1896 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1896 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: Charles Bullen Hugh Mitchell.
State President of the Orange Free State: Pieter Jeremias Blignaut (until 4 March), Martinus Theunis Steyn (starting 4 March).
State President of the South African Republic: Paul Kruger.
Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: Cecil John Rhodes (until 13 January), John Gordon Sprigg (starting 13 January).
Prime Minister of the Colony of Natal: .

;January

2 – Leander Starr Jameson and his forces surrender at Doornkop near Krugersdorp.
6 – Cecil Rhodes is forced to resign as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony for his involvement in the Jameson Raid.

;February

19 – A train carrying 56 tons of dynamite explodes at Braamfontein, Johannesburg, killing more than 78 people.

;May

13 – The Franchise Bill is passed by Natal's Legislative Assembly, disfranchising natives of other countries.

;June

5 – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi embarks from Durban for Calcutta en route to Bombay.

;August

6 – Cape Town's first electric tram service begins operation along Adderley Street to Mowbray Hill.

;December

18 – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi arrives back in Durban with his wife and two sons, but the ship is placed under a 5-day quarantine because Bombay was declared a plague-infected port. Quarantine will later be extended to 13 January 1897.

;Unknown date

South Africa's first school of mines is opened in Kimberley. It will later form the core of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

1 February – Stephanus Le Roux Marais, organist, teacher and composer of Afrikaans songs, is born in the district of Bloemfontein.
1 February – Ivan Mitford-Barberton, art teacher at the Michaelis School of Art in Cape Town and sculptor of several monuments in South Africa, is born in Somerset East.
April – Clements Kadalie, trade unionist, is born at Chifira, Nkhata Bay District, Nyasaland (now Malawi).
3 May – Petrus Johannes Lemmer, composer of Afrikaans songs, is born in Hartbeesfontein, Transvaal.
27 October – Edith Haisman, RMS Titanic survivor, is born in Worcester, Cape Colony (d. 1997)

17 September – Nicholaas Waterboer, Griqua chief and eldest son of Andries Waterboer, dies in Griekwastad.