1919 in South Africa

• Monarch: King George V.
• Governor-General and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: The Viscount Buxton.^[1]
• Prime Minister:
  • Louis Botha (until 27 August).
  • Jan Smuts (from 3 September).
• Chief Justice: James Rose Innes

April

• 23 – The Potchefstroom Teachers' College opens.

August

• 27 – Prime Minister Louis Botha dies in office.

September

• 3 – Jan Smuts becomes the 2nd Prime Minister of South Africa.
• 17 – German South West Africa is placed under South African administration.

November

• 7 – Inspired by Cape Town's daily Noon Gun Three Minute Pause, King George V institutes the Two Minute Silence following a suggestion by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, to be observed annually at the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month.^[2]
• 7 – The first Remembrance Day is observed in the British Empire with a two-minute silence at 11:00 hours.^[2]

• 1 January – Eustace Fannin, tennis player
• 3 March – Peter Abrahams, South African-born Jamaican novelist and journalist. (d. 2017)
• 8 December – Mary Benson, activist and author. (d. 2000)

• 19 March – Jack Hindon, Boer soldier. (b. 1874)
• 27 August – Louis Botha, Boer general, statesman, first Prime Minister. (b. 1862)

Railway lines opened

• 9 January – Natal – Deviation from Umlaas Road to Pentrich, 19 miles 19 chains (31.0 kilometres).^[3]

Locomotives

Two new Cape gauge and one narrow gauge locomotive types enter service on the South African Railways (SAR):

• The first of sixty-seven Class 12A 4-8-2 Mountain type locomotives.^[4]
• The first ten Class 16C 4-6-2 Pacific type passenger steam locomotives.^[5]
• Three Class NG G11 2-6-0+0-6-2 Garratt locomotives on the Avontuur narrow gauge line through the Langkloof, the first Garratt locomotives to enter service in South Africa.^[4][5]