1884 in South Africa

Decades:	1860s; 1870s; 1880s; 1890s; 1900s;
See also:	; List of years in South Africa;

The following lists events that happened during 1884 in South Africa.

Incumbents

3 – Imvo Zabantsundu (Xhosa: The Native People's Opinion of South Africa), South Africa's first newspaper by and for Black people, is founded by John Tengo Jabavu in King William's Town.^[1]
15 – The Berlin Conference commences when 14 countries (Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden-Norway, Turkey, and United States of America) meet in Berlin to each claim their part of Africa.

1 – The private Kowie Railway line between Grahamstown and Port Alfred is opened to traffic.^[2]

31 March – Cape Midland – Noupoort to De Aar, to link up with the Cape Western System, 69 miles 6 chains (111.2 kilometres).^[3]
May – Natal – Pietermaritzburg to Merrivale, 15 miles 19 chains (24.5 kilometres).^[4]
16 September – Cape Eastern – Sterkstroom to Molteno, 20 miles 69 chains (33.6 kilometres).^[3]
3 November – Cape Western – Victoria West Road to Oranjerivier, 150 miles 69 chains (242.8 kilometres).^[3]
1 December – Kowie – Port Alfred to Grahamstown, 44 miles (70.8 kilometres).^[4]

The Cape Government Railways places two experimental 3rd Class 4-4-0 tender and four experimental 4th Class 4-6-0 tank-and-tender locomotives in service, designed by the Cape Eastern System to be able to use the low-grade local coal with its high content of incombustible matter.^[5]^[6]

^ "Imvo Zabantsundu: a Brief History". National Heritage Monument of South Africa website. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
^ The South African Railways - Historical Survey. Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd., Published c. 1978, pp. 12–13.
^ ^a ^b ^c Report for year ending 31 December 1909, Cape Government Railways, Section VIII - Dates of Opening and the Length of the different Sections in the Cape Colony, from the Year 1873 to 31st December, 1909.
^ ^a ^b Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 182, ref. no. 200954-13
^ Holland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. Vol. 1: 1859–1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, England: David & Charles. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-0-7153-5382-0.
^ C.G.R. Numbering Revised, Article by Dave Littley, SA Rail May–June 1993, pp. 94–95.