title: 1946 in South Africa
text: # 1946 in South Africa
  
  The following lists events that happened during 1946 in South Africa.
  
  ## Incumbents
  
  * Monarch: King George VI.
  * Governor-General: Gideon Brand van Zyl (starting 1 January).
  * Prime Minister: Jan Christiaan Smuts.
  * Chief Justice: Ernest Frederick Watermeyer.
  
  ## Events
  
  ### January
  
  * 1 – Gideon Brand van Zyl is appointed the 7th Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.
  
  ### March
  
  * 12 – The South African Indian Congress delegation is received by the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, in Delhi, India, and submits a petition drafted in consultation with Mohandas Gandhi.
  * 12 – The Indian Representative Act is repealed.
  * 12 – India terminates the trade agreement with South Africa.
  * 15 – The Asiatic Land Tenure Act, the "Ghetto Act", is amended to state that Indians may only live where Indians had resided in non-proclaimed areas.
  * 31 – 6,000 Indians march in Durban in protest to the Asiatic Land Tenure Act.
  
  ### April
  
  * 16 – The Eureka Diamond, the first diamond discovered in South Africa, is sold in London for £5,700.
  
  ### June
  
  * 11 – India recalls its High Commissioner from South Africa.
  * 22 – During a prayer meeting in New Delhi, India, Mahatma Gandhi calls for South Africa to stop hooliganism by whites.
  * 23 – A group of white men attack and assault a group of Indian Passive Resisters.
  
  ### July
  
  * 8 – Indian protests against government legislation lead to the arrest of hundreds of Indians.
  
  ## Births
  
  * 8 January – Whitey Basson, businessman and billionaire, former CEO of Shoprite
  * 18 January – Jakes Gerwel, academic and politician. (d. 2012)
  * 19 July – Lucas Malan, Afrikaans poet, author and academic
  * 15 September – Mike Procter, cricketer
  * 5 December – Sarel van der Merwe, former rally and racing driver
  * 18 December – Steve Biko, anti-apartheid activist. (d. 1977)
  
  ## Deaths
  
  * 13 April – William Henry Bell, musician, composer and first director of the South African College of Music. (b. 1873)
  
  ## Railways
  
  ### Railway lines opened
  
  * 1 June – Transvaal: Ogies to Vandyksdrif, 21 miles 30 chains (34.4 kilometres).
  
  ### Locomotives
  
  * The South African Railways places the first of fifty Class GEA 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratt locomotives in service.
  