1902 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1902 in South Africa.

Incumbents

Cape Colony

* Governor of the Cape of Good Hope: Walter Hely-Hutchinson.
* Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: John Gordon Sprigg.

Natal

* Governor of the Colony of Natal: Henry Edward McCallum.
* Prime Minister of the Colony of Natal: Albert Henry Hime.

Orange Free State / Orange River Colony

* State President of the Orange Free State: Martinus Theunis Steyn (until 31 May).
* Governor of the Orange River Colony and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner.
* Lieutenant-Governor of the Orange River Colony: Hamilton Goold-Adams.

South African Republic / Transvaal

* State President of the South African Republic: Paul Kruger (until 31 May) (in exile); Schalk Willem Burger (acting until 31 May).
* Governor of the Transvaal and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner.
* Lieutenant-Governor of the Transvaal: Sir Arthur Lawley.

Events

;February
* 27 – Breaker Morant and Peter Handcock are executed in Pretoria for the murder of Boer prisoners of war near Louis Trichardt.

;March
* 7 – The Burghers win their last battle over British forces, with the capture of a British general and 200 of his men.

;April
* 4 – The town Concordia in Namaqualand surrenders to Boer forces.
* 8 – O'okiep is besieged by Boer forces under General Jan Smuts.

;May
* 1 – Boer commandos use the locomotive ''Pioneer'' to propel a truck-load of dynamite into the besieged O'okiep.
* 4 – Boer General Jan Smuts meets with the British General Herbert Kitchener at Kroonstad.
* 6 – Qulusi- Zulu chief Sikhobobo with a 300-strong impi attacks Field-cornet Potgieter and 70 Boers while sleeping, leaving 56 Burghers and 52 Zulus dead in the Battle of Holkrans.
* 31 – The Second Boer War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging at Melrose House in Pretoria.

;December
* Mahatma Gandhi arrives in Durban from Bombay.

;Unknown date
* James Stevenson-Hamilton is appointed the first warden of the Sabie Game Reserve.

Births

* 1 January – Buster Nupen, South African cricketer. (d. 1977)

Deaths

* 26 March – Cecil John Rhodes, businessman, mining magnate, imperialist and politician.
* 2 May – Jan Stephanus de Villiers, composer and organist, dies in Paarl.

Railways

Railway lines opened

* 1 May – Free State – Bloemfontein to Sannaspos, .''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
* 18 July – Natal – Tugela to Mhlatuze, .
* 1 August – Cape Midland – Cookhouse to Somerset East, .''Report for year ending 31 December 1909'', Cape Government Railways, Section VIII - Dates of Opening and the Length of the different Sections in the Cape Colony, from the Year 1873 to 31st December, 1909.
* 1 August – Cape Midland – Klipplaat to Willowmore, .
* 1 August – Cape Western – Sir Lowry's Pass Village to Caledon, .
* 15 November – Cape Western – Moorreesburg to Eendekuil, .

Locomotives

;Cape
* Four new Cape gauge and three narrow gauge locomotive types enter service on the Cape Government Railways (CGR):
** Fourteen 6th Class bar framed 4-6-0 passenger steam locomotives. In 1912 they will be designated Class 6J on the South African Railways (SAR).
** The last ten 7th Class 4-8-0 Mastodon type locomotives on the Eastern System. In 1912 they will be designated Class 7C on the SAR.
** The first thirteen of twenty-three 8th Class Mastodon locomotives on the Western, Midland and Eastern Systems. In 1912 they will be designated Class 8 on the SAR.
** A single experimental "Consolidation" type tandem compound steam locomotive, in 1912 designated Class Experimental 2 on the SAR.
** Three Type A 2-6-0 Mogul type steam locomotives, later to become Class NG7 on the SAR, on the Hopefield narrow gauge branchline that is being constructed from Kalbaskraal.
** Two Type A 2-6-4T Adriatic type narrow gauge locomotives on construction service on the new Avontuur branch that is being built out of Port Elizabeth through the Langkloof.
** A single Type C 0-4-0 narrow gauge tank steam locomotive named Midget on the Avontuur branch.
* Two new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service with the East London and Table Bay Harbour Boards:
** Two 0-6-0 saddle-tank locomotives enter shunting service at the East London Harbour.
** Eleven 2-6-0 saddle-tank locomotives enter harbour shunting service in Table Bay Harbour.

;Natal
* The Natal Government Railways places ten Class F Baltic type tank steam locomotives in service, the first known locomotive in the world to be designed and built as a Baltic. In 1912 they will be designated Class E on the SAR.
* The Natal Harbours Department places a single saddle-tank locomotive named Congella in service as harbour shunter in Durban Harbour.
* The Zululand Railway Company, contractors for the construction of the North Coast line from Verulam to the Tugela River, acquires two 2-6-0 Mogul type tender locomotives as construction engines, later to be designated Class I on the NGR.

;Transvaal
* The Imperial Military Railways places forty Cape 8th Class 4-8-0 Mastodon type steam locomotives in service. In 1912 they will be designated Class 8A on the SAR.

References

{{Africa topic, 1902 in, state=collapsed

South Africa
Years in South Africa