1885 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1885 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: Paul Kruger.
 * Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: Thomas Upington.

Events

 * February
 * 26 – The Berlin Conference ends and the Scramble for Africa begins.


 * September
 * 30 – A British force abolishes the Boer republic of Stellaland and adds it to British Bechuanaland.


 * November
 * 28 – The railway line from Cape Town to Kimberley is completed.

Births

 * 31 January – Marthinus Johannes de Jong, landscape painter, is born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Railway lines opened

 * 2 September – Cape Eastern – Molteno to Aliwal North, 69 mi.
 * 28 November – Cape Western – Oranjerivier to Kimberley, 76 mi.<
 * 21 December – Natal – Merrivale to Estcourt, 61 mi.