First Tramway Company in Cape Town commences operations, with a horse

Public transport in South Africa commenced in Cape Town in May 1801, when a weekly coach service from Cape Town to Simon's Town was announced. Many years later in September 1862, the 'Cape Town and Green Point Tramway Company' was formed, and began operations on 1 April 1863, with a horse-drawn service running on rails from the foot of Adderley Street and out along Somerset Road to Green Point. Both single- and double-decker horse-drawn trams were used. In 1879, the Cape Town City Council authorised a second tramways company, the 'City Tramways Company Limited', to operate a similar horse-drawn service, initially out to Green Point and Sea Point, and later to the Gardens and the southern suburbs. Later, tram services also existed in Johannesburg, where the suburban railway to Boksburg (opened in 1890) was called the Rand Tram. Tram services also existed in Pretoria and Durban, but were all replaced by petrol, diesel and trolley bus systems by the early 1960s. In 1985 a tram service was reintroduced in Kimberley as a heritage system.