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The first Dutch settlement is established on the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch East India Company.In the coming decades, French Huguenots, the Dutch, and Germans establish settlements along the coast. Eventually, they go to war with indigenous peoples to establish their claims to the land.
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The First British occupation of the Cape began in 1795 and ended in 1803, leading to tensions between the British and the Afrikaners, the name for the original European settlers in the area.
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Second British occupation of the Cape occurs.
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Holland cedes the Cape to Britain.
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Afrikaner farmers, known as Boers, undertake a "Great Trek" to establish settlements in the South African interior. The "Great Trek" began in 1836 and ended in 1846. They battle the native Zulus for control of the area. The Zulus retain control of some parts of the interior until 1879.
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In 1847 British immigrants began to arrive in Natal until 1849, and soon sugar is grown in the area.
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The independent Boer Republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State are created, straining relations with the ruling British. (1852-1854)
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Diamonds are discovered near Kimberley.
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The first Anglo-Boer War is fought between British troops and Afrikaner settlers (Boers). (1880-1881)
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Gold is discovered in the Witwatersrand region of the Transvaal.
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Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is established
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The second Anglo-Boer War breaks out, with the British gaining control of the Boer republics. (1899-1902)
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The 2 republics and British colonies become the Union of South Africa, a self-governing dominion of the British Empire with Louis Botha as prime minister.
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Native blacks establish the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), which later becomes the African National Congress (ANC), to protest the creation of laws and practices based on color.
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Compulsory segregation is announced.
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White women get to vote
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In the initial post-war decades South Africa was considered as an attractive destination for foreign investors and a substantial inflow of capital from abroard made it possible for SA to run a persistent deficit on its current account.
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The victory of the National Party (NP) in all-white elections leads to the creation of a strict policy of white domination and racial separation known as "apartheid." The term Apartheid was introduced during the 1948 election campaign by DF Malan's Herenigde Nasionale Party (HNP - 'Reunited National Party').
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Passage of strict racial laws (1950-1952).
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The nation leaves the British Commonwealth and becomes the independent Republic of South Africa.
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Following protests in the town of Sharpeville that leave 69 black protestors dead and hundreds injured, the ANC and the Pan-African Congress (PAC) are banned and ANC leader Nelson Mandela is imprisoned in 1962 on charges of treason. From this time onward the ANC functions as an illegal but powerful opposition force for black rights in South Africa. (1960's)
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In the initial post-war decades South Africa was considered as an attractive destination for foreign investors and a substantial inflow of capital from abroard made it possible for SA to run a persistent deficit on its current account.
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Over 1,700,000 service jobs were created. Unfortunately it was in activities with limited improvements and possibilities.
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Revisions to the constitution give colored and Asian people a limited role in the national government, but power remains in white hands.
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Following years of mounting black protest and increasing sanctions against South Africa because of apartheid, President F.W. De Klerk announces the unconditional release of Nelson Mandela from prison and the legalization of the ANC, PAC, and other anti-apartheid groups.
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South Africa GDP Growth Rate averaged 3.23 Percent from 1993 until 2013, reaching an all time high of 7.60 Percent in March of 1996 and a record low of -6.30 Percent in March of 2009.
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First democratic elections take place in April under a new constitution. The ANC wins a majority in the legislature and elects Nelson Mandela as president
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Election of Nelson Mandela as South Africa's first black president.
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Since 1995, more than a million low-cost houses have been built, and the poor now have access to free medicine and more than 700 additional healthcare clinics. More than 5 million needy children now get a fifth to a quarter of their daily nutritional needs through school-based programs. More than 2 million people have received access to electricity and 7 million to water. Relatively low inflation, around 6 percent, means that working South Africans are able to keep up with the cost of living.
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National Party pulls out of the Government of National Unity (GNU). First official census occurs in post-apartheid South Africa.
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In the country's second democratic elections the ANC increases its majority in the legislature and selects Thabo Mbeki as president.
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From 2002 to 2008, South Africa grew at an average of 4.5 percent year-on-year, its fastest expansion since the establishment of democracy in 1994. However, in recent years, successive governments have failed to address structural problems such as the widening gap between rich and poor, low-skilled labour force, high unemployment rate, deteriorating infrastructure, high corruption and crime rates. As a result, since the recession in 2008, South Africa growth has been sluggish and below African a
