1959 in South Africa
# 1959 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1959 in South Africa.

## Incumbents

* Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II.
* Governor-General:
   * until 25 November: Ernest George Jansen.
   * 25 November – 11 December: Lucas Cornelius Steyn.
   * starting 11 December: Charles Robberts Swart.
* Prime Minister: Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd.
* Chief Justice: Henry Allan Fagan then Lucas Cornelius Steyn.

## Events

### April

* 5 – The Pan-Africanist Congress led by Robert Sobukwe secedes from the African National Congress.

### July

* 9 – Wing Commander Michael Beetham flying a Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant sets a record of 11 hours 27 minutes for a non-stop London-Cape Town flight.

### August

* 11 – Members of the United Party led by Helen Suzman secede and form the Progressive Party.

### December

* 1 – Twelve countries, including South Africa, the United States and the Soviet Union, sign the Antarctic Treaty.
* 11 – Charles Robberts Swart is appointed the 11th Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.
* 12 – The 47th Annual Conference of the African National Congress takes place in Durban.

### Unknown date

* Papwa Sewgolum, a South African Indian golfer, wins the Dutch Open tournament.

## Births

* 1 January – Thulas Nxesi, national minister
* 7 January – Peter Mokaba, member of the South African parliament, deputy minister in the government of Nelson Mandela (d. 2002)
* 14 March – Tertius Bosch, cricketer.
* 16 March – Tito Mboweni, politician.
* 16 September – Dave Richardson (cricketer), cricketer.
* 18 November – Christine Barkhuizen le Roux, writer (d. 2020)

## Deaths

* April 15 – Leonard Beyers, South African army general (b. 1894)
* February 7 – D. F. Malan, South African politician, 4th Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1874)
* April 15 – Leonard Beyers, South African army general (b. 1894)

## Railways

### Locomotives

Three new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways.

* May–July – Seven Class 1-DH Henschel type DH 1420 diesel-hydraulic locomotives.
* November – The first of 115 Class 32-000 General Electric type U18C1 diesel-electric locomotives in South West Africa.
* The first of 135 Class 5E1, Series 1 electric locomotives, an upgraded and more powerful version of the Class 5E.
