1908 in South Africa

Incumbents

• Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa:Walter Hely-Hutchinson.
• Governor of the Colony of Natal: Matthew Nathan.
• Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: Leander Starr Jameson.
• Prime Minister of the Colony of Natal: Frederick Robert Moor.
• Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony: Hamilton John Goold-Adams.
• Prime Minister of the Transvaal Colony: Louis Botha.

  Events

• 30 - Mahatma Gandhi is released from prison by Jan Smuts after having been tried and sentenced to 2 months in prison earlier in the month.

• 4 - The Pretoria branch of the Transvaal University College, precursor to the University of Pretoria, is established.

• 7 - Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in Volksrust, along with fifteen other Indians, for entering Transvaal without registration certificates and is sentenced to two months imprisonment with hard labor.

• Bosman de Ravelli composes the first Afrikaans art song

  Births

• 5 March - Arthur Wegelin, composer.
• 23 April - Bram Fischer, lawyer and champion against apartheid, is born in the Orange Free State.
• 2 July - Andries Johannes Bester de Klerk, writer and secretary of the Cape Province, is born in Williston, Cape Colony

  Deaths

Railways

Railway lines opened

• 4 January - Cape Eastern - West Bank, Buffalo Harbour to Chiselhurst,.
• 6 February - Transvaal - Machadodorp to Breyten,.
• 8 April - Free State - Hamilton to Beaconsfield,.
• 28 May - Cape Western - Milnerton to Ascot,.
• 3 June - Natal - Esperanza to Donnybrook,.

  Locomotives

• The Cape Government Railways places two 4-6-2 Pacific type narrow gauge tank steam locomotives in passenger service on the Walmer branch in Port Elizabeth.