1882 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1882 in South Africa.

Incumbents

 * Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Hercules Robinson.
 * Governor of the Colony of Natal: Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer.
 * State President of the Orange Free State: Jan Brand.
 * State President of the South African Republic: Triumviate of Paul Kruger, Marthinus Wessel Pretorius and Piet Joubert.
 * Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: Thomas Charles Scanlen.

Events

 * May
 * 9 – Paul Kruger becomes President of the South African Republic.
 * 28 – Two ships, the Agnes (94 tonne) and the Christina (196 tonne), run ashore at Plettenberg Bay.


 * July
 * 26 – The Stellaland Republic is declared, founding Vryburg as capital.


 * September
 * 2 – Kimberley becomes the first town in the southern hemisphere to install electric street lighting.
 * 7 – W.H. Finlay of Cape Town's Royal Observatory is first to record observations of the Great Comet of 1882.
 * 29 – 229 Norwegians settle at the mouth of the Umzimkulu River, founding Port Shepstone.


 * November
 * 21 – The Goshen Republic is established with its capital Rooigrond near Mafeking.


 * Unknown date
 * Zulu king Cetshwayo returns to South Africa.
 * In the Cape Colony, the Dutch language is once again admitted as an official language alongside English.

Births

 * 24 February – Jan Gysbert Hugo Bosman aka Bosman de Ravelli, concert pianist and composer, is born in Piketberg.

Railway lines opened

 * 15 December – Cape Western – Wynberg to Muizenberg, 7 mi.

Locomotives

 * Three new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the Cape Government Railways (CGR):
 * Six 2nd Class 4-4-0 Wynberg Tank locomotives on suburban passenger trains out of Cape Town.
 * The first of 33 4th Class 4-6-0 tank-and-tender locomotives with Stephenson valve gear on the mainlines of all three systems.
 * The first of 35 4th Class 4-6-0 tank-and-tender locomotives with Joy valve gear on the mainlines of all three systems.
 * Two new locomotive types enter service on the private Kowie Railway which is under construction from Port Alfred to Grahamstown:
 * Two 0-6-0 tank locomotives in goods service.
 * Two 4-4-0 tank locomotives in passenger service.