1914 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1914 in South Africa.

Incumbents

 * Monarch: King George V.
 * Governor-General and High Commissioner for Southern Africa:
 * The Viscount Gladstone (until 27 July).
 * Baron De Villiers (acting, 27 July to 2 September).
 * Sir James Rose Innes (acting, 2 to 8 September).
 * The Viscount Buxton (from 8 September).
 * Prime Minister: Louis Botha.
 * Chief Justice: Baron De Villiers then Sir James Rose Innes

Events

 * January
 * 8 – A railway strike is declared in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony.


 * April
 * 23 – The Afrikaans language receives official recognition when Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven addresses the English caucus of the Cape Provincial Council.


 * July
 * 1 – The National Party is formed in Bloemfontein.
 * 18 – Mahatma Gandhi leaves South Africa for the last time, sailing out of Cape Town for England on board the SS Kinfauns Castle.


 * September
 * 8 – The Viscount Buxton is appointed the second Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.
 * 10 – South Africa declares war on Germany.
 * 13 – South African troops open hostilities in German South-West Africa with an assault on the Ramansdrift police station.
 * 15 – The Maritz Rebellion against the government of the Union of South Africa begins.


 * Unknown date
 * The steamship Clan Stuart is blown ashore between Glencairn and Simon's Town in the Cape Province.
 * The Kimberley mine or "Big Hole" is closed.
 * South Africa's government agree to many of the Indians' demands. Discriminatory taxes on Indian traders are abolished, the legality of non-Christian marriages is recognized and the continued immigration of free Indians is permitted.
 * A new lighthouse is built at Cape Point.

Births

 * 3 July – Pat Pattle, World War II fighter pilot. (d. 1941)
 * 20 February – John Charles Daly, South African-born journalist, game show host (d. 1991)
 * 9 December – Shmuel Katz, Israeli writer, historian and journalist. (d. 2008)

Deaths

 * 15 September – Koos de la Rey, Boer War general, is shot dead at a police roadblock. (b. 1847)

Railway lines opened

 * 1 January – Cape – Kleipan to Birdfield, 6 mi.
 * 5 January – Natal – Winterton to Bergville, 18 mi.
 * 2 February – Natal – Ixopo to Madonela (Narrow gauge), 17 mi.
 * 23 February – Natal – Ahrens to Kranskop, 12 mi.
 * 4 March – Free State – Marsala to Frankfort, 17 mi.
 * 3 April – Cape – Gamtoos to Patensie (Narrow gauge), 18 mi.
 * 6 April – Cape – Caledon to Klipdale, 43 mi.
 * 5 May – Transvaal – Lilliput to Messina, 19 mi.
 * 18 May – Transvaal – Sabie to Graskop, 21 mi.
 * 25 May – Transvaal – Cranbourne to Modderbee, 6 mi.
 * September – Natal – Newleigh to Estcourt deviation, 26 mi.
 * 21 December – Transvaal – Bethal to Morgenzon, 27 mi.

Locomotives
Six new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR):
 * Forty-one Class 14A 4-8-2 Mountain type steam locomotives.
 * Ten Class 15 4-8-2 Mountain type locomotives.
 * The first of 119 Class 15A 4-8-2 Mountain type locomotives.
 * Twelve Class 16 4-6-2 Pacific type passenger steam locomotives.
 * Fifteen Class MC1 2-6-6-0 Mallet articulated compound steam locomotives.
 * Only two of the ten Class MJ 2-6-6-0 Mallet compound locomotives ordered from German manufacturer Maffei before the outbreak of World War I disrupts further delivery.