1859 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1859 in South Africa.

Incumbents

 * Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Sir George Grey.
 * Lieutenant-governor of the Colony of Natal: John Scott.
 * State President of the Orange Free State:
 * Jacobus Nicolaas Boshoff (until 5 September).
 * Esaias Reynier Snijman (acting from 6 September).
 * President of the Executive Council of the South African Republic: Marthinus Wessel Pretorius.

September

 * 6 – Esaias Reynier Snijman becomes the acting State President of the Orange Free State.
 * 8 – The first railway locomotive in South Africa is brought ashore in Cape Town.

Births

 * 11 January – John Tengo Jabavu, political activist and newspaper editor. (d. 1921)
 * 1 May – Willem Johannes Leyds, attorney-general of the South African Republic. (d. 1940)

May

 * 31 May – Henry Clifford de Meillon, painter (born c. 1800)

Railway lines

 * Construction begins on the Cape Town-Wellington Railway.

Locomotives

 * 8 September – A small 0-4-0 tank steam locomotive is landed in Cape Town, to be used during construction of the first railway in South Africa.