1946 in South Africa

* 1945
* 1944
* 1943
*   *

|  | 1946

South Africa |

* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
*   *

|
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Decades:|

* 1920s
* 1930s
* 1940s
* 1950s
* 1960s

See also:|

*   * List of years in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1946 in South Africa.

## Incumbents

[edit]

* Monarch: King George VI.
* Governor-General: Gideon Brand van Zyl (starting 1 January).
* Prime Minister: Jan Christiaan Smuts.
* Chief Justice: Ernest Frederick Watermeyer.

## Events

[edit]

January

* 1 – Gideon Brand van Zyl is appointed the 7th Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.

March

* 12 – The South African Indian Congress delegation is received by the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, in Delhi, India, and submits a petition drafted in consultation with Mohandas Gandhi.
* 12 – The Indian Representative Act is repealed.
* 12 – India terminates the trade agreement with South Africa.
* 15 – The Asiatic Land Tenure Act, the "Ghetto Act", is amended to state that Indians may only live where Indians had resided in non-proclaimed areas.
* 31 – 6,000 Indians march in Durban in protest to the Asiatic Land Tenure Act.

April

* 16 – The Eureka Diamond, the first diamond discovered in South Africa, is sold in London for £5,700.

June

* 11 – India recalls its High Commissioner from South Africa.
* 22 – During a prayer meeting in New Delhi, India, Mahatma Gandhi calls for South Africa to stop hooliganism by whites.
* 23 – A group of white men attack and assault a group of Indian Passive Resisters.[1]

July

* 8 – Indian protests against government legislation lead to the arrest of hundreds of Indians.

## Births

[edit]

* 8 January – Whitey Basson, businessman and billionaire, former CEO of Shoprite
* 18 January – Jakes Gerwel, academic and politician. (d. 2012)
* 19 July – Lucas Malan, Afrikaans poet, author and academic
* 15 September – Mike Procter, cricketer (d. 2024)
* 5 December – Sarel van der Merwe, former rally and racing driver
* 18 December – Steve Biko, anti-apartheid activist. (d. 1977)

## Deaths

[edit]

* 24 January – Morris Alexander, politician (b. 1877)[2]
* 13 April – William Henry Bell, musician, composer and first director of the South African College of Music. (b. 1873)

## Railways

[edit]

Class GEA

### Railway lines opened

[edit]

* 1 June – Transvaal: Ogies to Vandyksdrif, 21 miles 30 chains (34.4 kilometres).[3]

### Locomotives

[edit]

* The South African Railways places the first of fifty Class GEA 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratt locomotives in service.[4][5][6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Indian passive resistance in South Africa: 1946 – 1948 (Accessed on 4 April 2017)
2. ^ Abrahams, Israel (1968). "Alexander, Morris". In De Kock, W. J. (ed.). Dictionary of South African Biography. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). p. 10\. OCLC 85921202.
3. ^ Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 191, ref. no. 200954-13
4. ^ Holland, D. F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. Vol. 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, England: David & Charles. pp. 103–105\. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
5. ^ Hamilton, Gavin N., The Garratt Locomotive - Garratt Locomotives produced by Beyer, Peacock, retrieved 10 November 2012
6. ^ Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. ISBN 0869772112.

* v
* t
* e

Years in South Africa (1901–present)

* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000

* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

* v
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* e

1946 in Africa

Sovereign states|

* Algeria
* Angola
* Benin
* Botswana
* Burkina Faso
* Burundi
* Cameroon
* Cape Verde
* Central African Republic
* Chad
* Comoros
* Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Republic of the Congo
* Djibouti
* Egypt
* Equatorial Guinea
* Eritrea
* Eswatini
* Ethiopia
* Gabon
* The Gambia
* Ghana
* Guinea
* Guinea-Bissau
* Ivory Coast
* Kenya
* Lesotho
* Liberia
* Libya
* Madagascar
* Malawi
* Mali
* Mauritania
* Mauritius
* Morocco
* Mozambique
* Namibia
* Niger
* Nigeria
* Rwanda
* São Tomé and Príncipe
* Senegal
* Seychelles
* Sierra Leone
* Somalia
* South Africa
* South Sudan
* Sudan
* Tanzania
* Togo
* Tunisia
* Uganda
* Zambia
* Zimbabwe

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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