1918 in South Africa
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Incumbents
Events
- An estimated 50 people die in the 1918 flu pandemic in South Africa, the fifth hardest hit country in the world.[2]
- January
- 8 â The Koöperatiewe Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Zuid-Afrika (KWV) is founded in Paarl.
- April
- 2 â Victoria College becomes the Stellenbosch University.
- May
- 14 â The Three Minute Pause, initiated by the daily firing of the Noon Gun on Signal Hill, is instituted by Cape Town Mayor Sir Harry Hands.[3]
- June
- 4 â RMS Kenilworth Castle, one of the Union-Castle Line steamships, collides with her escort destroyer HMS Rival while trying to avoid her other escort, the cruiser HMS Kent.
- 5 â The Afrikaner Broederbond, a confidential cultural organisation, is founded in Johannesburg.
- November
- 14 â German East African troops are informed of the armistice on 11 November.
- 25 â General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, commander of German forces in the German East Africa campaign, signs a ceasefire at Abercorn in Northern Rhodesia.
Births
- 14 January (in Mozambique) â Dimitri Tsafendas, assassin (d. 1999)[4]
- 21 January â Frederick Guy Butler, poet, academic and writer. (d. 2001)
- 1 July â Ahmed Deedat, Sunni Muslim missionary. (d. 2005)
- 13 July â Larry Taylor, actor. (d. 2003)
- 16 July â John (Jack) Frost, Second World War fighter pilot. (d. MIA 1942)
- 18 July â Nelson Mandela, activist and President of South Africa. (d. 2013)
- 27 August â Alina Lekgetha, nurse, chairman of South African Nursing Association and politician. (d. 1992)
Deaths
- 5 December â Schalk Willem Burger, Boer officer, lawyer, politician and statesman. (b. 1852)
Railways
Railway lines opened
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Locomotives
- Three new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR):