Republic of South Africa
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
He served as the last governor-general of the Union of South Africa from 1959 to 1961 and the first state president of the Republic of South Africa from 1961 to 1967. He was appointed Minister of Justice when the National Party came to power in 1948, and was responsible for legislation to strengthen the powers of the South African Police to suppress anti-apartheid activity.
Portrait of Charles Robberts Swart: Ons eerste halfeeu 1910-1960, Public domain, file
B. J. Vorster
State President of South Africa, 1978–1979
He served as the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978 and the fourth State President of South Africa from 1978 to 1979. He resigned the premiership in favour of the ceremonial state presidency, from which he was forced out as well eight months later.
Portrait of B. J. Vorster: Unknown authorUnknown author, CC0, file
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Marais Viljoen
State President of South Africa, 1979–1984
He held the post of non-executive State President from 4 June 1979 until 3 September 1984. The State Presidency during this time was a ceremonial post, like that of the Governor-General, which it replaced in 1961.
Portrait of Marais Viljoen: Unknown authorUnknown author, CC0, file
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P. W. Botha
State President of South Africa, 1984–1989
He served as the last Prime Minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and as the first executive State President of South Africa from 1984 until his resignation in 1989. He introduced limited reforms, such as the Tricameral Parliament in 1983, which granted limited political representation to Coloured and Indian South Africans, but excluded Black South Africans.
Portrait of P. W. Botha: Wie is wie in Suid-Afrika 1963, Public domain, file
F. W. de Klerk
State President of South Africa, 1989–1994
After Botha resigned in 1989, de Klerk replaced him, first as leader of the NP and then as State President. He permitted anti-apartheid marches to take place, legalised a range of previously banned anti-apartheid political parties, and freed imprisoned anti-apartheid activists such as Nelson Mandela. De Klerk negotiated with Mandela to fully dismantle apartheid and establish a transition to universal suffrage.
Portrait of F. W. de Klerk: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain, file
Jan Christiaan Heunis
State President of South Africa, 1989–1989
At the beginning of 1989, he assumed the functions of State President for the interim for 55 days when P. W. Botha suffered a stroke.
Nelson Mandela
President of South Africa, 1994–1999
He served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation. He emphasised reconciliation between the country's racial groups and created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses.
Portrait of Nelson Mandela: Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel, CC BY-SA 2.0, file
Thabo Mbeki
President of South Africa, 1999–2008
He served as the second president of South Africa from 1999 until his resignation in 2008. As president he continued to subscribe to relatively conservative, market-friendly macroeconomic policies. As president, Mbeki had an apparent predilection for foreign policy and particularly for multilateralism.
Portrait of Thabo Mbeki: Lula Oficial, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri
President of South Africa, 2005–2005
She served briefly as South Africa's acting president in 2005, when both President Thabo Mbeki and the deputy president were outside the country.
Kgalema Motlanthe
President of South Africa, 2008–2009
He served as the third president of South Africa from 2008 to 2009, following the resignation of Thabo Mbeki. He was widely understood to be a compromise candidate and to be leading a caretaker administration until the 2009 national election.
Portrait of Kgalema Motlanthe: Copyright Economic Forum (www.weforum.org) / Eric Miller [email protected], CC BY-SA 2.0, file
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Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri
President of South Africa, 2008–2008
She was chosen by the cabinet to be the constitutional and official head of state in an interim capacity for 14 hours on 25 September 2008, between the resignation of Thabo Mbeki and the taking of office by Kgalema Motlanthe.
Jacob Zuma
President of South Africa, 2009–2018
He served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He was elected president of South Africa in the 2009 general election and took office on 9 May. As president, he launched the R4-trillion National Infrastructure Plan.
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Cyril Ramaphosa
President of South Africa, 2018 to today
He has been the fifth president of South Africa since 2018. Two months later, the day after Zuma resigned on 14 February 2018, the National Assembly elected Ramaphosa as president of South Africa. On 14 June 2024, the National Assembly of South Africa elected Ramaphosa to a second term as president of South Africa after the ANC lost its majority in the general election.
Portrait of Cyril Ramaphosa: Lula Oficial, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
Culture
- In 2024 the Constitution Hill became a World Heritage Site, one of 14 component parts spread across South Africa known collectively as the "Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites".
- The Freedom Charter, adopted in 1955 by the Congress Alliance, which was multi-racial in makeup, demanded a non-racial society and an end to discrimination.
- The government released Nelson Mandela from prison after 27 years of serving a sentence for sabotage and treason.
- Archaeologists have recovered extensive fossil remains from a series of caves in Gauteng known as the Cradle of Humankind, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Picture
The Constitution Hill precinct, the seat of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, also holds the Old Fort Prison and a museum.
Image: ConstHill, CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.