1906 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1906 in South Africa.

Incumbents

 * Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa:Walter Hely-Hutchinson.
 * Governor of the Colony of Natal: Henry Edward McCallum.
 * Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: Leander Starr Jameson.
 * Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony: William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne.
 * Prime Minister of the Colony of Natal: Charles John Smythe (until 28 November), Frederick Robert Moor (starting 28 November).

Events

 * February
 * 11 – Two British £1-per-head tax collectors are killed near Richmond, sparking the Bambatha Rebellion led by Chief Bambatha kaMancinza, leader of the clan of the Zulu people.


 * May
 * 2 – Lord Alfred Milner, British colonial secretary and the High Commissioner for Southern Africa, returns to Britain.
 * 6 – British troops kill over 60 Zulu warriors during a punitive expedition near Durban.


 * June
 * The first issue of the Annals of the Natal Government Museum (currently African Invertebrates) is published by Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.


 * Unknown date
 * Tuberculosis reaches epidemic proportions in South Africa.

Births

 * 6 January – Walter Battiss, artist, is born in Somerset East (d. 1982)
 * 5 March – Siegfried Mynhardt, actor, is born in Johannesburg. (d. 1996)
 * 11 June – N.P. van Wyk Louw, poet, dramatist and essayist, is born in Sutherland, Cape Colony. (d. 1970)
 * 30 October – Archibald Campbell Mzoliza Jordan, Xhosa writer and linguist, is born near Tsolo in the Cape Colony.
 * 13 December – Laurens van der Post, author, farmer, war hero, political adviser, educator, journalist, humanitarian, philosopher, explorer and conservationist, is born in Philippolis. (d. 1996)

Railway lines opened

 * Transvaal – Nancefield to Pimville, 2 mi.
 * 22 January – Cape Central – Riversdale to Voorbaai, 58 mi.
 * 6 February – Free State – Jagersfontein to Fauresmith, 8 mi.
 * 1 April – Cape Midland – Port Elizabeth to Humewood Road (Narrow gauge), 75 ch.
 * 6 April – Transvaal – Orkney to Fourteen Streams, 135 mi.
 * 16 May – Natal – Donnybrook to Creighton, 15 mi.
 * 1 June – Natal – Ennersdale to Loskop, 12 mi.
 * 21 June – Free State – Bethlehem to Kroonstad, 90 mi.
 * 21 June – Transvaal – Pienaarsrivier to Settlers (Regauged), 26 mi.
 * 1 August – Cape Western – Pampoenpoort to Carnarvon, 37 mi.
 * 29 August – Cape Eastern – Elliot to Maclear, 54 mi.
 * 1 December – Cape Midland – Humansdorp to Misgund (Narrow gauge), 86 mi.
 * 15 December – Cape Midland – Valley Junction to Walmer (Narrow gauge), 3 mi.
 * 17 December – Cape Eastern – Eagle to Butterworth, 22 mi.
 * 26 December – Transvaal – Apex to Witbank, 69 mi.
 * 27 December – Transvaal – Pretoria North to Rustenburg, 60 mi.

Locomotives

 * Cape
 * The Cape Government Railways places three locomotives in service, two of them experimental.
 * An experimental 9th Class 2-8-2 Mikado steam locomotive. In 1912 it will be designated Class Experimental 5 on the South African Railways (SAR).
 * An experimental 10th Class 4-8-0 Mastodon locomotive for the Cape Eastern System. In 1912 it will be designated Class Experimental 6 on the SAR.
 * A single self-contained Railmotor for low-volume passenger service on the Franschhoek branchline.


 * Natal
 * The Natal Government Railways (NGR) modifies six of its 4-8-0 Class B locomotives to a 4-8-2 wheel arrangement, the first 4-8-2 Mountain type tender locomotive in the world. In 1912 it will be designated Class 1B on the South African Railways (SAR).
 * In April the NGR places two Class N 4-6-2 narrow gauge tank locomotives in service on the new narrow gauge line that is being built between Estcourt and Weenen.