The earliest bone and stone arrows are left here at the Sibudu Cave, along with the earliest needle, and earliest use of heat-treated mixed compound gluing
The Dutch ship Nieuwe Haerlem runs aground at the Cape of Good Hope. Under the leadership of Leendert Janszen, the stranded Dutch seamen stay at the Cape for a year. After their return to the Netherlands, Leendert Janszen and Matthijs Proot were commissioned by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to write a report on their findings on the feasibility of the Cape as a refreshment station.
Leendert Janszen and Matthijs Proot submit their Remonstrantie, which describes their positive findings of the Cape of Good Hope. Jan van Riebeeck, who was on the ship that rescued the two, was asked to comment on the Remonstrantie and responded positively. The Gentlemen Seventeen, the board of the VOC, then decide that a refreshment station should be established at the Cape.
The United Kingdom captures the Cape Colony from the Netherlands in the Battle of Muizenberg. The Republic of Graaff-Reinet and Republic of Swellendam rebel but are annexed by the British Cape Colony.
This map illustrates the rise of the Zulu Empire under Shaka (1816–1828) in present-day South Africa. The rise of the Zulu Empire under Shaka forced other chiefdoms and clans to flee across a wide area of southern Africa. Clans fleeing the Zulu war zone included the Soshangane, Zwangendaba, Ndebele, Hlubi, Ngwane, and the Mfengu. .
Lieutenant Mzilikazi refuses to give up his loot to the Zulu king Shaka. He flees with his followers over the Drakensberg and conquers the Transvaal. Expansion of the Mfecane and rise of the Northern Ndebele people.
The Voortrekkers support a successful coup by Mpande, the half-brother of the Zulu king Dingane. Dingane flees and is killed. Andries Pretorius crowns Mpande as Zulu king.
After the murder of dozens of Boers, the ZAR launches a punitive expedition against the Southern Ndebele king Makapan. Piet Potgieter and over 2000 Southern Ndebele are killed in the Siege of Makapans Cave.
Griqualand West is annexed by the United Kingdom. The founding of New Rush, later Kimberley. The diamond fields are claimed by the Griqua, the Orange Free State, the ZAR and the Cape Colony.
The diamond fields are assigned to the Griqua by Governor Robert William Keate of the Colony of Natal. As a result, Marthinus Wessel Pretorius resigns as State President of the ZAR. Cecil Rhodes leaves for Kimberley.
The Anglo-Zulu War breaks out between the United Kingdom and the Zulus. The war is won by the United Kingdom, although they suffer a crushing defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana. The United Kingdom conquers Zululand, and the area is absorbed into the Colony of Natal.
The Boers of the Transvaal revolt at Paardekraal. A triumvirate consisting of Paul Kruger, Marthinus Wessel Pretorius and Piet Joubert restore the ZAR at Heidelberg .
The First Boer War breaks out between the ZAR and the United Kingdom.
The Graaff Electric Lighting Works becomes the first hydro-electric plant in South Africa, the first power plant in Cape Town, and the second electric power plant in South Africa.
The Jameson Raid is crushed and Jameson is imprisoned. The telegram congratulating Kruger from Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to state president Paul Kruger causes a scandal. Cecil Rhodes steps down as Prime Minister.
Negotiations at the Bloemfontein Conference between State President Paul Kruger and Cape Colony Governor Alfred Milner fail. The Second Boer War breaks out between the ZAR, the Orange Free State and the United Kingdom.
The Orange Free State and the ZAR are conquered by the United Kingdom, but the Bittereinders refuse to give up the fight. The United Kingdom uses the scorched earth tactic of burning down farms and imprisoning Boer women and children in concentration camps. State President Paul Kruger leaves for Europe.
The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the Second Boer War. The ZAR and the Orange Free State are annexed by the United Kingdom. The ZAR is renamed the British Transvaal Colony and the Orange Free State the British Orange River Colony.
The Transvaal Colony and the Orange River Colony are given self-governance. Abraham Fischer became the first (and only) Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony.
First Prime Minister of South Africa, Louis Botha.
The Natives Land Act is enacted, regulating the acquisition of land by black South Africans. It defined less than one-tenth of South Africa as Black "reserves" from which they were allowed purchase or lease of land. Land outside of this was prohibited.
World War II breaks out. Against the wishes of Prime Minister J. B. M. Hertzog, South Africa declares war on Germany. Hertzog resigns and Jan Smuts is re-elected Prime Minister of South Africa.
State President P. W. Botha gives his Rubicon speech in which he refuses to change his position regarding the Apartheid system, including the release of Mandela.
State President F. W. de Klerk announces reforms in Apartheid policy. The ban on the African National Congress is lifted and Nelson Mandela is released.
The mandate of South West Africa becomes independent as the Republic of Namibia.
Mark Shuttleworth becomes the first South African to travel to space as a space tourist; and the first African from an independent country to travel to space.
The Vredefort impact structure, created by one the largest ever asteroids (20 to 25 kilometres in diameter) to strike the Earth 2.023 billion years ago is added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites for its geologic interest.
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