← 1941 1940 1939 1942 in South Africa → 1943 1944 1945
Decades:	1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s
See also:	List of years in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1942 in South Africa.

Incumbents

• Monarch: King George VI.
• Governor-General and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Sir Patrick Duncan
• Prime Minister: Jan Christiaan Smuts.
• Chief Justice: Nicolaas Jacobus de Wet.

Events

• 5 May – 6 November – South African 7th Motorised Brigade and South African Air Force join the allied forces in Operation Ironclad to capture Madagascar.
• 29 November – Blue Star Line cargo liner MV Dunedin Star runs aground on the Skeleton Coast of South West Africa.^[1]

Births

• 12 April – Jacob Zuma, African National Congress president and 3rd President of South Africa.
• 22 May – Pallo Jordan, African National Congress politician and fake PhD.
• 24 May – Ali Bacher, cricketer and cricket administrator.
• 18 June – Thabo Mbeki, 2nd President of South Africa.
• 25 June – Joe Mafela, actor (d. 2017).
• 28 June – Chris Hani, leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe. (d. 1893)
• 30 August – John Kani, actor & playwright

Deaths

• 25 April – John Royston, soldier and farmer. (b. 1860)
• 16 June – Jack Frost, Second World War fighter pilot, is reported missing in action.^[2] (b. 1918)

Railways

Sports