1875 in South Africa

New lines

• Construction begins on the Swartkops-Alicedale line.^[2][4]

Railway lines opened

• 11 May – Cape Western – Cape Town Docks to junction with mainline, 7 miles 1 chain (11.3 kilometres).^[4]
• 26 July – Cape Midland – Port Elizabeth to Addo, 31 miles 55 chains (51.0 kilometres).^[5]
• 22 September – Cape Midland – Swartkops to Uitenhage, 13 miles 46 chains (21.8 kilometres).^[5]
• 3 November – Cape Western – Wellington to Ceres Road, 39 miles 50 chains (63.8 kilometres).^[5]

Locomotives

Three new 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the Cape Government Railways (CGR):

• The first eight of twenty-seven 2nd Class 2-6-2 tank-and-tender locomotives on all three newly established regional systems, the Eastern System from East London, the Midland System from Port Elizabeth and the Western System from Cape Town.^{[2][6]: 23–25 [7]}
• Three 1st Class 0-4-0 saddle-tank locomotives on the Midland and Eastern Systems.^{[7][8]: 118–119 [9]}
• The first seven of eleven 1st Class 4-4-0 tank locomotives on the Western and Midland systems.^{[6]: 25–26, 76–77 [7]}