1965 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1965 in South Africa.

Incumbents

 * State President: Charles Robberts Swart.
 * Prime Minister: Hendrik Verwoerd.
 * Chief Justice: Lucas Cornelius Steyn.

Events

 * January
 * 8 – Adam Faith, a British pop singer, cancels his tour of South Africa because the South African government prohibited mixed audiences at concerts.


 * April
 * 1 – Frederick John Harris is hanged for exploding the bomb at Johannesburg Park Station that killed 77-year-old Ethel Rhys and injured 23 others on 24 July 1964.


 * May
 * 4 – Units of the South African Defence Force begin to be issued with the R1 7.62 mm rifle, made in South Africa under license.


 * October
 * 4 – At least 150 are killed when a commuter train derails at the outskirts of Durban.


 * November
 * Rhodes University in Grahamstown installs a computer, the first university in South Africa to do so.


 * Unknown date
 * The African National Congress establishes its headquarters in Morogoro, Tanzania.

Births

 * 1 February – Dave Callaghan, cricketer.
 * 14 February – Themba Ndaba, actor.
 * 17 March – Andrew Hudson, cricketer.
 * 18 March – Yvonne Chaka Chaka, singer.
 * 2 June – Thoko Didiza, politician.
 * 10 June – Tiaan Strauss, rugby player.
 * 13 July – Hannes Strydom, rugby player.
 * 25 September – Augustine Makalakalane, football player.
 * 1 December – Henry Honiball, rugby player.
 * 18 December – John Moshoeu, footballer. (d. 2015).

Deaths

 * 1 April – Frederick John Harris, school teacher and bomb planter. (b. 1937)
 * 1 July – Wally Hammond, English first-class cricketer and South African sports administrator. (b. 1903)
 * 19 July – Ingrid Jonker, Afrikaans poet. (b. 1933)



Locomotives
Two new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways:
 * The first of sixty-five Class 33-000 General Electric type U20C diesel-electric locomotives.
 * The first of one hundred Class 5E1, Series 4 electric locomotives.