1959 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1959 in South Africa.

Incumbents

• Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II.
• Governor-General:
  • until 25 November: Ernest George Jansen.
  • 25 November – 11 December: Lucas Cornelius Steyn.
  • starting 11 December: Charles Robberts Swart.
• Prime Minister: Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd.
• Chief Justice: Henry Allan Fagan then Lucas Cornelius Steyn.

Events

April

• 5 – The Pan-Africanist Congress led by Robert Sobukwe secedes from the African National Congress.

July

• 9 – Wing Commander Michael Beetham flying a Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant sets a record of 11 hours 27 minutes for a non-stop London-Cape Town flight.

August

• 11 – Members of the United Party led by Helen Suzman secede and form the Progressive Party.

December

• 1 – Twelve countries, including South Africa, the United States and the Soviet Union, sign the Antarctic Treaty.
• 11 – Charles Robberts Swart is appointed the 11th Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.
• 12 – The 47th Annual Conference of the African National Congress takes place in Durban.

Unknown date

• Papwa Sewgolum, a South African Indian golfer, wins the Dutch Open tournament.

Births

• 1 January – Thulas Nxesi, national minister
• 7 January – Peter Mokaba, member of the South African parliament, deputy minister in the government of Nelson Mandela (d. 2002)
• 14 March – Tertius Bosch, cricketer.
• 16 March – Tito Mboweni, politician.
• 16 September – Dave Richardson (cricketer), cricketer.
• 18 November – Christine Barkhuizen le Roux, writer (d. 2020)

Deaths

• April 15 – Leonard Beyers, South African army general (b. 1894)
• February 7 – D. F. Malan, South African politician, 4th Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1874)
• April 15 – Leonard Beyers, South African army general (b. 1894)

Railways

Locomotives

Three new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways.

• May–July – Seven Class 1-DH Henschel type DH 1420 diesel-hydraulic locomotives.
• November – The first of 115 Class 32-000 General Electric type U18C1 diesel-electric locomotives in South West Africa.
• The first of 135 Class 5E1, Series 1 electric locomotives, an upgraded and more powerful version of the Class 5E.

References