Stephen Laurel “tWitch” Boss commits suicide at the age of 40.
Argentina wins the Fifa World Cup.
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