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| 1919–20 |
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| Formation of Industrial and Commercial Union (ICU) by Clements Kadalie among dockworkers in Cape Town. ICU led dockworkers out on strike in December. ICU quickly spread among workers in other urban centers. | 1 |
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| 1919–21 |
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| Severe drought coincided with postwar boom and collapse of agricultural prices in South Africa, driving many Afrikaners off the land to become urban workers. | 2 |
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| 1920 |
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| Nationalists won the largest number of seats in the general election, but Smuts stayed in power by an alliance with the Unionists; election showed the growing appeal of Afrikaner nationalism. The Native Affairs Act provided for local councils in reserve areas and a permanent (white) Native Affairs Commission, furthering the doctrine of segregation in the political sphere. | 3 |
| Witwatersrand University chartered. Students at Fort Hare burned buildings in protest against school policies. | 4 |
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| 1921–36 |
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| Doubling of the urban black population and a significant increase in the numbers of black women in towns. | 5 |
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| 1921, May |
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| The South African army massacred Enoch Mgijima's Israelite sect at Bulhoek in Eastern Cape, killing 163. | 6 |
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| 1922, Jan |
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| White mineworkers’ strike to maintain monopoly of skilled jobs for whites, leading to white workers' insurrection. Communist Council of Action briefly gained control of the Rand. | 7 |
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| March 10 |
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| Smuts declared martial law and launched a military assault against the strikers, killing up to 220. | 8 |
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| May |
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| Bondelswarts Rebellion in SWA, sparked by imposition of a dog tax, was put down, killing more than 100. | 9 |
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