1965 in South Africa

Incumbents

• State President: Charles Robberts Swart.
• Prime Minister: Hendrik Verwoerd.
• Chief Justice: Lucas Cornelius Steyn.

  Events

• 8 - Adam Faith, a British pop singer, cancels his tour of South Africa because the South African government prohibited mixed audiences at concerts.
• 1 - Frederick John Harris is hanged for exploding the bomb at Johannesburg Park Station that killed 77-year-old Ethel Rhys and injured 23 others on 24 July 1964.

• 4 - Units of the South African Defence Force begin to be issued with the R1 7.62 mm rifle, made in South Africa under license.

• 4 - At least 150 are killed when a commuter train derails at the outskirts of Durban.

• Rhodes University in Grahamstown installs a computer, the first university in South Africa to do so.

• The African National Congress establishes its headquarters in Morogoro, Tanzania.

  Births

• 1 February - Dave Callaghan, cricketer.
• 14 February - Themba Ndaba, actor.
• 17 March - Andrew Hudson, cricketer.
• 18 March - Yvonne Chaka Chaka, singer.
• 2 June - Thoko Didiza, politician.
• 10 June - Tiaan Strauss, rugby player.
• 13 July - Hannes Strydom, rugby player.
• 25 September - Augustine Makalakalane, football player.
• 1 December - Henry Honiball, rugby player.
• 18 December - John Moshoeu, footballer..

  Deaths

• 1 April - Frederick John Harris, school teacher and bomb planter.
• 1 July - Wally Hammond, English first-class cricketer and South African sports administrator.
• 19 July - Ingrid Jonker, Afrikaans poet.

Railways

Locomotives

• The first of sixty-five Class 33-000 General Electric type U20C diesel-electric locomotives.
• The first of one hundred Class 5E1, Series 4 electric locomotives.