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

Incumbents

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 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 The Battle of Delville Wood was a series of engagements in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in the First World War, between the armies of the German Empire and the British Empire. Delville Wood , was a thick tangle of trees, chiefly beech and ...

outside

Longueval Longueval () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Longueval is located northwest of Amiens on the D919 road, at the junction with the D8. Longueval is found in the north-east of the département ...

, France is opened. * 10 – The Sabie Game Reserve is renamed to

Kruger National Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...

Births

* 23 May – Joe Slovo, politician, in

Obeliai Obeliai (; pl, Abele, yi, אבעל Abel) is a small city in the Rokiškis district municipality of Panevėžys County, Lithuania. At the foot of the town is one of the area's many lakes. The town of Obeliai is small and quite poor, due in no s ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. (d.1995) * 11 September; Gerrit Viljoen, government minister. (d. 2009) * 15 October – Rexon Mathebula,

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

, in Sophiatown, Johannesburg. * 24 December –

Ronald Draper Ronald George Draper (born 24 December 1926) is a South African former cricketer who played in two Tests in 1950. He played first-class cricket from 1945 to 1959. Since 3 September 2021 he has been the oldest living Test cricketer. Playing car ...

, cricketer

Deaths

Railways

Railway lines opened

* 18 January – Transvaal –

Villiers, Free State Villiers is a small town situated on the banks of the Vaal River next to the N3 highway in the Free State province of South Africa. It was founded in 1882 on the two farms ''Pearson Valley'' and ''Grootdraai'' owned by Lourens de ''Villiers''. L ...

Grootvlei Grootvlei, officially Thaba-Kgwali, is a town in Dipaleseng Local Municipality in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. An old mining town, Grootvlei is located near the N3 road and on the R51 road, 5 km from Grootvlei Power Station Gro ...

, .''Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway'', Statement No. 19, p. 189, ref. no. 200954-13 * 7 June – Free State – Harrismith to

Warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...

, . * 18 August – Cape – Upington to Kakamas (Narrow gauge), . * 1 September – Cape – Addo to Sunland, . * 15 September – Natal –

Mtubatuba Mtubatuba is a town north of Richards Bay close to the entrance of Ncivi and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park (previously Greater St Lucia Wetland Park) but now the isimangaliso wetland park is known to be under Mtuba town in KwaZulu-Natal, South ...

to Candover, . * 19 November – Cape – Katberg to

Seymour Seymour may refer to: Places Australia *Seymour, Victoria, a township *Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria *Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria *Seymour, Tasmania, a locality ...

(Narrow gauge), . * 22 November – Transvaal – Citrus to Plaston, . * 8 December – Cape – Klawer to Landplaas, .

Locomotives

Three Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR): * The first twenty-three Class 15CA

4-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This type of steam locomotive is commonly known as t ...

Mountain type locomotives. * Four Class FD

2-6-2+2-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is an articulated locomotive using a pair of power units back to back, with the boiler and cab suspended between them. The 2-6-2 wheel arrangement has ...

Modified Fairlie articulated

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s. * To address a shortage of suitable shunting locomotives, the first of twenty-one ex Natal Government Railways Class D1 tank locomotives are rebuilt to Class 17

4-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, usually in a leading truck or bogie, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and no traili ...

tank-and-tender locomotives.South African Railways and Harbours Locomotive Diagram Book, 2'0" & 3'6" Gauge Steam Locomotives, 15 August 1941, as amended

References

{{Africa topic, 1926 in, state=collapsed South Africa Years of the 20th century in South Africa