1938 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1938 in South Africa.

← 1937 1936 1935 1938 in South Africa → 1939 1940 1941
Decades:	1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s
See also:	List of years in South Africa

Incumbents

• Monarch: King George VI.
• Governor-General and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Sir Patrick Duncan
• Prime Minister: James Barry Munnik Hertzog.
• Chief Justice: John Stephen Curlewis then James Stratford.

Events

July

• 1 – The South African Press Association is established with offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Bloemfontein and Pretoria.

December

• 16 – The cornerstone of the Voortrekker Monument is laid.
• 23 – A coelacanth, a fish thought to have gone extinct prehistorically, is caught off the east coast near Chalumna River mouth.

Unknown date

• A contract is awarded to the Hollandse Anneming Maatschappij Eiendoms Beperk to construct a new Table Bay harbour in Cape Town by reclaiming ground on the Foreshore and building new and deeper docks.[1][2]

Births

• 17 January – Percy Qoboza, journalist, author and critic of the Nationalist government, in Sophiatown. (d. 1988)
• 5 June – David Nthubu Koloane, artist, in Alexandra.
• 4 July – Cyril Mitchley, South African cricketer, umpire and match referee.
• 4 July – Ernie Pieterse, South African racing driver.
• 12 November – Steve Tshwete, activist and politician, in Springs. (d. 2002)
• 18 November – Zanele Dlamini Mbeki, former First Lady of South Africa as the wife of former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki, founder of Women's Development Bank

Railways

Class 15F

Class GM

Railway lines opened

• 6 November – Transvaal – Midway to Bank, 21 miles 2 chains (33.8 kilometres).[3]

Locomotives

• Three new locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR):
  • The first of the Class 15F 4-8-2 Mountain type, at 255 the most numerous steam locomotive class on the South African Railways (SAR).[4]
  • One hundred and thirty-six Class 23 locomotives enter service, the last and the largest 4-8-2 Mountain type locomotive to be designed by the SAR.[1][2][4][5]
  • The first of sixteen Class GM 4-8-2+2-8-4 Double Mountain type Garratt articulated steam locomotives.[1][2][6]

References

1. Holland, D. F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. pp. 96–100, 124–125. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
2. Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 75–76, 94–95, 122. ISBN 0869772112.
3. Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 191, ref. no. 200954-13
4. Durrant, A. E. (1989). Twilight of South African Steam (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, London: David & Charles. pp. 90–91, 105. ISBN 0715386387.
5. Touwsrivier – Daos Ab – 1877-1977 (J.H. Stassen, 1977), pp79, 83-85
6. Hamilton, Gavin N., The Garratt Locomotive - Garratt Locomotives produced by Beyer, Peacock, retrieved 10 November 2012