1914 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1914 in South Africa.

← 1913 1912 1911 1914 in South Africa → 1915 1916 1917
Decades:	1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s
See also:	List of years in South Africa

Incumbents

• Monarch: King George V.
• Governor-General and High Commissioner for Southern Africa:
  • The Viscount Gladstone (until 7 September).[1]
  • The Viscount Buxton (from 8 September).[1]
• Prime Minister: Louis Botha.
• Chief Justice: John de Villiers, 1st Baron de Villiers then Sir James Rose Innes

Events

January

• 8 – A railway strike is declared in the Transvaal and Orange Free State.

April

• 23 – The Afrikaans language receives official recognition when Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven addresses the English caucus of the Cape Provincial Council.

July

• 1 – The National Party is formed in Bloemfontein.
• 18 – Mahatma Gandhi leaves South Africa for the last time, sailing out of Cape Town for England on board the SS Kinfauns Castle.

September

• 8 – The Viscount Buxton is appointed the second Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.
• 10 – South Africa declares war on Germany.
• 13 – South African troops open hostilities in German South-West Africa with an assault on the Ramansdrift police station.
• 15 – The Maritz Rebellion against the government of the Union of South Africa begins.

Unknown date

• The steamship Clan Stuart is blown ashore between Glencairn and Simon's Town in the Cape Province.
• The Kimberley mine or "Big Hole" is closed.
• South Africa's government agree to many of the Indians' demands. Discriminatory taxes on Indian traders are abolished, the legality of non-Christian marriages is recognized and the continued immigration of free Indians is permitted.
• A new lighthouse is built at Cape Point.

Births

• 3 July – Pat Pattle, World War II fighter pilot. (d. 1941)
• 9 December – Shmuel Katz, Israeli writer, historian and journalist. (d. 2008)

Deaths

• 15 September – Koos de la Rey, Boer War general, is shot dead at a police roadblock. (b. 1847)

Railways

Class 15

Class 15A

Class 16

Class MC1

Class MJ

Railway lines opened

• 1 January – Cape – Kleipan to Birdfield, 6 miles 59 chains (10.8 kilometres).[2]
• 5 January – Natal – Winterton to Bergville, 18 miles 27 chains (29.5 kilometres).[2]
• 2 February – Natal – Ixopo to Madonela (Narrow gauge), 17 miles 27 chains (27.9 kilometres).[2]
• 23 February – Natal – Ahrens to Kranskop, 12 miles 26 chains (19.8 kilometres).[2]
• 4 March – Free State – Marsala to Frankfort, 17 miles 39 chains (28.1 kilometres).[2]
• 3 April – Cape – Gamtoos to Patensie (Narrow gauge), 18 miles 79 chains (30.6 kilometres).[2]
• 6 April – Cape – Caledon to Klipdale, 43 miles 9 chains (69.4 kilometres).[2]
• 5 May – Transvaal – Lilliput to Messina, 19 miles 7 chains (30.7 kilometres).[2]
• 18 May – Transvaal – Sabie to Graskop, 21 miles 75 chains (35.3 kilometres).[2]
• 25 May – Transvaal – Cranbourne to Modderbee, 6 miles 79 chains (11.2 kilometres).[2]
• September – Natal – Newleigh to Estcourt deviation, 26 miles 4 chains (41.9 kilometres).[2]
• 21 December – Transvaal – Bethal to Morgenzon, 27 miles 10 chains (43.7 kilometres).[2]

Locomotives

Six new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR):

• Forty-one Class 14A 4-8-2 Mountain type steam locomotives.[3]
• Ten Class 15 4-8-2 Mountain type locomotives.[3]
• The first of 119 Class 15A 4-8-2 Mountain type locomotives.[3][4]
• Twelve Class 16 4-6-2 Pacific type passenger steam locomotives.[3]
• Fifteen Class MC1 2-6-6-0 Mallet articulated compound steam locomotives.[4]
• Only two of the ten Class MJ 2-6-6-0 Mallet compound locomotives ordered from German manufacturer Maffei before the outbreak of World War I disrupts further delivery.[3][4]

References

1. Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Governors-General: 1910-1961 (Accessed on 14 April 2017)
2. Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 187, ref. no. 200954-13
3. Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 10–11, 57–60, 64, 87–88. ISBN 0869772112.
4. Holland, D. F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 21–22, 26–27, 29. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.