The following lists events that happened during 1908 in South Africa.
Incumbents Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa:Walter Hely-Hutchinson. Governor of the Colony of Natal: Matthew Nathan. Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: Leander Starr Jameson. Prime Minister of the Colony of Natal: Frederick Robert Moor. Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony: Hamilton John Goold-Adams. Prime Minister of the Transvaal Colony: Louis Botha.
Events January 30 – Mahatma Gandhi is released from prison by Jan Smuts after having been tried and sentenced to 2 months in prison earlier in the month.
March 4 – The Pretoria branch of the Transvaal University College, precursor to the University of Pretoria, is established.
October 7 – Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in Volksrust, along with fifteen other Indians, for entering Transvaal without registration certificates and is sentenced to two months imprisonment with hard labor.
November 16 – Devastating flooding in Port Elizabeth
Unknown date Bosman de Ravelli composes the first Afrikaans art song
Births 5 March – Arthur Wegelin, composer. 23 April – Bram Fischer, lawyer and champion against apartheid, is born in the Orange River Colony. (d. 1975) 2 July – Andries Johannes Bester de Klerk, writer and secretary of the Cape Province, is born in Williston, Cape Colony 10 July – Wally Hayward, South African athlete (d. 2006) Railways Railway lines opened
4 January – Cape Eastern – West Bank, Buffalo Harbour to Chiselhurst, .Report for year ending 31 December 1909, Cape Government Railways, Section VIII - Dates of Opening and the Length of the different Sections in the Cape Colony, from the Year 1873 to 31st December, 1909. 6 February – Transvaal – Machadodorp to Breyten, .Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 186, ref. no. 200954-13 8 April – Free State – Hamilton to Beaconsfield (Cape), . 28 May – Cape Western – Milnerton to Ascot, . 3 June – Natal – Esperanza to Donnybrook (Narrow gauge), .
Locomotives The Cape Government Railways places two 4-6-2 Pacific type narrow gauge tank steam locomotives in passenger service on the Walmer branch in Port Elizabeth.
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