← 1836 1835 1834 1837 in South Africa → 1838 1839 1840
Decades:	1810s 1820s 1830s 1840s 1850s
See also:	List of years in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1837 in South Africa.

Events

• Voortrekker Louis Trichardt arrives in Lourenço Marques, Mozambique
• Separate administrative districts are granted to Port Elizabeth, Cradock and Colesberg
• 17 January Voortrekkers under Andries Potgieter, Piet Uys and Gerrit Maritz, helped by Rolong and Griqua tribes, defeat Ndebele at Mosega
• 2 February - Voortrekker leader Piet Retief publishes his Manifesto which sets out the reasons the Voortrekkers are leaving the Cape Colony
• 28 March - Piet Retief and his followers leave the Cape Colony
• 23 April - Piet Retief orders Erasmus Smit to be ordained as a minister of the Voortrekkers, but meets with opposition because they consider him as being too old and sickly at 59
• October - The voortrekkers under the leadership of Piet Retief arrived in Natal over the Drakensberg mountains after trekking overland from the Cape Colony during the Great Trek.