1874 in South Africa

Incumbents

• Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Sir Henry Barkly.
• Lieutenant-governor of the Colony of Natal: Sir Benjamin Pine.
• State President of the Orange Free State: Jan Brand.
• State President of the South African Republic: Thomas François Burgers.
• Lieutenant-Governor of Griqualand West: Sir Richard Southey.
• Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: Sir John Molteno.

  Events

• 27 - The first group of Dorsland Trekkers departs from Pretoria to settle in Angola, led by Gert Alberts.

• Work begins on the Cape Parliamentary buildings.
• The Cape Government passes legislation to begin government funding of education and colleges.
• The South African Teachers' Association is established in the Cape.
• The railway line from Port Elizabeth to Uitenhage is partially opened.
• Work is begun on the Verlatenkloof pass, connecting the town of Sutherland with the southern Cape.
• The Molteno Government of the Cape passes a parliamentary act to redraw the provincial boundaries of the Cape Colony, from two provinces to seven.
• The Molteno Regulations establish the South African public library system.
• The Burgerspond, the South African Republic's first coin, is introduced.

  Births

• 4 July? - Moloko Temo, South African supercentenarian.

  Deaths

Railways

Locomotives

• A single 0-4-0 saddle-tank locomotive is placed in railway construction service on the Midland System of the Cape Government Railways.
• A third locomotive enters service on breakwater construction work at Table Bay Harbour, a Brunel gauge side-tank engine built by Fletcher, Jennings & Co..