1896 in South Africa

* 1895
* 1894
* 1893
*   *

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1896

South Africa |

* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
*   *

Decades:|

* 1870s
* 1880s
* 1890s
* 1900s
* 1910s

See also:|

* 1896 in South African sport
* List of years in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1896 in South Africa.

## Incumbents

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* Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa:Hercules Robinson.
* Governor of the Colony of Natal: Charles Bullen Hugh Mitchell.
* State President of the Orange Free State: Pieter Jeremias Blignaut (until 4 March), Martinus Theunis Steyn (starting 4 March).
* State President of the South African Republic: Paul Kruger.
* Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: Cecil John Rhodes (until 13 January), John Gordon Sprigg (starting 13 January).
* Prime Minister of the Colony of Natal: .

## Events

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January

* 2 - Leander Starr Jameson and his forces surrender at Doornkop near Krugersdorp.
* 6 - Cecil Rhodes is forced to resign as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony for his involvement in the Jameson Raid.

February

* 19 - A train carrying 56 tons of dynamite explodes at Braamfontein, Johannesburg, killing more than 78 people.[1]

May

* 13 - The Franchise Bill is passed by Natal's Legislative Assembly, disfranchising natives of other countries.

June

* 5 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi embarks from Durban for Calcutta en route to Bombay.

August

* 6 - Cape Town's first electric tram service begins operation along Adderley Street to Mowbray Hill.

December

* 18 - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi arrives back in Durban with his wife and two sons, but the ship is placed under a 5-day quarantine because Bombay was declared a plague-infected port. Quarantine will later be extended to 13 January 1897.

Unknown date

* South Africa's first school of mines is opened in Kimberley. It will later form the core of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.[citation needed]

## Births

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* 1 February - Stephanus Le Roux Marais, organist, teacher and composer of Afrikaans songs, is born in the district of Bloemfontein.
* 1 February - Ivan Mitford-Barberton, art teacher at the Michaelis School of Art in Cape Town and sculptor of several monuments in South Africa, is born in Somerset East.
* April - Clements Kadalie, trade unionist, is born at Chifira, Nkhata Bay District, Nyasaland (now Malawi).
* 3 May - Petrus Johannes Lemmer, composer of Afrikaans songs, is born in Hartbeesfontein, Transvaal.
* 27 October - Edith Haisman, RMS Titanic survivor, is born in Worcester, Cape Colony (d. 1997)

## Deaths

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* 17 September - Nicholaas Waterboer, Griqua chief and eldest son of Andries Waterboer, dies in Griekwastad.

## Railways

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### Railway lines opened

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* 1 February - Cape Eastern - Sterkstroom to Indwe, 67 miles (107.8 kilometres).[2]
* 1 April - Transvaal - Kaapmuiden to Barberton, 34 miles (54.7 kilometres).[2]
* 2 November - Transvaal - Krugersdorp to Frederikstad, 52 miles (83.7 kilometres).[2]

SAR Class 6A Metropolitan & Suburban Pacific PPR 26 Tonner

### Locomotives

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Cape

* Two new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the Cape Government Railways (CGR):
* The first of a second batch of fifty 6th Class 4-6-0 steam locomotives. In 1912 they would be designated Class 6A on the South African Railways (SAR).[3][4]
* The first of a second batch of forty-six 7th Class 4-8-0 Mastodon type locomotives on the Midland and Eastern Systems. In 1912 they would be designated Class 7A on the SAR.[3][4]
* Two 4-6-2 Pacific type tank locomotives enter service on the Metropolitan and Suburban Railway that operates a suburban passenger service between Cape Town and Sea Point.[3]

Free State

* The Oranje-Vrijstaat Gouwerment-Spoorwegen places the first of twenty-four new Cape 6th Class 4-6-0 steam locomotives in service. In 1912 they would be designated Class 6C on the SAR.[3][4]

Natal

* The Natal Government Railways (NGR) rebuilds one of its Class G 4-6-0 tank locomotives to the first 4-6-4 Baltic type locomotive in the world. It was later designated the NGR Class H.[3][4]

Transvaal

* The independent Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (Transvaal Republic) places the first of three 26 Tonner saddle-tank locomotives in service.[3][4]

## References

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1. ^ The Great Dynamite Explosion, report by Mr. J.G. Blumberg, Fairmount School, Johannesburg, excerpt from the autobiography of Dutch immigrant Jan de Veer who came to South Africa in 1893.
2. ^ a b c Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 183, ref. no. 200954-13
3. ^ a b c d e f Holland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. Vol. 1: 1859–1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, England: David & Charles. pp. 41–46, 57, 76–77, 83, 87–89, 108, 118–119, 126, 133. ISBN 978-0-7153-5382-0.
4. ^ a b c d e Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 23–24, 28–29, 41–44, 46–48\. ISBN 0869772112.

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1896 in Africa

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States with limited
recognition

* Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
* Somaliland

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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