1926 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1926 in South Africa.

Incumbents

 * Monarch: King George V.
 * Governor-General and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: The Earl of Athlone.
 * Prime Minister: James Barry Munnik Hertzog.
 * Chief Justice: James Rose Innes.

Events

 * March
 * 13 – The first commercial air route from South Africa is established when Alan Cobham does a return flight between London and Cape Town.


 * October
 * 10 – The South African National War Memorial next to Delville Wood outside Longueval, France is opened.
 * 10 – The Sabie Game Reserve is renamed to Kruger National Park.

Births

 * 23 May – Joe Slovo, politician, in Obeliai, Lithuania. (d.1995)
 * 11 September; Gerrit Viljoen, government minister. (d. 2009)
 * 15 October – Rexon Mathebula, artist, in Sophiatown, Johannesburg.
 * 24 December – Ronald Draper, cricketer

Railway lines opened

 * 18 January – Transvaal – Villiers, Free State to Grootvlei, 19 mi.
 * 7 June – Free State – Harrismith to Warden, 35 mi.
 * 18 August – Cape – Upington to Kakamas (Narrow gauge), 54 mi.
 * 1 September – Cape – Addo to Sunland, 6 mi.
 * 15 September – Natal – Mtubatuba to Candover, 110 mi.
 * 19 November – Cape – Katberg to Seymour (Narrow gauge), 9 mi.
 * 22 November – Transvaal – Citrus to Plaston, 17 mi.
 * 8 December – Cape – Klawer to Landplaas, 50 mi.

Locomotives
Three Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR):
 * The first twenty-three Class 15CA 4-8-2 Mountain type locomotives.
 * Four Class FD 2-6-2+2-6-2 Modified Fairlie articulated steam locomotives.
 * To address a shortage of suitable shunting locomotives, the first of twenty-one ex Natal Government Railways Class D1 4-8-2 tank locomotives are rebuilt to Class 17 4-8-0 tank-and-tender locomotives.