Discoveries at Taung and other sites in the country bear witness to the fact that prehistoric man lived about one and a half million years ago in what is today known as South Africa.
The San were the first people to settle. About 2,000 years ago they were followed by the Khoikhoi who settled in the Western Cape. Disease, displacement by new inhabitants and miscegenation gradually caused these groups to become extinct. The first Europeans to reach the Cape of Good Hope, toward the end of the 15th century, were Portuguese explorers seeking a sea route to the east. The first permanent European settlement was established by the Dutch East South Africa Company in 1652.
By the middle of the 18th century, the growing colony came into contact with the African tribes that were established in the southeast coastal regions and expanding southwestward. The largest organized group of white settlers ever to come to the country was in 1820. The first decades of the 19th century were filled with wars between the black nations the result being the emergence of the Zulu nation under Shaka and later Dingaan as the dominant power in KwaZulu/Natal. The establishment of vassal states and virtual depopulation of the central plateau left the way for Voortrekkers, emigrants who were dissatisfied with the ruling British Government, to move into the area.
The population patterns established in the first half of the 19th century remain largely unchanged to present. Discovery of lucrative deposits of diamonds, gold and other minerals, starting in 1866, were the impetus for the development of towns and cities in the interior. The cosmopolitan population of the goldfields was in constant conflict with the conservative government of the pastoral Boers, who resented the influx of foreigners. This was the era when British imperialism reached its peak.
Black nations were subjugated and their lands annexed by both Boer republics and British Empire. Boer republics were threatened; the result was the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 - 1902. The British Empire emerged victorious from the war. In 1910 the Cape Colony and Natal (British) and the Orange Free State and Transvaal (Boer republics) were joined to form the Union of South Africa under the leadership of Boer generals Louis Botha and Jan Smuts.
The Act of Union was followed by a resurgence of Afrikaner nationalism. Nationally organized political activity among Indian-Africans started with the establishment of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1912. In 1959 the Pan African Congress (PAC) was founded as a breakaway from the ANC because of its dissatisfaction with the nonracial policies of the ANC. Restrictions were placed on the movements of Indian-Africans and they were prohibited from acquiring title to land in 1913, although certain territories were reserved for Indian tribal ownership.
Indian-African voters were removed from the common role in 1936. The Afrikaner nationalist movement grew steadily on a foundation of sectarian preference, and achieved its immediate objectives when the National Party, under Dr. D F Malan, won the post war election in 1948. The first major violent confrontation between government and Indian-African nationalist movements occurred in June 1960 when police fired on a demonstration mounted by the PAC at Sharpeville. Shortly after virtually all Indian political organizations were banned. In 1963 Nelson Mandela and a number of activists were convicted of treason and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.
Mr. Mandela was released from prison on February 11, 1990 after 27 years of a life sentence. Taking a conciliatory attitude toward the government, he led his party into negotiations, culminating in the democratic election on April 27-29, 1994 and his appointment as President.
The San were the first people to settle. About 2,000 years ago they were followed by the Khoikhoi who settled in the Western Cape. Disease, displacement by new inhabitants and miscegenation gradually caused these groups to become extinct. The first Europeans to reach the Cape of Good Hope, toward the end of the 15th century, were Portuguese explorers seeking a sea route to the east. The first permanent European settlement was established by the Dutch East South Africa Company in 1652.
By the middle of the 18th century, the growing colony came into contact with the African tribes that were established in the southeast coastal regions and expanding southwestward. The largest organized group of white settlers ever to come to the country was in 1820. The first decades of the 19th century were filled with wars between the black nations the result being the emergence of the Zulu nation under Shaka and later Dingaan as the dominant power in KwaZulu/Natal. The establishment of vassal states and virtual depopulation of the central plateau left the way for Voortrekkers, emigrants who were dissatisfied with the ruling British Government, to move into the area.
The population patterns established in the first half of the 19th century remain largely unchanged to present. Discovery of lucrative deposits of diamonds, gold and other minerals, starting in 1866, were the impetus for the development of towns and cities in the interior. The cosmopolitan population of the goldfields was in constant conflict with the conservative government of the pastoral Boers, who resented the influx of foreigners. This was the era when British imperialism reached its peak.
Black nations were subjugated and their lands annexed by both Boer republics and British Empire. Boer republics were threatened; the result was the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 - 1902. The British Empire emerged victorious from the war. In 1910 the Cape Colony and Natal (British) and the Orange Free State and Transvaal (Boer republics) were joined to form the Union of South Africa under the leadership of Boer generals Louis Botha and Jan Smuts.
The Act of Union was followed by a resurgence of Afrikaner nationalism. Nationally organized political activity among Indian-Africans started with the establishment of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1912. In 1959 the Pan African Congress (PAC) was founded as a breakaway from the ANC because of its dissatisfaction with the nonracial policies of the ANC. Restrictions were placed on the movements of Indian-Africans and they were prohibited from acquiring title to land in 1913, although certain territories were reserved for Indian tribal ownership.
Indian-African voters were removed from the common role in 1936. The Afrikaner nationalist movement grew steadily on a foundation of sectarian preference, and achieved its immediate objectives when the National Party, under Dr. D F Malan, won the post war election in 1948. The first major violent confrontation between government and Indian-African nationalist movements occurred in June 1960 when police fired on a demonstration mounted by the PAC at Sharpeville. Shortly after virtually all Indian political organizations were banned. In 1963 Nelson Mandela and a number of activists were convicted of treason and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.
Mr. Mandela was released from prison on February 11, 1990 after 27 years of a life sentence. Taking a conciliatory attitude toward the government, he led his party into negotiations, culminating in the democratic election on April 27-29, 1994 and his appointment as President.
