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The following lists events that happened during 1875 in South Africa.
Incumbents
- Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Henry Barkly.
- Lieutenant-governor of the Colony of Natal: Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer.
- State President of the Orange Free State: Jan Brand.
- State President of the South African Republic: Thomas François Burgers.
- Lieutenant-Governor of Griqualand West: Richard Southey (until 3 August) William Owen Lanyon (until 3 August).
- Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: John Charles Molteno.
Events
;May
- John Garlick started his first store on 3 May 1875, on the corner Bree and Strand Streets, in the central business district of Cape Town. This would later become Garlicks, a nationwide chain of department stores.
;August
- 14 – The Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (Association of True Afrikaners) is formed at the home of Gideon Malherbe in Paarl.
;Unknown date
- The Black Flag Rebellion is staged by white diamond diggers at Kimberley.
- The Molteno Government begins construction of two Midland railway lines from Swartkops in Port Elizabeth and from Uitenhage.
- The Verlatenskloof pass in the Roggeveld Mountains, begun the previous year, is completed.
Births
- July 7 – Vincent Tancred, cricketer (d. 1904)
Deaths
- 19 May - Christoffel Brand, politician, (b. 1797)
Railways
New lines
- Construction begins on the Swartkops-Alicedale line.
- 26 July – Cape Midland – Port Elizabeth to Addo, .
- 22 September – Cape Midland – Swartkops to Uitenhage, .
- The first seven of eleven 1st Class 4-4-0 tank locomotives on the Western and Midland systems.