1919 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1919 in South Africa.

Incumbents

 * Monarch: King George V.
 * Governor-General and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: The Viscount Buxton.
 * Prime Minister:
 * Louis Botha (until 27 August).
 * Jan Smuts (from 3 September).
 * Chief Justice: James Rose Innes

Events

 * April
 * 23 – The Potchefstroom Teachers' College opens.


 * August
 * 27 – Prime Minister Louis Botha dies in office.


 * September
 * 3 – Jan Smuts becomes the 2nd Prime Minister of South Africa.
 * 17 – German South West Africa is placed under South African administration.


 * November
 * 7 – Inspired by Cape Town's daily Noon Gun Three Minute Pause, King George V institutes the Two Minute Silence following a suggestion by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, to be observed annually at the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month.
 * 7 – The first Remembrance Day is observed in the British Empire with a two-minute silence at 11:00 hours.

Births

 * 1 January – Eustace Fannin, tennis player
 * 3 March – Peter Abrahams, South African-born Jamaican novelist and journalist. (d. 2017)
 * 8 December – Mary Benson, activist and author. (d. 2000)

Deaths

 * 19 March – Jack Hindon, Boer soldier. (b. 1874)
 * 27 August – Louis Botha, Boer general, statesman, first Prime Minister. (b. 1862)



Railway lines opened

 * 9 January – Natal – Deviation from Umlaas Road to Pentrich, 19 mi.

Locomotives
Two new Cape gauge and one narrow gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR):
 * The first of sixty-seven Class 12A 4-8-2 Mountain type locomotives.
 * The first ten Class 16C 4-6-2 Pacific type passenger steam locomotives.
 * Three Class NG G11 2-6-0+0-6-2 Garratt locomotives on the Avontuur narrow gauge line through the Langkloof, the first Garratt locomotives to enter service in South Africa.