The following lists events that happened during 1899 in South Africa.

Incumbents

High Commissioner for Southern Africa The British office of high commissioner for Southern Africa was responsible for governing British possessions in Southern Africa, latterly the protectorates of Basutoland (now Lesotho), the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) and Swaziland ...

Alfred Milner Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, (23 March 1854 – 13 May 1925) was a British statesman and colonial administrator who played a role in the formulation of British foreign and domestic policy between the mid-1890s and early 1920s. From De ...

. * Governor of the Colony of Natal: Charles Bullen Hugh Mitchell. *

State President of the Orange Free State This is a list of State Presidents of the Orange Free State. List Last election See also * State President of the South African Republic External links Archontology.org: Orange Free State: Heads of State: 1854–1902 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sta ...

Martinus Theunis Steyn Martinus (or Marthinus) Theunis Steyn (; 2 October 1857 – 28 November 1916) was a South African lawyer, politician, and statesman. He was the sixth and last president of the independent republic the Orange Free State from 1896 to 1902. Earl ...

. *

State President of the South African Republic This is a list of State Presidents of the South African Republic (Before 1866 nl, President van de Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek and after 1866 nl, Staatspresident der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek). The country was referred as the ''Transvaal R ...

Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904) was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and President of the South African Republic (or ...

. * Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope:

William Philip Schreiner William Philip Schreiner (30 August 1857 – 28 June 1919) was a barrister, politician, statesman and Prime Minister of the Cape Colony during the Second Boer War. Early life Schreiner was born at Wittebergen Mission Station near Hersch ...

. * Prime Minister of the Colony of Natal: Henry Binns (until 17 August),

Albert Henry Hime Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Albert Henry Hime, (29 August 1842 – 13 September 1919) was a Royal Engineers officer and later a prominent politician in the Colony of Natal. Early life and career Hime was born in Kilcoole, County Wicklow, on the Ballyd ...

(starting 17 August).

Events

;April * The Transvaal government orders Asiatics to move into Locations specified by the government before 1 July. ;May * 4 –

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

based food packaging company

Imperial Cold Storage and Supply Company Imperial Cold Storage and Supply Company (ICS) was one of the largest meat processing, storage, distribution and marketing companies in South Africa, dominating the South African packaged food sector for almost a hundred years. The company was f ...

is founded in London.Measuring Worth
Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount – average earnings, retrieved 27 December 2010 * 5 – Sir

, High Commissioner of South Africa and Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, sends a

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the C ...

urging him to intervene in the

South African Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when i ...

. ;October * 1 – Jan Gysbert Hugo Bosman, aka Bosman de Ravelli, a concert pianist and composer, leaves South Africa for London. * 11 – The

declares war on Britain and launches the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the So ...

which will only end in 1902. * 13 – The

Siege of Mafeking The siege of Mafeking was a 217-day siege battle for the town of Mafeking (now called Mafikeng) in South Africa during the Second Boer War from October 1899 to May 1900. The siege received considerable attention as Lord Edward Cecil, the son of ...

begins. * 14 – The

Siege of Kimberley The siege of Kimberley took place during the Second Boer War at Kimberley, Cape Colony (present-day South Africa), when Boer forces from the Orange Free State and the Transvaal besieged the diamond mining town. The Boers moved quickly to tr ...

begins. * 20 – In the

Battle of Talana Hill The Battle of Talana Hill, also known as the Battle of Glencoe, was the first major clash of the Second Boer War. A frontal attack by British infantry supported by artillery drove Boers from a hilltop position, but the British suffered heavy casu ...

, the first major clash of the conflict near Dundee, Natal, the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

drives the Boers from a hilltop position, but with heavy casualties, including their Commanding General Sir

Penn Symons Major-General Sir William Penn Symons KCB (17 July 1843 – 23 October 1899) was a British Army officer who was mortally wounded as he commanded his forces at the Battle of Talana Hill during the Second Boer War. While his forces won the ba ...

. * 30 – The

Siege of Ladysmith The siege of Ladysmith was a protracted engagement in the Second Boer War, taking place between 2 November 1899 and 28 February 1900 at Ladysmith, Natal. Background As war with the Boer republics appeared likely in June 1899, the War Offic ...

begins.

Births

* 30 January –

Max Theiler Max Theiler (30 January 1899 – 11 August 1972) was a South African-American virologist and physician. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951 for developing a vaccine against yellow fever in 1937, becoming the first ...

, a virologist and the first South African to receive a

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

, is born in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...

. * 18 February – Aegidius Jean Blignaut, short story writer and creator of ''Hottentot Ruiter'', is born in

Kroonstad Kroonstad (Afrikaans directly translated "Crown City") is the third largest city in the Free State (after Bloemfontein and Welkom) and lies two hours' drive on the N1 from Gauteng. Maokeng is an area within Kroonstad, and is occasionally used ...

Deaths

* 6 June – Sir Henry Binns, sugar cane farmer, founder of the Umhlanga Valley Sugar Estate Company and

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

politician, dies in

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

at the age of 61.

Railways

Railway lines opened

* 31 January – Free State – Wolwehoek to

Heilbron Heilbron is a small farming town in the Free State province of South Africa which services the cattle, dairy, sorghum, sunflower and maize industries. Raw stock beneficiation occurs in leisure foods, dairy products and stock feeds. It also se ...

, .''Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway'', Statement No. 19, p. 184, ref. no. 200954-13 * 12 April – Cape Central – Roodewal to

Swellendam Swellendam is the fifth oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, and Paarl), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them ...

, . * 1 May – Transvaal –

Potgietersrus Mokopane, also known as Potgietersrus, is a town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town name was changed to Mokopane in 2003 in honour of a local Ma Nrebele leader, King Mghombane Gheghana , who ruled the area before being conquered ...

Pietersburg Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Provinc ...

, . * 25 October – Natal –

to New Hanover, .

Locomotives

* The

Natal Government Railways The Natal Government Railways (NGR) was formed in January 1877 in the Colony of Natal. In 1877, the Natal Government Railways acquired the Natal Railway Company for the sum of £40,000, gaining the line from the Point to Durban and from Durban ...

places the first of 101 Class C Reid Tenwheeler locomotives in service. In 1912 they will be designated Class H on the South African Railways (SAR). * The New Cape Central Railway places its first Cape 7th Class Mastodon type locomotive in service. In 1925 they will be designated Class 7E on the SAR. * The Walvis Bay Railway places a single 2-4-2 tank locomotive named ''Hope'' in service.Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1948). ''The Locomotive in South Africa - A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter VII - South African Railways (Continued).'' South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, January 1948. p. 32. * Rand Mines acquires two narrow gauge

0-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...

tank steam locomotives from Avonside Engine Company.

References

{{Africa topic, 1899 in, state=collapsed

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

Years in South Africa