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EventCanada offers a second contingent of troops to the British in the South African War
The Canadian government offered a second contingent of troops consisting of infantry, cavalry and field artillery to bolster British troops in the South…
EventThe New Zealand Mounted Rifles leave Wellington for the South African War
The first contingent of New Zealand Mounted Rifles (NZMR) departed from Wellington aboard the SS WAIWERA ship bound for South Africa on 21 October 1899. As the…
EventThe siege of Mafeking starts
During the first week of Anglo-Boer War 2, Boer forces besieged the small town of Mafeking (now Mafikeng) in the Northern Cape (now North West Province),…
EventThe second Anglo-Boer war, also known as the South African war, breaks out
A number of interrelated factors led to the Second Anglo-Boer War. These include the conflicting political ideologies of imperialism and republicanism, the…
EventSouth African War: Thousands of Black men and women forced to walk home
With the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War (or South African War) imminent, thousands of Black men and women were left stranded in Johannesburg. The mines…
EventMary Elizabeth Barber, pioneer naturalist, dies
On 4 September 1899, an 1820 Settler and early South African naturalist, Mary Elizabeth Barber died in Malvern, Natal Province (now known as Kwazulu Natal)…
EventCape Colony Prime Minister opposes War
William Philip Screhreiner, prime minister in the Cape Colony at the start of Anglo-Boer War 2 (South African War), summarised the pssure his government has…
EventJan van Riebeeck’s statue, presented by Cecil John Rhodes, is unveiled in Cape Town
On 18 May 1899, a statue of the first European to settle at the Cape, Jan van Riebeeck, was unveiled. The statue stands on Heerengracht Street in Cape Town. It…
EventHunting is prohibited in the area that is now the Kruger National Park
On the 26 March 1898, a proclamation was published in the Official Gazette of the ZAR. This proclamation prohibited the hunting of game in the area between the…
EventWoolf Joel is killed due to his refusal to kidnap President Paul Kruger
On 14 March 1898, 34 year old Woolf Joel, Barney Barnato's nephew, was shot and killed by Baron Von Veltheim because he refused to assist in kidnapping…
EventTravelling in a cab no longer in fashion
The Star reported that travelling in a cab was falling out of favour. This trend was attributed to the changing socio-economic conditions in Johannesburg and…
EventSA artist Helen Martins is born
Helen Elizabeth Martins, artist known for her queer sculptures at the Owl House in the Karoo village of Nieu Bethesda, was born in Nieu Bethesda in the Eastern…
EventProf. James Smith, who identified the first coelacanth found in South Africa, is born
On 26 September 1897, Prof. James Leonard Brierly Smith was born in Graaff-Reinet in the Cape Province (now Eastern Cape). He studied chemistry at the…
EventSouth African Committee investigates the Jameson Raid report
The Jameson Raid of 1895 did tremendous harm to the relationship between the Boer Republics and the British Empire, as they viewed it as confirmation that…
EventSir Alfred Milner arrives as Governor of the Cape
The British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain, appointed Sir Alfred Milner as Governor of the Cape Colony in 1897. Milner arrived in Cape…
EventAlfred Milner becomes High Commissioner and Governor of the Cape Province
Sir Alfred Milner became High Commissioner for South Africa and Governor of the Cape Province in 1897. His efforts to gain political rights for the "Uitlanders…
EventRobert Koch announces the discovery of a rinderpest vaccine
On 10 February 1897, Robert Koch, a German bacteriologist, discovered a vaccine successful in the prevention of the animal disease, rinderpest. Robert Koch…
EventOrigin of Johannesburg’s name is explained
In reaction to an inquiry, officials in Pretoria replied that Johannesburg was named after Johann Friedrich Bernhard Rissik and Christiaan Johannes Joubert -…
EventThe first plots are sold in Mayfair on the West Rand
The Johannesburg suburb of Mayfair was laid out the farm Langlaagte No.258, the farm on which gold was discovered in the late 1800s. The mineral rights of…
EventM.T. Steyn is sworn in as president of the Orange Free State
The Republic of the Orange Free State went to elections after the resignation of President F.W. Reitz in 1895 for reasons of health. Marthinus Theunis Steyn,…
EventDynamite explosion in Braamfontein
One of the worst explosions in the history of South Africa occurred at Braamfontein station, Johannesburg, when an explosives train, carrying between 56 and 60…
EventCecil John Rhodes is forced to resign
Cecil John Rhodes, prime minister of the Cape Colony, was severely censured for his involvement in the infamous Jameson Raid and forced to resign by the…
EventJameson Raid starts
Leander Starr Jameson led a group of about six hundred men of the Mashonaland Mounted Police from Bechuanaland (now Botswana) over the border of the Zuid…
EventKing George VI is born
Albert Frederick Arthur George who later became King George IV was born at York Cottage in Norfolk on 14 December 1895. George ascended the English throne…
EventFriedrich Engels, German philosopher, dies in London
German author, political theorist and philosopher, Friedrich Engels died in London on 05 August 1895 after a long battle with a throat cancer. The son of a…
EventCharles Robberts (Blackie) Swart, first state president of South Africa, is born
Charles Robberts Swart was born on a farm in the Winburg district of the Orange Free State (OFS) on 5 December 1894. Part of his childhood was spent in a…
EventBuilding of Delagoa Bay railway line is completed
The building of the Delagoa Bay railway line to Pretoria was completed on this date. It was scheduled to be opened for traffic on 2 November 1894, however, the…
EventPolitical activist and trade unionist James La Guma is born
Political activist and trade unionist James Arnold (Jimmy) La Guma, member of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and president of the South African…
EventNatal Indian Congress is formed
The Natal Indian Congress (NIC) is formed by Mahatma Gandhi in order to fight discrimination against Indian traders in Natal. The party became the first…
EventTransvaal Republic tries Chief Malebogo
A council of war, tried Chief Malebogo for refusing to allow his people to pay hut taxes and waging war against the Transvaal Boers in defence of his autonomy…