1924 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1924 in South Africa.

← 1923 1922 1921 1924 in South Africa → 1925 1926 1927
Decades:	1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s
See also:	List of years in South Africa

Incumbents

• Monarch: King George V.
• Governor-General and High Commissioner for Southern Africa:
  • Prince Arthur of Connaught (until 20 January).
  • The Earl of Athlone (from 21 January).
• Prime Minister:
  • Jan Smuts (until 29 June).
  • J.B.M. Hertzog (from 30 June).
• Chief Justice: James Rose Innes.

Events

January

• 21 – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone is appointed the 4th Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.

March

• 5 – The first one-day flight between Cape Town and Pretoria takes place.

June

• 30 – J.B.M. Hertzog becomes the third Prime Minister of South Africa.

Unknown date

• The Taung Child is discovered.

Births

• 23 February – Allan Cormack, South African-American physicist and 1979 Nobel Prize laureate. (d. 1998)
• 14 July – Stephen Fry, Springbok rugby captain. (d. 2002)
• 26 July – Elias Motsoaledi, political activist. (d. 1994)
• 8 September – Hazel Brooks, actress (d. 2002)
• 28 November – Dennis Brutus, poet and anti-apartheid activist. (d. 2009)
• 5 December – Robert Sobukwe, anti-apartheid activist. (d. 1978)

Railways

Railway lines opened

Class GC

Class ES1

• 16 April – Free State – Wepener to Zastron, 46 miles 62 chains (75.3 kilometres).
• 19 April – Cape – Klipdale to Bredasdorp, 25 miles 36 chains (41.0 kilometres).
• 1 May – Transvaal – Balfour North to Grootvlei, 11 miles 30 chains (18.3 kilometres).
• 16 June – Cape – Pinelands to Langa, 2 miles 51 chains (4.2 kilometres).
• 24 July – Free State – Heilbron to Petrus Steyn, 31 miles 6 chains (50.0 kilometres).
• 10 September – Transvaal – Lydenburg to Steelpoort, 74 miles 40 chains (119.9 kilometres).
• 19 September – South West Africa – Gobabis Junction in Windhoek to Ondekaremba, 29 miles 70 chains (48.1 kilometres).
• 22 September – Transvaal – Naboomspruit to Singlewood, 20 miles 47 chains (33.1 kilometres).
• 3 November – Cape – Franklin to Kokstad, 25 miles 54 chains (41.3 kilometres).
• 4 November – Cape – Franklin to Matatiele, 47 miles 76 chains (77.2 kilometres).
• 14 November – Cape – Oudtshoorn to Calitzdorp, 35 miles 20 chains (56.7 kilometres).
• 15 December – Cape – Touws River to Kareevlakte, 41 miles 59 chains (67.2 kilometres).
• 15 December – Transvaal – Hercules to Schoemansville, 17 miles 64 chains (28.6 kilometres).

Locomotives

• The first of six Class GC branchline 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garratt articulated locomotives.
• A single Class ES1 battery-powered shunting locomotive at the construction site of the Colenso power station.