See also: 1849 in South Africa, other events of 1850, 1851 in South Africa and the Timeline of South African history.

Events

• The first Afrikaans book is written by an imam (Muslim prayer leader) of slave descent
• Wesleyan settlers arrive in Natal
• The "Childe Herold", a British ship en route from Bombay to London is wrecked off Dassen Island, Cape Colony
• 23 April - A mass meeting is held in Cape Town to petition Queen Victoria to grant the Cape Colony a government

Births

• 9 April - Julius Charles Wernher, financier and mine magnate
• 23 April - Andries Jacobus Bester, the Boer commandant of the Bethlehem commando, is born in Bloemfontein

Deaths