← 1903 1902 1901 1904 in South Africa → 1905 1906 1907
Decades:	1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s
See also:	List of years in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during1904 in South Africa.

• Governor of the Cape of Good Hope andHigh Commissioner for Southern Africa:Walter Hely-Hutchinson.
• Governor of the Colony of Natal:Henry Edward McCallum.
• Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope:John Gordon Sprigg (until 22 February),Leander Starr Jameson (starting 22 February).
• Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony: Alfred Milner.
• Prime Minister of the Colony of Natal:George Morris Sutton.

• Pneumonic plague breaks out inJohannesburg.

• 22 – The first of 62,000Chinese labourers arrive in South Africa to relieve the shortage of unskilled mine workers.

• Der shtral, a Yiddish-language newspaper is founded.^[1]
• The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) is established inCape Town.

• 16 February –Philip Rabinowitz, South African record-breaking sprinter (d. 2008)

• 3 June –Vincent Tancred, South African cricketer (b. 1875)^[2]
• 14 July –Paul Kruger, exiled president of theSouth African Republic, dies inClarens, Switzerland, at the age of 78.^[3][4][5]
• 1 November –Willem Eduard Bok, politician (b. 1846)

• 1 February – Cape Western –Maitland toOttery, 7 miles (11.3 kilometres).^[6]
• 1 March – Cape Midland – Le Roux toOudtshoorn, 16 miles 41 chains (26.6 kilometres).^[7]
• 7 June – Cape Western –Paarl toFranschhoek, 17 miles 10 chains (27.6 kilometres).^[7]
• 15 June – Free State –Thaba 'Nchu toModderpoort, 45 miles 73 chains (73.9 kilometres).^[6]
• 17 August – Cape Eastern –Indwe toXalanga, 31 miles 3 chains (50.0 kilometres).^[7]
• 1 September – Free State –Hamilton toTempe, 4 miles (6.4 kilometres).^[6]
• 7 September – Cape Eastern – Amabele toKomga, 27 miles (43.5 kilometres).^[7]
• 17 October – Cape Eastern –Middledrift toAdelaide, 56 miles 64 chains (91.4 kilometres).^[7]
• 3 November – Natal –Pietermaritzburg to Elandskop, 35 miles 39 chains (57.1 kilometres).^[6]
• December – Cape Western – Artois toCeres Road, 4 miles 38 chains (7.2 kilometres).^[6]
• 15 December – Transvaal – Langlaagte toVereeniging, 44 miles 56 chains (71.9 kilometres).^[6]

Cape

• Four new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on theCape Government Railways (CGR):
  • Two experimental superheated 6th Class4-6-0 locomotives. In 1912 they will be designatedClass 6L by the South African Railways (SAR).^[8][9]
  • Four Karoo Class4-6-2 Pacific passengersteam locomotives. In 1912 they will be designatedClass 5B by the SAR.^[8][9]
  • The last eight 8th Class2-8-0 Consolidation type locomotives. In 1912 they will be designatedClass 8Z on the SAR.^[8][10]
  • The final batch of ten 8th Class4-8-0 Mastodon type locomotives. In 1912 they will be designatedClass 8F on the SAR.^[8][9]
• Six"Type B"4-6-0 steam locomotives enter service on theAvontuurnarrow gauge line in theLangkloof.^[9]
• A single0-4-2 inverted saddle-tank locomotive namedCaledonia is placed in service by the Cape Copper Company as a shunting engine atO'okiep in the Cape Colony.^[11]

Natal

• Two new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on theNatal Government Railways (NGR):
  • Twenty-five Class E4-8-2 Mountain type tank locomotives. In 1912 they will become theClass G on the SAR.^[8][12]
  • Fifty Class B4-8-0 Mastodon type mainline steam locomotives. In 1912 they will be designatedClass 1 on the SAR.^[8][9]
• The Natal Harbours Department places a single0-6-0 saddle-tank locomotive namedSir Albert in service as dock shunter in Durban Harbour.^[13]

Transvaal

• Five new Cape gauge locomotive types enter service on theCentral South African Railways (CSAR):
  • FiveClass 94-6-2 Pacific type locomotives.^[9]
  • FifteenClass 104-6-2 Pacific passenger locomotives.^[9]
  • Thirty-sixClass 112-8-2 Mikado type locomotives.^[9]
  • EightClass F4-6-4T Baltic type tank locomotives in suburban service betweenSprings andRandfontein.^[8]
  • A single experimental0-6-0+0-6-0Class M Kitson-Meyer type articulatedsteam locomotive.^[9][13]
• The CSAR rebuilds most of its Reid Tenwheeler4-10-2T tank locomotives to4-8-0TT tank-and-tender locomotives. In 1912 these converted locomotives will be designatedClass 13 on the SAR.^[9]

• 1904 in South Africa
• 1904 by country
• Years in South Africa

• CS1: long volume value
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from January 2024
• Use South African English from November 2013
• All Wikipedia articles written in South African English