1838 in South Africa

* 1837
* 1836
* 1835
*   *

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1838

South Africa |

* 1839
* 1840
* 1841
*   *

Decades:|

* 1810s
* 1820s
* 1830s
* 1840s
* 1850s

See also:|

*   * List of years in South Africa

Treaty between Retief and Dingane

The following lists events that happened during 1838 in South Africa.

## Events

[edit]

This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources.
Find sources: "1838 in South Africa" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2025)

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Source:[1]

### February

[edit]

* 4 February - The AmaZulu King, Dingane signs a deed of cession to cede land to the voortrekkers led by Piet Retief

### April

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* 11 April - Battle of Italeni where the AmaZulu repulsed the Voortrekkers close to uMgungundlovu.
* 11 April - Voortrekker leaders Piet Uys and his son Dirkie Uys die in battle at the hands of the Zulus.

### December

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* 4 December - Britain occupies Port Natal, denying the Republic of Natalia access to trade routes.
* 16 December - The Battle of Blood River, Voortrekkers under Andries Pretorius defeat the AmaZulu.
* 22 December - Potchefstroom is founded as the Transvaal Republic's capital by Andries Hendrik Potgieter.

### Unknown

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* A municipality is formed covering the Green Point-Sea Point areas in Cape Town
* The Voortrekkers establish Natalia Republic with Pietermaritzburg as capital
* Voortrekkers draft a Constitution enforcing White supremacy and a racial master-servant order.
* The Volksraad of 24 elected men is established with legislative, judiciary, and executive powers.
* Voortrekkers defeat the AmaZulu at the Battle of Blood River, killing 3,000 troops.
* Cape slavery ends as the 1834 "apprenticeship" system is abolished.

## Deaths

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* 6 February - Voortrekker leader Piet Retief and his men are murdered by the Zulus under the command of Dingaan
* 25 October - Voortrekker leader Louis Tregardt (55), died of malaria in Delagoa bay

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "General South African History Timeline: 1800s | South African History Online". www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 2025-02-19.

See Years in South Africa for list of References

* South Africa portal

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1838 in Africa

Sovereign states|

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States with limited
recognition

* Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
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Dependencies and
other territories

* Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla (Spain)
* Madeira (Portugal)
* Mayotte / Réunion (France)
* Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)

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