← 1873 1872 1871 1874 in South Africa → 1875 1876 1877
Decades:	1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s
See also:	List of years in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1874 in South Africa.

Incumbents

• Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Sir Henry Barkly.
• Lieutenant-governor of the Colony of Natal: Sir Benjamin Pine.
• State President of the Orange Free State: Jan Brand.^[1]
• State President of the South African Republic: Thomas François Burgers.^[2]
• Lieutenant-Governor of Griqualand West: Sir Richard Southey.^[3]
• Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: Sir John Molteno.

Events

May

• 27 – The first group of Dorsland Trekkers departs from Pretoria to settle in Angola, led by Gert Alberts.^[4]

Unknown date

• Work begins on the Cape Parliamentary buildings (the current South African houses of Parliament).
• The Cape Government passes legislation to begin government funding of education and colleges.^[5]
• The South African Teachers' Association is established in the Cape.
• The railway line from Port Elizabeth to Uitenhage is partially opened.
• Work is begun on the Verlatenkloof pass, connecting the town of Sutherland with the southern Cape.^[6]
• The Molteno Government of the Cape passes a parliamentary act to redraw the provincial boundaries of the Cape Colony, from two provinces (Eastern and Western Cape) to seven.
• The Molteno Regulations establish the South African public library system.^[7]
• The Burgerspond, the South African Republic's first coin, is introduced.

Births

• 4 July? – Moloko Temo, South African supercentenarian. (d. 2009)

Deaths

Railways

Locomotives

• A single 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge 0-4-0 saddle-tank locomotive is placed in railway construction service on the Midland System of the Cape Government Railways.^[8]
• A third locomotive enters service on breakwater construction work at Table Bay Harbour, a 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) Brunel gauge 0-4-0 side-tank engine built by Fletcher, Jennings & Co.^{[9]: 115–117}