History of South Africa

Dutch Cape Colony, 1652–1795 Draft, not yet reviewed

The colony was founded in 1652 by a VOC expedition under Jan van Riebeeck to serve as a re-supply and layover port for VOC vessels trading with Asia. The Cape was under VOC rule from 1652 to 1795 and Batavian rule from 1803 to 1806. In 1795 the British occupied the Cape, and the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 confirmed the transfer of sovereignty to Britain.

Seat of power: Cape Town

Cape Colony, 1795–1910 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Cape Colony was a British colony in present-day South Africa that existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910. The Cape of Good Hope remained in the British Empire, becoming self-governing in 1872. It united with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa in 1910.

Seat of power: Cape Town

Rulers

• Philip Edmond Wodehouse, Governor of the Cape Colony, 1862–1870
• Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, Governor of the Cape Colony, 1897–1905

Zulu Kingdom, 1816–1897 Draft, not yet reviewed

During the 1810s, Shaka established a standing army that consolidated rival clans and built a large following which ruled a wide expanse of Southern Africa. In 1879, a British force invaded Zululand, beginning the Anglo-Zulu War. After an initial Zulu victory at the Battle of Isandlwana in January, the British regrouped and defeated the Zulus in July during the Battle of Ulundi, ending the war. The area was absorbed into the Colony of Natal and later became part of the Union of South Africa.

Seat of power: Ulundi

Rulers

• Shaka Zulu, king, 1816–1828
• Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo, king, 1884–1913

Union of South Africa, 1910–1961 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Union of South Africa was a British Dominion and, later, a Commonwealth realm in southern Africa from 1910 to 1961. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River colonies. It was governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, with the Crown being represented by a governor-general. The Union came to an end with the enactment of the constitution of 1961, by which it became a republic and left the Commonwealth of Nations.

Seat of power: Cape Town

Rulers

• George V, monarch, 1931–1936
• Edward VIII, monarch of the Union of South Africa, 1936–1936
• Elizabeth II, monarch of the Union of South Africa, 1952–1961

Republic of South Africa, 1961 to today Draft, not yet reviewed

On 31 May 1961, the country became a republic following a referendum that was only open to white voters and narrowly passed. In 1990, the National Party government took the first step towards dismantling apartheid when it lifted the ban on the ANC and other political organisations. South Africa held its first universal elections in 1994, which the ANC won by an overwhelming majority. The electoral dominance of the ANC has gradually declined since the early 2000s, with the party failing to secure a parliamentary majority for the first time in the 2024 general election.

Seat of power: Pretoria

Rulers

• Charles Robberts Swart, State President of South Africa, 1961–1967
• B. J. Vorster, State President of South Africa, 1978–1979
• Marais Viljoen, State President of South Africa, 1979–1984
• P. W. Botha, State President of South Africa, 1984–1989
• F. W. de Klerk, State President of South Africa, 1989–1994
• Jan Christiaan Heunis, State President of South Africa, 1989–1989
• Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa, 1994–1999
• Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa, 1999–2008
• Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, President of South Africa, 2005–2005
• Kgalema Motlanthe, President of South Africa, 2008–2009
• Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, President of South Africa, 2008–2008
• Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa, 2009–2018
• Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, 2018 to today