1886 in South Africa

Decades:	1860s ; 1870s ; 1880s ; 1890s ; 1900s ;
See also:	List of years in South Africa ;

Last updated March 20, 2019

The following lists events that happened during 1886 in South Africa .

1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 1886th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 886th year of the 2nd millennium, the 86th year of the 19th century, and the 7th year of the 1880s decade. As of the start of 1886, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 57 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European (White), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.

Incumbents

Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Hercules Robinson.
Governor of the Colony of Natal: Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer.
State President of the Orange Free State: Jan Brand.
State President of the South African Republic: Paul Kruger.
Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: Thomas Upington (until November 24), John Gordon Sprigg (starting November 24).

The British office of high commissioner for Southern Africa was responsible for governing British possessions in Southern Africa, latterly the protectorates Basutoland, the Bechuanaland Protectorate and Swaziland, as well as for relations with autonomous governments in the area.

Sir Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer,, the nephew of Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer and brother to Edward Earle Gascoyne Bulwer, was a British colonial administrator and diplomat.

This is a list of State Presidents of the Orange Free State.

Events

September

The main gold reef on the Witwatersrand is discovered, giving birth to Ferreira's Camp, later to be named Johannesburg.

Gold Chemical element with atomic number 79

Gold is a chemical element with symbol Au and atomic number 79, making it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. In its purest form, it is a bright, slightly reddish yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions. Gold often occurs in free elemental (native) form, as nuggets or grains, in rocks, in veins, and in alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver and also naturally alloyed with copper and palladium. Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium.

The Witwatersrand is a 56-kilometre-long (35 mi), north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which account for the name Witwatersrand, meaning "ridge of white waters" in Afrikaans. This east-west-running scarp can be traced with only one short gap, from Bedfordview in the east, through Johannesburg and Roodepoort, to Krugersdorp in the west.

Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa and one of the 50 largest urban areas in the world. It is the provincial capital and largest city of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. While Johannesburg is not one of South Africa's three capital cities, it is the seat of the Constitutional Court. The city is located in the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills and is the centre of large-scale gold and diamond trade.

October

11 – The Standard Bank of South Africa opens the first bank in Ferreira's Camp.

The Standard Bank was a British overseas bank, which operated mainly in Africa from 1863 to 1969. It merged with the Chartered Bank in 1969 to form Standard Chartered.

Births

2 January – Billy Zulch, South African cricketer (d. 1924)
13 December – Henry Selby Msimang, political activist, journalist, court interpreter and lay preacher, is born in Edendale, Pietermaritzburg.

Johan Wilhelm Zulch was a South African cricketer who played 16 Tests for South Africa between 1910 and 1921.

Henry Selby Msimang was a South African political leader and activist.

A journalist is a person who collects, writes, or distributes news or other current information to the public. A journalist's work is called journalism. A journalist can work with general issues or specialize in certain issues. However, most journalists tend to specialize, and by cooperating with other journalists, produce journals that span many topics. For example, a sports journalist covers news within the world of sports, but this journalist may be a part of a newspaper that covers many different topics.

Deaths

1 September – Sir John Charles Molteno, first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.

Sir John Charles Molteno was a soldier, businessman, champion of responsible government and the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.

Railways

Railway lines opened

21 June – Natal – Estcourt to Ladysmith, 45 miles 21 chains (72.8 kilometres).^[1]

Locomotives

The first of three 0-4-0 well-tank condensing locomotives is placed in service by the Cape Copper Mining Company on its 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge Namaqualand Railway between Port Nolloth and O'okiep in the Cape Colony. They are the first condensing steam locomotives in South Africa.^[2]

References

↑ Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 182, ref. no. 200954-13
↑ Bagshawe, Peter (2012). Locomotives of the Namaqualand Railway and Copper Mines (1st ed.). Stenvalls. pp. 8–15. ISBN 978-91-7266-179-0.

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[SAR_Line_Dates_182-1] Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 182, ref. no. 200954-13

[Bagshawe-2] Bagshawe, Peter (2012). Locomotives of the Namaqualand Railway and Copper Mines (1st ed.). Stenvalls. pp. 8–15. ISBN 978-91-7266-179-0.

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