1955 in South Africa

Events

January

• Mimi Coertse makes her debut as the First Flower girl in Parsifal at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, with Karl Böhm conducting.

March

• 4-5 – The Inaugural Conference of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) is held at the Trades Hall in Johannesburg.
• 23 – The Meadowridge garden city opens near Cape Town.
• 25 – The Appeal Court bench increases from six to eleven members.

April

• 22 – The National Tea and Coffee Company is founded.

May

• 19 – The Black Sash, a non-violent white women's resistance organization, is founded by Jean Sinclair, Ruth Folley, Elizabeth McLaren, Tertia Pybus, Jean Bosazza and Helen Newton-Thompson.

June

• 20 – The Senate is enlarged from 48 to 89 members, giving the National Party a majority of 77.
• 25 – The Congress of the People, a multi-racial convention, starts in Kliptown, Soweto.
• 30 – The United Kingdom and South Africa sign the Simonstown Agreement for bilateral naval defence.

August

• 30 – Rondalia (a tourist club) is founded.

December

• 1 – The Voortrekker Covenant celebrations are held in Pietermaritzburg.
• 17-18 – The African National Congress' 44th Annual Conference is held in Bloemfontein.
• 18 – Lillian Masediba Ngoyi becomes a member of the Transvaal African National Congress' executive.

Births

• 20 June – Dumisani Abraham Mabaso, artist, is born in Soweto.
• 4 August – Gerhardus Christian Coetzee, the World Boxing Association heavyweight boxing champion, is born in Boksburg.
• 23 September – Lulama Xingwana, politician.
• 11 October – Anthony Molebatsi Nkotsi, artist, is born in Johannesburg.
• 3 November – Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, politician.
• Mbongeni Ngema, a writer, lyricist, composer and director is born in Verulam.

Deaths

• 13 March – Benjamin Jennings Caddy, a militant trade unionist who was arrested in the 1922 miners strike and who is regarded as the doyen of the trade union movement in South Africa, dies in Johannesburg.

Railways

Locomotives

• The South African Railways places the first of sixty Class 5E, Series 1 electric locomotives in mainline service. Designed by English Electric and built by Vulcan Foundry, it is the prototype of what would eventually become the most prolific locomotive type to ever run on South African rails.^[1][2]

Sports

Football

The South Africa national football team tours Australia and plays five games against the Australia national association football team.

• 3 September – South Africa wins 3-0 at the Brisbane Cricket Grounds, Australia.
• 10 September – South Africa wins 2-0 at the Olympic Park, Melbourne, Australia.
• 18 September – South Africa wins 8-0 at the Kensington Oval, Adelaide, Australia.
• 24 September – South Africa wins 6-0 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia.
• 1 October – South Africa wins 4-1 at the Newcastle's Sports Grounds, Australia.

References