1939 in South Africa

Events

September

• 2 – J.B.M. Hertzog puts his case to the National Assembly for South Africa to remain neutral in the Second World War, against Jan Smuts who supports a Commonwealth alliance.
• 4 – Jan Smuts becomes the 4th Prime Minister of South Africa for the second time.
• 5 – The National Assembly votes on a motion whether or not to join the war and Jan Smuts wins by 13 votes.
• 6 – The Union of South Africa declares war on Germany.

Unknown date

• The University of Pretoria's official university newspaper, Die Perdeby, is established.^[1]

Births

• 26 June – Philip Swiegers.
• 18 March – Dr. John W. de Gruchy.

Deaths

• 16 October – Charlotte Maxeke, religious leader and political activist, dies in Johannesburg at the age of 65.

Railways

Locomotives

The first two diesel-electric locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR):

• A single Class DS AEG shunting engine enters service at the Congella yards near Durban.^[2]
• A second shunting locomotive, the Class DS1, enters SAR service while another is delivered to the Electricity Supply Commission.^{[2]:136–137}
• The Hollandse Anneming Maatschappij, constructors of a new Table Bay harbour, imports a small Orenstein & Koppel 0-4-0 tank locomotive as on-site construction engine.^{[2]:122[3][4]:124–125}

References