<!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive -->
<!-- IF POSSIBLE, PLEASE USE PRESENT TENSE -->
The following lists events that happened during 1883 in South Africa.
Incumbents
- Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Hercules Robinson.
- 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: Triumviate of Paul Kruger, Marthinus Wessel Pretorius and Piet Joubert (until 9 May), Paul Kruger (starting 9 May).
- Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: Thomas Charles Scanlen.
Events
;April
- 16 – Paul Kruger is re-elected president of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek.
;May
- 9 – Paul Kruger is sworn in as president of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek.
;July
- 22 – Zulu King Cetshwayo barely escapes with his life in a rebel attack.
;August
- 6 – The United States of Stellaland is established when the Republics of Stellaland and Goshen unite.
- 12 – The last Quagga in the world dies in captivity at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam, making the species extinct.
Births
- February – Z. D. Mangoaela, Basotho folklorist and writer (d. 1963)
- 6 August – Constance Georgina Adams, botanist (d. 1968)
Deaths
- 9 August – Robert Moffat, Scottish Congregationalist missionary. Died in Leigh near Tunbridge Wells, England.
Railways
Railway lines opened
thumb|[[CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0 1883|CGR 3rd Class 4-4-0]]
- 5 May – Cape Western – Muizenberg to Kalkbaai, .
- 14 May – Cape Western – Beaufort West to Victoria West Road, .