1925 in South Africa

	1925 in South Africa
1922 1923 1924 « 1925 » 1926 1927 1928
List of years in South Africa

Events

May

• 1 – The Prince of Wales arrives in Cape Town on a visit to South Africa.

July

• 23 – Daniel François Malan, Minister of the Interior, introduces the Areas Reservation and Immigration and Registration Bill also known as the Asiatic Bill.^[1]

Augustus

• 1 – The New Cape Central Railway and its 204 miles 69 chains (329.7 kilometres) long line between Worcester and Voorbaai is taken over by the South African Railways (SAR).^[2]

Unknown date

• Afrikaans officially replaces Dutch as the second language after English.
• The manor house of Groot Constantia is gutted by a fire.
• The University of Pretoria starts the tradition of Jool in South Africa.^[3]

Births

• 14 April – Colin Wells Eglin, founding member and leader of the Progressive Federal Party, is born in Sea Point, Cape Town. (d. 2013)^[4]
• 30 April – Dot Serfontein, author and mother of poet Antjie Krog, is born.
• 4 May – Heloise Ruth First, journalist, academic and activist, is born in Johannesburg.

Deaths

• 9 January – Willem Johannes Conradie, minister of the Dutch Reformed Church and author of the first children's bible in Afrikaans, dies in Stellenbosch.
• 30 August – Cathcart William Methven, harbour engineer and painter, dies in Pietermaritzburg.

Railways

Railway lines opened

• 21 January – Transvaal – Rustenburg to Boshoek, 15 miles 17 chains (24.5 kilometres).^[2]
• 26 May – Transvaal – Magaliesburg to Schoemansville, 33 miles 20 chains (53.5 kilometres).^[2]
• 26 June – Natal – Eshowe to Extension, 74 chains (1.5 kilometres).^[2]
• 1 September – Transvaal – Ermelo to Lothair, 30 miles 51 chains (49.3 kilometres).^[2]
• 25 September – Transvaal – Elandshoek to Solarvale (Narrow gauge), 9 miles 40 chains (15.3 kilometres).^[2]
• 1 October – Transvaal – Nylstroom to Vaalwater, 45 miles 62 chains (73.7 kilometres).^[2]
• 14 October – Free State – Senekal to Marquard, 29 miles 78 chains (48.2 kilometres).^[2]
• 19 October – Cape – Kareevlakte to Ladismith, 46 miles 38 chains (74.8 kilometres).^[2]
• 26 November – Free State – Frankfort to Villiers, 19 miles 40 chains (31.4 kilometres).^[2]
• 1 December – Cape – Fort Beaufort to Katberg (Narrow gauge), 24 miles 36 chains (39.3 kilometres).^[2]

Locomotives

Six new Cape gauge locomotive types, five steam and one electric, enter service on the SAR:

• The first four Class GD branchline 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt articulated locomotives.^{[5]:90[6]:47–48[7]}
• The first six of eighteen Class GE 2-8-2+2-8-2 Garratt locomotives.^{[5]:91[6]:43–45[7]}
• A single Class GG 2-6-2+2-6-2 Double Prairie type Garratt on fast mainline passenger service.^{[5]:92–93[6]:47–49[7]}
• Two American-built Class 15C 4-8-2 Mountain type steam locomotives.^{[5]:61–62, 66}
• The first two of seven Class 16D 4-6-2 Pacific type passenger locomotives.^[6]:47
• The first of altogether 172 Class 1E electric locomotives, spread over seven orders, the first mainline electric locomotive to be introduced in South Africa.^[5]:125[8]

References

1. Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 6, p. 68.
2. Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 189, ref. no. 200954-13
3. Retrieved 1 April 2010
4. Stanley Uys. "Colin Eglin obituary | World news". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2013-12-09.
5. Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. ISBN 0869772112.
6. Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
7. Hamilton, Gavin N., The Garratt Locomotive - Garratt Locomotives produced by Beyer, Peacock, retrieved 10 November 2012
8. South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 610 mm and 1065 mm Gauges, Ref LXD 14/1/100/20, 28 January 1975, as amended