Puneet Varma (Editor)

1939 in South Africa

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Events

September
  • 2 – J.B.M. Hertzog puts his case to the National Assembly for South Africa to remain neutral in the Second World War, against Jan Smuts who supports a Commonwealth alliance.
  • 4 – Jan Smuts becomes the 4th Prime Minister of South Africa for the second time.
  • 5 – The National Assembly votes on a motion whether or not to join the war and Jan Smuts wins by 13 votes.
  • 6 – The Union of South Africa declares war on Germany.
    • Unknown date
  • The University of Pretoria's official university newspaper, Die Perdeby, is established.

    • Births

  • 26 June – Philip Swiegers.
  • 18 March – Dr. John W. de Gruchy.

    • Deaths

  • 16 October – Charlotte Maxeke, religious leader and political activist, dies in Johannesburg at the age of 65.

    • Locomotives

    The first two diesel-electric locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR):

    Contents

  • A single Class DS AEG shunting engine enters service at the Congella yards near Durban.
  • A second shunting locomotive, the Class DS1, enters SAR service while another is delivered to the Electricity Supply Commission.
  • The Hollandse Anneming Maatschappij, constructors of a new Table Bay harbour, imports a small Orenstein & Koppel 0-4-0 tank locomotive as on-site construction engine.

    • References

    1939 in South Africa Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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