1937 in South Africa

List of events

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1937
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South Africa

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Decades:

Incumbents

Monarch: King George VI.
Governor-General:
- The Earl of Clarendon (until 19 March),
- John Stephen Curlewis (acting, 19 March to 5 April)
- Sir Patrick Duncan (starting 5 April).
Prime Minister: James Barry Munnik Hertzog.
Chief Justice: John Stephen Curlewis.

1 – The Aliens Act No. 1 is promulgated, restricting and regulating the entry of certain aliens into the Union of South Africa and regulating the right of any person to assume a surname.

5 – Sir Patrick Duncan is appointed the 6th Governor-General of the Union of South Africa, the first South African to hold the position.

Eric Bhamuza Sono, captain of Orlando Pirates F.C. and was the father of soccer player & coach Jomo Sono (d. 1964)
29 March – Marike de Klerk, politician, First Lady of South Africa, as the wife of State President Frederik Willem de Klerk, from 1989-1994
5 May – Ray Ntlokwana, actor, affectionately known as "Velaphi" following his lead role in the SABC Xhosa play, Velaphi
1 July – Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, political activist (d. 2021)
4 July – Clive Scott (actor), actor
6 July – Bessie Head, writer (d. 1986)
18 September – Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, politician, in Kroonstad. (d. 2009)
19 October – Jonas Gwangwa, jazz musician, songwriter and producer

Four new locomotive types, three steam and one electric, enter service on the South African Railways (SAR):

The first of 235 Class 19D 4-8-2 Mountain type steam locomotives.^[2]^[3]^[4]
A single Class 21 2-10-4 Texas type steam locomotive.^[3]^[4]^[5]
The first of thirty-four Class NG G16 narrow gauge 2-6-2+2-6-2 Double Prairie type Garratt locomotives.^[4]^[5]
Three German-built 3 kV DC Class 2E electric locomotives.^[6]

^ "Empire Exhibition". Retrieved 5 June 2017.
^ South African Railways and Harbours Locomotive Diagram Book, 2'0" & 3'6" Gauge Steam Locomotives, 15 August 1941, as amended
^ ^a ^b Holland, D. F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. Vol. 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, England: David & Charles. pp. 73–76, 93–96. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
^ ^a ^b ^c Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 72–75, 107, 109–110. ISBN 0869772112.
^ ^a ^b Durrant, AE (1989). Twilight of South African Steam (1st ed.). Newton Abbott: David & Charles. pp. 37, 126–127. ISBN 0715386387.
^ South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives, 2'0" & 3'6" Gauge, circa 1940, as amended

v t e 1937 in Africa
Sovereign states	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
States with limited recognition	Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Somaliland
Dependencies and other territories	Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla (Spain) Madeira (Portugal) Mayotte / Réunion (France) Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)