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The following lists events that happened during 1919 in South Africa.

Incumbents

  • Monarch: King George V.
  • Governor-General and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: The Viscount Buxton.
  • Prime Minister:
  • Louis Botha (until 27 August).
  • Jan Smuts (from 3 September).
  • Chief Justice: James Rose Innes

Events

;April

  • 23 &ndash; The Potchefstroom Teachers' College opens.

;August

  • 27 &ndash; Prime Minister Louis Botha dies in office.

;September

  • 3 &ndash; Jan Smuts becomes the 2nd Prime Minister of South Africa.
  • 17 &ndash; German South West Africa is placed under South African administration.

;November

  • 7 &ndash; Inspired by Cape Town's daily Noon Gun Three Minute Pause, King George V institutes the Two Minute Silence following a suggestion by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, to be observed annually at the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month.
  • 7 &ndash; The first Remembrance Day is observed in the British Empire with a two-minute silence at 11:00 hours.

Locomotives

Two new Cape gauge and one narrow gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR):

  • The first of sixty-seven South African Class 12A 4-8-2| 4-8-2 Mountain type locomotives.
  • The first ten Class 16C 4-6-2 Pacific type passenger steam locomotives.
  • Three Class NG G11 2-6-0+0-6-2 Garratt locomotives on the Avontuur narrow gauge line through the Langkloof, the first Garratt locomotives to enter service in South Africa.