TIMELINE OF SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY*
| c. 1,000 BC | Khoikhoi herders move into South Africa |
| 300 – 1,000 AD | Bantu-speaking farmers move into South Africa |
| 1652 | Dutch East India Company establishes settlement at Cape Town |
| 1650s – 1780s | Colonial expansion into northern and eastern Cape and conquest of Khoikhoi |
| 1658 | First slaves imported to Cape |
| 1760s | Slaves and Khoi required to carry passes |
| 1799 – 1803 | Khoikhoi rebellion in eastern Cape |
| 1806 | British establish permanent control over Cape Colony |
| 1812 | Indenture of Khoikhoi children on settler farms |
| 1820s | Expansion of Zulu kingdom |
| 1834 | Slave emancipation |
| 1836 | The “Great Trek.” Dutch-descended settlers (Boers) leave eastern Cape to live beyond British rule |
| 1838 | Trekkers defeat Zulu and establish republic of Natalia (Natal |
| 1843 | British annex Natal |
| 1846 | Introduction of segregated administration for Africans in Natal |
| 1852 | Sand River Convention. British recognize Boer independence north of the Vaal River (Transvaal) |
| 1854 | Bloemfontein Convention. British recognize Orange Free State. |
| 1856 – 1857 | Xhosa cattle-killing |
| 1860 | Introduction of Indian indentured labor to Natal (ended in 1911) |
| 1867 | Discovery of diamonds at Vaal-Hartz river (Kimberly) |
| 1871 | British annex diamond fields |
| 1877 | British annex Transvaal |
| 1879 | British invasion of Zululand |
| 1880 | Cape war with Soto |
| 1881 | Transvaal rebellion forces British withdrawal |
| 1886 | Gold discovered at Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) |
| 1894 | Glen Grey Act establishes separate land and tax systems for Africans (eastern Cape) |
| 1899 –1902 | South African (Boer) War. British conquest of Transvaal and Orange Free State |
| 1902 – 1905 | Reconstruction of Transvaal and Orange Free State |
| 1903 – 1905 | South African Native affairs Commission recommends blueprint for segregation |
| 1904 – 1907 | Chinese indentured laborers used in gold mines |
| 1910 | Union of South Africa established |
| 1911 | Mines and Works Act imposes color bar in mines |
| 1912 | Foundation of SANNC (later ANC) |
| 1913 | Native Land Act segregates land ownership and restricts African land ownership to ‘native reserves’. Indian general strike in Natal led by Gandhi |
| 1918 | Status Quo Act modifies color bar on mines. African municipal workers strike in Johannesburg. Afrikaaner Broederbond founded. |
| 1920 | Native affairs Act establishes separate administrative structures for Africans. African mineworkers strike. |
| 1922 | Rand Revolt |
| 1923 | Natives (Urban Areas) Act provides for urban segregation and African influx control. Industrial Conciliation Act excludes migrant workers from trade union representation |
| 1924 | Coalition of Labour and National Party win election. Afrikaans language given official recognition |
| 1927 | Native Administration Act ‘retribalizes’ African government and law |
| 1930 – 1933 | Great Depression |
| 1934 | South African Party under Smuts and National Party under Herzog form coalition ‘Fusion’ government |
| 1936 | Native Trust and Land Act consolidates reserves. Representation of Natives Act removes Africans from Cape election rolls |
| 1937 | Marketing Act gives state subsidies to white farmers. Native Laws Amendment Act intensifies urban pass laws |
| 1940 – 1945 | Rent and transport boycotts and squatter resistance on the Rand |
| 1946 | African mineworkers strike |
| 1946 – 1947 | National Indian Congress resists ‘Ghetto’ Act restricting Indian property ownership |
| 1948 | National Party under Malan forms government |
| 1949 | ANC Youth League produces Programme of Action. African and Indian conflict in Durban |
| 1950 | Population Registration Act, Immorality Act, Group Areas Act, Suppression of Communism Act lay first foundation of apartheid |
| 1951 | Bantu Authorities Act |
| 1952 | Abolition of Passes and Coordination of documents Act extends pass laws. ANC launches ‘Defiance Campaign’ |
| 1953 | Separate Amenities Act, Bantu Education Act, Criminal Law Amendment Act extend apartheid legal framework |
| 1955 | Native (Urban Areas) Amendment Act extends urban influx control |
| 1956 | Coloreds removed from Cape election rolls. Mass demonstration of women against pass laws |
| 1956 – 1961 | Treason Trial |
| 1956 – 1957 | Rural revolts in Transvaal and Free State |
| 1957 | Alexandra bus boycotts |
| 1959 | Foundation of Pan African Congress (PAC). Promotion of Bantu Self- Government Act sets up ethnic ‘homelands’ |
| 1960 | Sharpeville shootings and State of emergency. Banning of ANC, PAC and Communist Party |
| 1961 | Umkhonto we Sizwe guerrilla movement founded. South Africa leaves British Commonwealth and becomes a Republic |
| 1963 | General Laws Amendment Act permits detention without trial |
| 1964 | Rivonia trials sentence ANC leaders to life imprisonment. Black Labour Act tightens influx control |
| 1969 | Foundation of South African Students’ Organization (SASO) under Biko |
| 1973 -1975 | Widespread African strikes in Natal and eastern Cape |
| 1975 | Foundation of Inkatha under Buthelezi |
| 1976 | Revolt in Soweto and other townships |
| 1977 | Detention and murder of Biko. Banning of Black consciousness organizations |
| 1976 - 1981 | Nominal independence of homelands—Transkei (1976), Bophutathatswana (1977), Venda (1979), Ciskei (1981) |
| 1979 | Carlton Conference meeting of government and business leaders. Rickert Commission recommends easing the color bar. Wiehahn Commission recommends recognition of African labor unions |
| 1982 | Formation of conservative Party under Treurnicht |
| 1983 | Formation of United Democratic Front (UDF) |
| 1984 | Elections under new tricameral constitution widely boycotted by Indian and Colored voters |
| 1984 – 1986 | Widespread resistance. State of Emergency and troops move into townships |
| 1985 | Foundation of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). International bank loans called in. International sanctions intensified. Uitenhage shootings. |
| 1986 | Repeal of pass laws |
| 1986 – 1989 | Widespread conflict between Inkatha and UDF in Natal |
| 1988 | KwaNdebele resistance to ‘independence’ |
| 1989 | P.W. Botha replaced by F.W. de Klerk. Mass Democratic Movement (MDM) launches civil disobedience campign |
| 1990 | De Klerk unbans ANC, PAC and Communist Party. Nelson Mandela released from jail. Namibia obtains independence |
| 1991 | Repeal of Group Areas, Land and Population Registration Acts. Conventiion for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) formed to negotiate democratic constitution. Government backing for Inkatha vigilantes against ANC |
| 1992 | White referendum supports CODESA negotiations but they break down and Inkatha-ANC conflict intensifies |
| 1993 | Negotiations resume to form interim constitution |
| 1994 | Election by universal franchise elects Government of National unity with ANC majority. Mandela inaugurated as State President. |
| 1995 | Bishop Tutu appointed head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission by President Mandela |
| 1996 | New multi-racial constitution signed into law |
| 1999 | Mbeki becomes President |
| 2003 | Final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission |
