1939 in South Africa

[[Image:Flag of South Africa 1928-1994.svg|border|35px|alt=	link=Union ofSouth Africa]]	1939 in South Africa	[[Image:Flag of South Africa 1928-1994.svg|border|35px|alt=	link=Union ofSouth Africa]]
1936 1937 1938 « 1939 » 1940 1941 1942
List of years in South Africa

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.^[1]

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.

Railways

Locomotives

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

• A single Class DS AEG shunting engine enters service at the Congella yards near Durban.^[2]
• A second shunting locomotive, the Class DS1, enters SAR service while another is delivered to the Electricity Supply Commission.^{[2]:136–137}
• 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.^{[2]:122[3][4]:124–125}

References

1. University of Pretoria Historical Overview Retrieved 1 October 2010
2. Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. ISBN 0869772112.^:136–137
3. Railway History Group of Southern Africa, Bulletin no. 114, January 2013: Notes on Cape Town Harbour Extension Contracts, by John Middleton
4. Holland, D.F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways, Volume 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.