1958 in South Africa

Events

April

• 16 – The last general election of the Union of South Africa takes place.

May

• 6 – Margaret Rheeder is hanged in Pretoria for poisoning her husband, Benjamin Fredenman.

September

• 2 – Hendrik Verwoerd becomes the 6th Prime Minister of South Africa.

October

• 13 – Penny Coelen is crowned as Miss World 1958 during the 8th Miss World pageant, the first South African to win the title.

December

• 12–14 – The 46th Annual Conference of the African National Congress is held in Durban.

Births

• 30 April – Mbhazima Shilowa, trade unionist and politician.
• 27 May – Cheryl Carolus, activist and politician.
• 28 July – Deon van der Walt, tenor. (d. 2005)

Deaths

• 2 May – Henry Cornelius, film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. (b. 1913)

Railways

Class 1-DE (GE U12B)

Locomotives

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

• The first of fifty-five Class 5E, Series 3 electric locomotives.^[1]
• In June and July forty-five Class 1-DE General Electric type U12B locomotives are the first diesel-electrics to enter SAR service in quantity.^[1]

References