  SXP4.78 was originally discovered in 2000 as a pulsar in the Small Magellanic
Cloud (SMC) by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) but it was not spatially
located at that time. A new detection in 2018 with the Neil Gehrels Swift
Observatory during a Type II outburst permitted its position to be accurately
located and its optical counterpart identified. We report X-ray and optical
monitoring covering epochs before and during the outburst. Using photometric
data we show the long-term variability of the Be disc where we present flux and
colour changes associated with the disc growth and decay over a period of ~6000
days. We show evidence of disc growth during the recent outburst through an
increase in the H-alpha equivalent width and photometric flux. Period analysis
was performed using both optical photometric and spectroscopic data, but with
no significant detection of an orbital period. A modest periodic signature of
2.65 days was detected from the OGLE I band data, however, but we attribute
that to the non-radial pulsations (NRPs) of the Be star. We also obtained a
blue spectrum from the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) which permits us
to classify the spectral type as B0.5 IV-V.
