# List of administrators of former South African provinces

This article lists the administrators of former South African provinces. It includes officials who headed various provinces in the period from 1910 to 1994, when South Africa was administratively divided into four provinces:
* Province of the Cape of Good Hope (Afrikaans: Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), with its seat in Cape Town
* Province of Natal (Afrikaans: Natalprovinsie), with its seat in Pietermaritzburg
* Province of the Orange Free State (Afrikaans: Provinsie Oranje-Vrystaat), with its seat in Bloemfontein
* Province of the Transvaal (Afrikaans: Provinsie van Transvaal), with its seat in Pretoria
The provinces were created in 1910 as successors of four previous British colonies in the same territory: Cape Colony (1806–1910), Colony of Natal (1843–1910), Orange River Colony (1902–10) and Transvaal Colony (1902–10). These four provinces were established as a result of the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. They survived the subsequent creation of the Republic of South Africa in 1961, and were abolished in 1994, in the wake of the first post-apartheid general election in April 1994.

## Cape Province

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
| 1 | | Nicolaas Frederic de Waal (1853–1932) | 31 May 1910 | December 1925 | 15 years, 6 months |
| 2 | | Adriaan Paulus Johannes Fourie (1882–1941) | January 1926 | August 1929 | 3 years, 7 months |
| 3 | | Johannes Hendrik Conradie [af] (1872–1940) | September 1929 | September 1939 | 10 years |
| 4 | | François Allan Joubert [af] (1889–1942) | September 1939 | September 1942 | 3 years |
| 5 | | Gideon Brand van Zyl (1873–1956) | 2 October 1942 | 31 December 1945 | 3 years, 90 days |
| 6 | | Philippus Arnoldus Myburgh [af] (1880–1946) | 1 January 1946 | 1 July 1946 | 181 days |
| 7 | | Johan Carinus [af] (1892–1960) | 23 July 1946 | 22 July 1951 | 4 years, 364 days |
| 8 | | Philippus Jacobus Olivier [af] (1901–1958) | 1 August 1951 | 27 March 1958 | 6 years, 238 days |
| 9 | | Josias Hendrik Otto du Plessis (1907–1960) | 12 May 1958 | 28 April 1960 | 1 year, 352 days |
| 10 | | Johannes Nicholas Malan (1903–1981) | 28 April 1960 | 1 June 1960 | 34 days |
| 10 | | Johannes Nicholas Malan (1903–1981) | 1 June 1960 | 31 May 1970 | 9 years, 364 days |
| 11 | | Andries Heydenrich Vosloo (1912–1982) | 1 June 1970 | May 1975 | 4 years, 11 months |
| 12 | | Lourens Albertus Petrus Anderson Munnik [af] (1925–2016) | June 1975 | June 1979 | 4 years |
| 13 | | Eugene "Gene" van der Merwe Louw (1931–2015) | June 1979 | July 1989 | 10 years, 1 month |
| 14 | | Jacobus "Kobus" Meiring (born 1936) | July 1989 | May 1994 | 4 years, 10 months |

## Natal Province

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
| 1 | | Charles John Smythe (1852–1918) | May 1910 | January 1918 | 7 years, 8 months |
| 2 | | George Thomas Plowman (1858–1943) | February 1918 | January 1928 | 9 years, 11 months |
| 3 | | Herbert Gordon Watson (1874–1948) | February 1928 | January 1943 | 14 years, 11 months |
| 4 | | George Heaton Nicholls (1876–1959) | February 1943 | November 1944 | 1 year, 9 months |
| 5 | | Douglas Edgar Mitchell (1896–1988) | November 1944 | February 1948 | 3 years, 3 months |
| 6 | | Denis Gem Shepstone (1888–1966) | February 1948 | May 1958 | 10 years, 3 months |
| 7 | | Alfred Ernest Trollip (1895–1972) | June 1958 | November 1961 | 3 years, 5 months |
| 8 | | Theodor Johannes Adolph Gerdener (1916–2013) | November 1961 | August 1970 | 8 years, 9 months |
| 9 | | Wynand Wilhelm Benjamin Havemann (1912–1986) | August 1970 | June 1979 | 8 years, 10 months |
| – | | Frank Martin (died 1987) Acting | June 1979 | August 1979 | 2 months |
| 10 | | Jan Christoffel "Stoffel" Greyling Botha (1929–1998) | August 1979 | September 1984 | 5 years, 1 month |
| – | | Frank Martin (died 1987) Acting | September 1984 | November 1984 | 2 months |
| 11 | | Radclyffe Cadman (1924–2011) | November 1984 | April 1990 | 5 years, 5 months |
| 12 | | Cornelius Johannes van Rooyen Botha (1932–2014) | April 1990 | 7 May 1994 | 4 years, 1 month |

## Orange Free State Province

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
| 1 | | Alfred Ernest William Ramsbottom [af] (1860–1922) | May 1910 | May 1915 | 5 years |
| 2 | | Cornelius Hermanus Wessels (1851–1924) | May 1915 | 2 March 1924 | 8 years, 10 months |
| 3 | | Esaias Reinier Grobler [af] (1861–1937) | 11 March 1924 | March 1929 | 4 years, 11 months |
| 4 | | Carl Theodorus Muller Wilcocks (1861–1936) | March 1929 | 11 November 1936 | 7 years, 7 months |
| – | | Johannes Buys (1859–1943) Acting | November 1936 | December 1936 | 1 month |
| 5 | | Johannes Frederik Janse van Rensburg (1898–1966) | December 1936 | December 1940 | 4 years |
| 6 | | Stephanus Philippus Barnard (1888–1951) | December 1940 | December 1950 | 10 years |
| 7 | | Jacobus "Jim" Johannes Fouché (1898–1980) | 1 January 1951 | December 1959 | 8 years, 11 months |
| 8 | | Johannes Willem “Sand” Jacobus Coetzee du Plessis (1908–1994) | December 1959 | December 1969 | 10 years |
| 9 | | Gabriel François van Lingen Froneman (1909–1981) | December 1969 | 13 December 1974 | 5 years |
| 10 | | Abraham Cornelis van Wyk (1911–?) | 14 December 1974 | 1979 | 5 years |
| 11 | | Cornelius "Nak" van der Merwe (1920–1985) | 1979 | 1980 | 1 year |
| 12 | | Louis Johannes Botha (1939–1999) | November 1980 | August 1991 | 10 years, 9 months |
| 13 | | Louis van der Watt (born 1937) | August 1991 | 7 May 1994 | 2 years, 9 months |

## Transvaal Province

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
| 1 | | Johann Friedrich Bernhard Rissik [af] (1857–1925) | 31 May 1910 | 23 July 1917 | 7 years, 53 days |
| 2 | | Alfred George Robertson [af] (1867–1929) | 24 July 1917 | 29 February 1924 | 6 years, 220 days |
| 3 | | Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr (1894–1948) | 1 March 1924 | 28 February 1929 | 4 years, 364 days |
| 4 | | Jacobus Stephanus Smit [af] (1878–1960) | 1 March 1929 | 28 February 1934 | 4 years, 364 days |
| 5 | | Simon Potgieter Bekker (1882–1938) | 1 March 1934 | 29 July 1938 | 4 years, 150 days |
| Vacant (29 July – 1 September 1938) ||||||
| 6 | | Jacobus Johannes Pienaar (1866–1950) | 1 September 1938 | 31 August 1948 | 9 years, 365 days |
| Vacant (31 August – 1 November 1948) ||||||
| 7 | | William Nicol (1887–1967) | 1 November 1948 | 31 October 1958 | 9 years, 364 days |
| 8 | | Frans Hendrik Odendaal (1898–1966) | 1 November 1958 | 8 February 1966 | 7 years, 99 days |
| 9 | | Sybrand Gerhardus Johannes van Niekerk [fr] (1914–2011) | 12 February 1966 | 15 July 1979 | 13 years, 153 days |
| 10 | | Willem Adriaan Cruywagen (1921–2013) | 16 July 1979 | 31 May 1988 | 8 years, 320 days |
| 11 | | Danie Hough (1937–2008) | 1 June 1988 | 7 May 1994 | 5 years, 340 days |