The following lists events that happened during 1917 in South Africa.

Incumbents

Monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

: King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

. *

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: The Viscount Buxton.Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Governors-General: 1910-1961
(Accessed on 14 April 2017) *

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Louis Botha Louis Botha (; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa – the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer War, ...

. * Chief Justice: James Rose Innes

Events

;January * 16 – The '' SS Mendi'', a troopship, sets sail from Cape Town to

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

, France, transporting 823 members of the 802nd

South African Native Labour Corps The South African Native Labour Corps (SANLC) was a force of workers formed in 1916 in response to a British request for workers at French ports. About 25,000 South Africans joined the Corps. The SANLC was utilized in various menial noncombat tas ...

. ;February * 21 – The ''SS Mendi'' is struck on the starboard side by the ''SS Darro'', an 11,000 ton liner, and sinks with the loss of 646 lives. ;September * The

Industrial Workers of Africa Anarchism in South Africa dates to the 1880s, and played a major role in the labour and socialist movements from the turn of the twentieth century through to the 1920s. The early South African anarchist movement was strongly syndicalist. The as ...

, South Africa's first predominantly black trade union, is established in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. ;Unknown date * The Castle of Good Hope in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

is handed over to the South African Defence Force. * Gold mining company Anglo American Corporation is founded by Ernest Oppenheimer.

Births

* 27 October –

Oliver Tambo Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo (27 October 191724 April 1993) was a South African anti-apartheid politician and revolutionary who served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991. Biography Higher education Oliv ...

, activist and revolutionary. (d. 1993) * 20 December –

Petrus Hugo Petrus Hendrik Hugo, (20 December 1917 – 6 June 1986) was a South African fighter pilot and flying ace in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. Early life Petrus Hendrik Hugo was born 20 December 1917 on the farm Pampoenpoort ...

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

fighter pilot. (d. 1986)

Deaths

* 18 January – Andrew Murray, author, educationist and pastor. (b. 1828)

Railways

Railway lines opened

* 5 March – Natal –

Izingolweni Izingolweni or Ezinqoleni is a town in Ugu District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It was founded in the 1870s as a police and administration post. The name comes from the Zulu language word for "place with very shal ...

Harding Harding may refer to: People *Harding (surname) *Maureen Harding Clark (born 1946), Irish jurist Places Australia * Harding River Iran * Harding, Iran, a village in South Khorasan Province South Africa * Harding, KwaZulu-Natal United Sta ...

(narrow gauge), .''Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway'', Statement No. 19, p. 188, ref. no. 200954-13 * 20 June – Natal –

Gingindlovu Gingindlovu is a town in Uthungulu District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of c ...

to Eshowe, .

Locomotives

* Three new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR): ** November – Ten Class 16B

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomotiv ...

Pacific type passenger steam locomotives. ** Seven Class K 4-6-4 tank locomotives that had been built for the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

but could not be delivered. ** At least four 2-8-2 Mikado type steam locomotives, built for the ''Chemins de Fer du Bas Congo à Katanga'' and obtained on temporary lease to alleviate the critical wartime shortage of locomotives.Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1945). ''The Locomotive in South Africa - A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter VII - South African Railways (Continued).'' South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, September 1945. p. 673.

References

{{Africa topic, 1917 in, state=collapsed

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Years in South Africa History of South Africa