Chronography of South Africa
Page last modified 26 January
2023
For
events in the rest of Africa see Africa
See
also Racial
Equality
Cape Town, aerial view 1948, 1996.
Boxes index:-
6.0, Nelson Mandela as President, 1993-99
5.5, South Africa rejoins the international
community 1991-93
5.0, Dismantling of Apartheid, 1984-91
4.0, Nelson Mandela; freed from prison,
1988-90
3.7, International disinvestment in
South Africa 1986
3.3, Civil unrest in South Africa 1984-86
3.0, �Death of Steven
Biko, 1977
2.0, Nelson Mandela; arrest and prison, 1962-64
1.0, South African Republic, 1960-61
0.0, Inception of Apartheid; promoted by
Malan, Nationalist Party, 1925-59
26
December 2021.
Archbishop
Desmond Tutu, campaigner against Apartheid, died aged 90.
18
December 2017,
Mr Cyril
Ramaphosa defeated Ms Dlamini-Zuma in elections for the
Presidency of the ANC, South Africa.
5
December 2013,
Nelson
Mandela died, aged 95.
13
July 2013, Nadine Gordimer,
South African activist, died.
14
February 2013,
South African Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius was arrested after the
shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
16
August 2012,
Striking mineworkers were fired upon by police at Marikana, South Africa. 34
miners were killed.
31
October 2006,
PW Botha,
former President of South Africa, died aged 90.
2004, The Africa National Congress won over two
thirds of the vote; Thabo Mbeki was re-elected President.
1
June 2004, Nelson Mandela
announced his retirement from public life.
2
June 1999, Thabo Mbeki
(Afirca National Congress) became President of South Africa.
6.0, Nelson
Mandela as President, 1993-99
27 May 1999, Nelson Mandela retired as President of South
Africa. He was replaced by Thabo Mbeki.
1998, The Truth and
Reconciliation Report condemned both apartheid crimes and ANC excesses.
21 August 1998, In South Africa, former
President PW
Botha was fined and given a suspended prison sentence for contempt
of court. He had refused to testify before the Government�s truth and
Reconciliation Commission, which was examining misdeeds committed during the
Apartheid era.
23 May 1998, Andreas Liebenberg, South African military
commander, died aged 60.
17 December 1997, In South Africa, Thabo Mbeki
became President of the Africa National Congress (ANC), However Nelson Mandela remained
as the national President.
10 December 1996, South Africa�s new
democratic and non-racial Constitution was signed into law by President
Mandela.
8 May 1996, South Africa approved a new Constitution
guaranteeing equal rights foir all races.
6 January 1995, South African Communist
leader Joe
Slovo died.
25 May 1994, The UN Security Council lifted a ban on
weapons exports from South Africa, ending the last of its Apartheid-era sanctions.
20 July 1994, South Africa was
readmitted to the Commonwealth, after 33 years of exclusion.
10 May 1994. Nelson Mandela was
sworn in as the first Black president of South Africa (see 2 May 1994). Nelson Mandela voted for the first time in his
life on elections held between 26 and 29 April and his Africa National Congress Party won an overwhelming 62.6% of the
vote. The National Party won 20.4%.
2 May 1994, South
African President F W de Klerk conceded defeat to Nelson Mandela
in the country�s first truly democratic elections, see 10 May 1994.
26 April 1994. First multiracial elections in South Africa.
11 March 1994. Riots in South African
Black Homeland of Bophutatswana.
1 March 1994, South Africa ceded Walvis Bay to Namibia.
15 October 1993. Nelson Mandela and President F W De Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize.
5.5 South Africa rejoins the international community 1991-93
24 September 1993. The USA and Commonwealth lifted trade
sanctions against South Africa.
16 August 1993. South Africa agreed to
return Walvis Bay, its last colonial
possession, to Namibia.
22 March 1993, South
Africa officially abandoned its nuclear weapons programme. President de
Klerk announced that the country's 6 warheads had already been
dismantled in 1990.
17 March 1992. South African Whites voted
for constitutional change.
26 January 1992, The EU lifted sanctions
against South Africa.
24 January 1992, South African President FW de Klerk
announced plans for power-sharing with the Afirca National Congress (ANC).
13 December 1991, The UN ended a ban on
sporting, scientific and academic links with South Africa.
10/11/1991, The South African cricket team played its
first international match in 21 years, after the International Cricket Council
lifted a ban imposed due to apartheid.
23 June 1992, In South
Africa the ANC withdrew from constitutional talks in protest at the Boipatong
violence.
20 June 1992, Police
fired on Black residents in Boipatong.
18 June 1992, 39 people
were killed in South Africa in the Boipatong
Massacre, which was allegedly by Inkatha supporters.
15 December 1991. F W de Klerk was under pressure at it emerged
that the South African Government had given money and other assistance to the Zulu Inkatha organisation, an
arch-enemy of the ANC, and had
organised for Inkatha members to travel to Israel for military training.
5.0, Dismantling
of Apartheid, 1984-91
17 June 1991. In South Africa, the repeal of the
Population Registration Act of 1950 officially ended apartheid.
5 June 1991, In South Africa, the �Pillars of
Apartheid�, the Land Acts of 1913 and 1936, and the Areas Act of 1950, were
repealed.
15 April 1991, The EC
lifted sanctions in South Africa, imposed because of Apartheid.
27 March 1991, The
International Olympics Committee readmitted South Africa, after 30 years
exclusion.
1 February 1991. De Klerk of South Africa promised an end to all apartheid legislation.
19 October 1990, In South Africa, the ruling South African National Party formally
opened its membership to people of all races.
16/11/1989. A
pillar of apartheid was removed when the South African President, F W de Klerk
removed beach access restrictions which separated racial access. The Separate
Amenities Act, permitting Whites to monopolise public space, was also to be
repealed.
13 September 1989. 20,000 demonstrated against Apartheid in South Africa, and the killing
of 23 protestors during the Whites-only elections the previous week. Protestors
were from all races.
23 April 1986. President P W Botha of South Africa announced there would be no
more arrests under the hated �pass laws� whereby Black people had to carry
their passes at all times.
15 April 1985. South Africa abolished racial sex laws. Interracial marriages
were now legal.
10 December 1984, Bishop Desmond Tutu was awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign against Apartheid.
22 August 1984. �Coloureds� were allowed to vote in South African elections.
20 September 1991, Clashes in South Africa between Blacks and
Right-wing Whites.
14 May 1991, In South Africa, Winnie Mandela, wife of
ANC leader Nelson Mandela, was
sentenced to 6 years for kidnap and accessory to assault.
13 May 1991, In South Africa, Winnie Mandela was convicted
of kidnapping 4 Black people.
14 December 1990. Oliver Tambo, ANC President, returned to South
Africa after 30 years exile.
18 September 1990, In South Africa, Winnie Mandela
was charged with kidnapping and assault.
21 August 1990, 400 killed in clashes between the ANC and
the Inkatha Zulu in the Transvaal townships, South Africa.
15 August 1990, 150 were killed in violent clashes in
townships outside Johannesburg, South Africa.
2 July 1990. ANC called a national strike in South Africa.
6 May 1990, P W Botha resigned from South Africa�s ruling
Nationalist party in protest at talks with the Africa National Congress.
4.0, Nelson
Mandela; freed from prison, 1988-90
16 April 1990, A charity concert was held at Wembley in honour of recently-freed Nelson Mandela.
21 March 1990, Namibia gained independence, after 75 years of South African rule.
2 March 1990, Nelson Mandela was elected Chairman of the Africa National
Congress.
11 February 1990. Nelson Mandela, the
71-year-old Black Nationalist leader of South Africa, was freed from prison after 27 years, given a life sentence for
treason He walked free from Victor Verster prison in the
Cape Province, met by a crowd of 2,000, the maximum number allowed by the
authorities. On 2 March 1990� Mandela
was elected chairman of the ANC (Africa
National Congress) which began serious negotiations with President F W
De Klerk, but the peaceful transition to a multiracial society was
threatened by escalating violence between the ANC and the rival Zulu-based
Inkatha movement. Mandela,
a lawyer, joined the ANC in 1949; the ANC had been founded in 1912; it was
committed to peaceful resistance to White rule for its first 48 years, but
began a campaign of civil disobedience after White police fired on Black
protestors at the Sharpeville Massacre
of 1960.
3 February 1990, South African President
de Klerk lifted the 30-year old ban on the African National Congress and
announced the imminent release of Nelson Mandela, prisoner for 27 years. 30
other political parties, including the Communist Party, also saw lifting of
restrictions, political prisoners were to be freed, the death sentence was
suspended, and emergency restrictions on the media lifted. The ANC was to be
invited to share power.
13 December 1989 �In South
Africa, President F W de Klerk met
with ANC leader Nelson Mandela for
the first time.
7 December 1988. Nelson Mandela was moved to a luxury house
within the grounds of Pollsmoor Prison.
18 July 1988,
On Nelson Mandela�s 70th birthday,
there was a worldwide call for him to be released from prison. He had been held
since 1964.
29 October 1989. 60,000 took part in an ANC
(Africa National� Congress) rally in
South Africa.
21 February 1989. Two members of Winnie Mandela�s bodyguard were
charged with the murder of 14-year-old Stompie Mocketsi.
29 February 1988. In South Africa, Archbishop Desmond \Tutu was
arrested for illegally demonstrating outside the Parliamentary building in Cape
Town. He was protesting against the death sentence imposed on the Sharpeville Six
for killing a Black Councillor.
5/11/1987, Govan Mbeki was released from prison in South
Africa after being held for 24 years on Robben island. He hasd been senteneced
to life in 1964 for treason against the South African Government, He went on to
serve in the post-Apartheid Government.
7 September 1986. Bishop Desmond Tutu was
appointed Archbishop of Cape Town, the
first Black head of the South African Anglicans.
3.7 International
disinvestment in South Africa 1986
31 December 1986, Esso announced that it was disinvesting in South Africa.
3 October 1986, US President Reagan attempted to
veto economic sanctions on South Africa but this was prevented by the US
Senate.
2 October 1986, The US
imposed sanctions on South Africa.
3.3 Civil
unrest in South Africa 1984-86
23 August 1986. Riots continued in Soweto, South Africa, with 13 dead and
over 70 injured.
12 June 1986, South Africa declared a
State of Emergency and restricted press reporting.
1 May 1986. 1.5 million Black workers went on strike in
South Africa.
Temporary reprieve
18 April 1986, South
African Prime Minister PW Botha repealed the Pass Laws, which had
restricted the movement of non-Whites in South Africa since 1948.
7 March 1986, South
Africa lifted the State of Emergency imposed in July 1985.
2/11/1985, The South African Government imposed
emergency restrictions on the reporting of unrest.
15 August 1985, South African President Botha
reiterated his commitment to Apartheid.
20 July 1985. State of Emergency imposed
in 36 areas of South Africa. Suspects could now be arrested withoiut a warrant
and held indefinitely without trial.
21 March 1985. In South Africa, 19 died
when police opened fire on a crowd of Black people on the 25th
anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre.
3 September 1984, 14 died in rioting in
Sharpeville and other Black townships around Johannesburg.
20 May 1983, ANC car bomb outside the South African Air
Force HQ killed 17.
4 December 1981, South Africa created the �independent�
Republic of Ciskei as a �homeland� for Black people; this was not recognised
outside South Africa.
28 August 1981, South African troops invaded Angola.
10 June 1980, The African National Congress published Nelson
Mandela�s call to fight, smuggled out of his cell at Robben Island.
23 September 1979, A US satellite recorded a brilliant double
flash over the ocean between South Africa and Antarctica. A South African Navy
ship was in the area, but South Africa denied it had tested a nuclear
weapon. Since the 1960s, South Africa had invested in nuclear power
technology, despite having abundant coal reserves.
29 September 1978, Johannes Vorster became President of South
Africa.
28 September 1978. Peter Botha became Prime Minister of South
Africa.
20 September 1978, B J Vorster resigned as Prime Minister of
South Africa due to ill-health.
1977, The Gleneagles Agreement was signed, by
Commonwealth leaders, in Scotland. It aimed to discourage sporting
links with South Africa in protest at the Apartheid policy.
4/11/1977. The UN banned arms sales to South Africa.
3.0 Death of Steven
Biko, 1977
2 December 1977, The South
African judicial system decided that the security forces were not responsible
for the death of Steve Biko, despite
evidence that he had been badly beaten.
12 September 1977. Moderate South African black activist Steven Biko, 30, died after 3 weeks in days in
police detention in Port Elizabeth.� He received a head
injury during police interrogation and became unconscious; a police doctor
recommended hospitalisation. Instead, on 11 September 1977 Biko was taken on� a 1,200
mile journey to Pretoria Central prison, naked in the back of a Land Rover,
where he died on the 12th. This
event proved a focal point in internal and international opposition to the
South African regime.
Steve Biko�s funeral was held on 25 September 1977. Steve Biko�s funeral was held on 25
September 1977. Heavy tactics were used to prevent Black mourners from
attending, bus travel permits were denied, roadblocks employed, and Black
mourners taken off buses and beaten with truncheons.
21 August 1977, South African Black civil rights activist Steve Biko
was arrested on suspicion of promoting unrest in Port Elizabeth and of
distributing leaflets calling for �violence and arson�.
26 October 1976. Transkei became the first South African Black homeland to gain
�independence�. The UN called the exercise a sham; South Africa had effectively
deprived the 1.3 million Xhosa in Transkei of South African citizenship.
6 July 1976, After the Soweto
riots of 16 June 1976, the South Africa Minister for Education announced
that plans for compulsory teaching in Afrikaans
were to be dropped.
16 June 1976. Schoolchildren
in the black township of Soweto, South Africa, began protesting against
having to learn Afrikaans, the language of the then ruling white minority.
Police open fire and killed a 13 year old, Hector Peterson. Nationwide demonstrations
began, met by more police brutality. By February 1977 over 570 people, mostly
black schoolchildren, had been killed. Resistance against apartheid hardened.
Apartheid had developed in the 1930s by the Afrikaans rulers as a way of
segregating blacks and whites. When the Afrikaaners gained power in 1948 they made apartheid
part of the South African legal system.
31 October 1974, Britain, France and the USA vetoed a motion to expel South
Africa from the UN.
1972, The AWB (Afrikaanse
Weestand Beweging), or Afrikaner Resistance Movement, was formed, led by Eugene
Terre�Blanche. Its aim was to preserve White control of South Africa
by force if necessary.
5 February 1973, 20,000 Black workers went on
strike in
3 March 1971, In Johannesburg, South Africa, Winnie Mandela was sentenced to 12 months prison
for receiving guests at home, contrary to to Government order.
21
June 1971,
The
22
July 1970,
Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia threatened to leave the Commonwealth if Britain
sold arms to South Africa. On 20 July 1970 Britain had said it was willing to
sell arms to South Africa for coastal defence.
22 May 1970, The Middlesex
Cricket Club, under UK Government pressure, cancelled a South African
tour of England.
15 May 1970, The International
Olympics Committee expelled South
Africa.
5/11/1969, Anti-Apartheid demonstrators invaded the pitch at Twickenham, during a game by
the touring South African Springboks.
13 September 1966, Johannes Vorster was sworn in as President of
South Africa.
6 September 1966, South African Prime Minister Dr Hendrik
Voerwoerd, aged 65, was assassinated, stabbed four times in the
chest by a White Parliamentary messenger, with a stiletto, because �his
Government didn�t do enough for Whites�. Voerwoerd had,
since 1950, created semi-independent and poverty stricken �homelands� for South
Africa�s 73% Black majority, covering just 13% of South African territory; effectively creating a White majority in the remainder of the
country.
30 March 1966, In South Africa, the National Party won a large
majority in elections.
17/11/1964, The UK imposed an arms embargo on South Africa because of its
apartheid policy.
9 October 1964. A
planned tour by the Rolling Stones to South Africa was cancelled due to the
British Musician�s Union�s anti-apartheid embargo.
20 August 1964. South
Africa was banned from the Olympics because of its apartheid
policy.
2.0, Nelson Mandela; arrest and prison, 1962-64
14 June 1964. Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to
6 May 1964, In South Africa the Bantu Laws Amendment Act was passed. This
attempted to control the informal settlement of Black Africans on the periphery
of urban areas.
11 March 1964, South
Africa left the International Labour Organisation.
18 September 1963, The UN Special Committee on Apartheid in South Africa called
for prohibition of arms and petroleum traffic with South Africa.
27 January 1963. Mrs Winnie Mandela was served with an injunction preventing her seeing
her imprisoned husband Nelson Mandela. See 14 June 1964.
7/11/1962. In
22 October 1962 Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress,
went on trial charged with treason; he pleaded not guilty.
26 September 1936, Winnie Mandela, South African
politician, was born.
18 July 1918. Nelson Mandela, South African
Black Rights campaigner and leader, was born (died 2013).
12 May 1962, The South African General Law Amendment Bill
imposed the death
penalty for sabotage. A few months later it was made a criminal offence
to publish anything said by a Black or White journalist whose works had been
banned. In October 1962 those banned from speaking or writing publically could
be put under house arrest for 5 years; they could not receive visitors or use
the telephone, or communicate with any other banned person. By the end of 1962
18 such orders had been issued.
1.0, South
African Republic, 1960-61
1961, South Africa replaced the
Pound with the Rand, a move planned from 1958.
31 May 1961. The Republic
of South Africa was formed, and
it left the Commonwealth.
13 April 1961, The UN
General Assembly condemned apartheid in South Africa.
15 March 1961, South Africa stated it
would leave the Commonwealth.
6 January 1961, Dag Hammarskjold, UN Secretary General, visited South Africa to discuss
apartheid.
6 October 1960, South Africa held a
referendum on whether to declare itself a Republic, further cutting ties with Britain. Only Whites were allowed
to vote. The result was 52.14% in favour of a Republic
and 47.42% against.
9 April 1960, David Pratt, a 52-year-old White man, fired
two shots at South African President Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, wounding him.
5 April 1960, Rioting and protests continued in South Africa.
30 March 1960, State of Emergency
in South Africa after the Sharpeville
riots.
27 March 1960, In South Africa, Chief Luthuli started a
passbook-burning protest.
25 March 1960, Following Sharpeville,
all non-White political organisations, including the ANC, were banned in South
Africa.
21 March 1960. South African police killed
67 Black Africans at Sharpeville,
and wounded 186.
The demonstrations were against the hated 'Pass
Laws'. All over South Africa, Black people deliberately left their passes
at home and awaited arrest. Versions of what provoked the shooting at Sharpeville, a township 5 miles north
of Vereeniging, varied. According to police, a crowd of 20,000 Black people
were about to storm the police station. Black witnesses said only 5,000 Blacks
were present and had gone peacefully to the police station to discuss the Pass
Laws. A medical expert testified that 70% of the victims were shot from behind.
On 30 March 1960 South Africa declared a
State of Emergency following the Sharpeville riots.
3 February 1960, UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan upset his hosts
in South Africa when he called for racial equality; Macmillan was concerned
that the newly independent ec-colonies of Africa and Asia would align
themselves with the USSR, not the former European colonisers.
29 January 1960. Race riots in Johannesburg.
5 July 1959. Ghana began a boycott of all South African
products.
18 June 1959. There was
serious rioting in Durban when police moved in on Black settlements. The
police were destroying illicit stills discovered during an operation to
resettle some 100,000 Black people. Rioting continued throughout June, and 4
Black people died. Property damage was estimated at �250,000. More deaths
occurred in September 1959 when police opened fire on rioters.
3 September 1958, Hendrik Verwoerd became Prime Minister of
South Africa.
24 August 1958, J G Strijdom, Prime Minister of South
Africa, died 65. He was succeeded by Hendrik Verwoerd on 3 September 1958.
3 May 1957. South Africa dropped �God Save the Queen� as
its national anthem.
5 March 1957, The Union Jack ceased to be one of the official
flags of South Africa.
4 July 1955. Britain said it would return the Simonstown military base to South Africa
by 31 March 1957, whilst retaining the rights to use the base.
0.0, Inception
of Apartheid; promoted by Malan, Nationalist Party, 1925-59
13/11/1959, In South Africa, the ant-Apartheid South
African Progressive party was founded at a conference in Johannesburg.
7 February 1959. Daniel Francois Malan, Prime
Minister of South Africa 1948-54 and creator of apartheid, died at Stellenbosch, Cape Province, South Africa, aged
84.
2 September
1958. South African President Hendrik
Voerwoerd promised to strengthen Apartheid.
26 April 1957.The Anglican
Church and the universities in South Africa continued to defy government
rulings on enforcing racial segregation, or apartheid.
9 February 1955, The final expulsion of Black Africans from Johannesburg began. 60,000 Black South Africans
were moved to the Meadowlands development, 13 miles out from the city where
they had lived and worked for generations.
1954, Dr Voerword, who in 1950 had become Minister of Native
Affairs, began introducing further discriminatory apartheid legislation. He
enacted the Native Resettlement Act, empowering the White government to remove
Black settlements that were deemend to be too close to White areas. It was
bulldozed and the area redeveloped as a White district. The first Black
settlement moved under this legislation was Sophiatown, in the centre of
Johannesburg. Trades Unions in South Africa were ordered to segregate into
Black and White sections, to end joint bargaining by workers of different
races. He also introduced the Bantu Education Act, taking the education of
Africans out of the hands of church
missionaries who Verwoerd found too liberal.
15 April 1953, In South African elections
the National
Party under D F Malan secured a clear majority
16 February 1953, In South Africa the Public Safety Act was passed. This gave the
Governor-General, or in some cases the Minister of Justice, powers to declare a
State of Emergency and override Parliament.
26 June 1952. Non-violent anti-apartheid demonstrations began in South Africa.
22 April 1952, In South Africa, Prime Minister D F Malan, having seen the law courts declare
Apartheid unconstitutional, got a Bill passed making Parliament a �High Court�,
so it was able to overrule any legal decisions against Apartheid.
20 March 1952, South Africa�s Supreme Court ruled that Malan�s Apartheid legislation was unconstitutional. However
this triumph of the Africa National Congress was short-lived, see 22 April 1952.
14 May 1951. South Africa disenfranchised 'Coloured' voters.
1 May 1951, Major anti-Apartheid demonstrations in
Johannesburg, 18 were killed.
1950, The South Africa
Nationalist Party passed several Acts to entrench Apartheid. These were, 1) The
Population Registration Act (1950),
entitling the government to have the final word on people�s racial category, 2)
The Immorality Act (1950), making it
illegal for people of different races to have sex together, and the Group Areas Act (1950), splitting South
Africa up into black and white areas. These were followed by the Reservation of Separatre Amenities Act
(1953), creating segregated toilets, beaches etc. for Blacks and Whites.
29 January 1950. Race policy caused riots
in Johannesburg.
26 May 1948. South Africa elected a Nationalist government with apartheid policies.
23 June 1946, India made a formal
complaint to the UN about South Africa�s discrimination against the 250,000
Indians living there.
13/11/1925, The
South African Government called for more segregation of Black people.
29 June 1925. South Africa passed laws, The Mines and Works Act, excluding
�Coloured�, Indian, and Black people from all skilled jobs. In the late 19th
century, skilled mining jobs in South Africa could only be filled by Whites. By
the 1920s Black people had acquired the necessary skills for these jobs, and
White employees feared their wages would be undercut, so they lobbied the
Government for these racist laws.
6 April 1951, Robert Broom, Scottish-South African
palaeontologist, died in Pretoria, South Africa.
11 September 1950, Death of Jan Smuts, the Boer guerrilla
leader who became a British field-marshal.
16
December 1949,
A quarter of a million Afrikaners attended the unveiling of the Voortrekker
Memorial to South Africa�s Boer
pioneers in Pretoria.
14
January 1949,
100 died in Asian-Black riots in South Africa.
13
January 1949,
In Durban, South Africa, three days of rioting between Africans and Indians
began over� a rumour that an Indian had
killed an African.
3
June 1948, DF Malan
became Prime Minister of South Africa.
16 December 1938, The foundation stone of the Voortrekker
Memorial was laid in Pretoria, see 16 December 1949.
30 March 1933, In South Africa, J B M Hertzog formed a National
Coalition Government, with J C Smuts as deputy Prime Minister.
28 December 1931, Georg Marais, economics adviser to the South
African Government, was born.
7 October 1931, Desmond
Tutu, Anglican priest, was born in
1927, The first
traffic
light was installed in Johannesburg. It was soon knocked down by a car.
30 June 1924, In South Africa, J B Hertzog, Nationalist leader,
formed a Government with Labour support, following the defeat of J C Smuts�
South African Party in elections.
8 May 1924, Afrikaans
became the official language of South Africa.
12 March 1922, White Nationalists seized control of The Rand,
South Africa�s industrial area, in protest at job losses as Whites lost their
jobs to cheaper Black labour.
8 February 1921. Jan Smuts was elected Prime Minister of
27 August 1919, Louis Botha, South African Boer
general and first Prime Minister from 1910, died.
9 February 1916, Former Boer leader General Jan Smuts was appointed
Commander of British and South African troops in East Africa.
12 January 1916, Pieter Botha,
South African President, was born in Paul Roux in the
13 December 1915, B J Vorster,
President of South Africa, was born.
9 July 1915. German South West Africa (
14
April 1915.
South African troops began an offensive to clear the Germans from German South-West
Africa (now
For main events of World War One see France-Germany
13
January 1915.
South African troops occupied Swakopmund in German South West Africa.
14/11/1914. Lord Roberts, Boer War
commander, died whilst visiting British troops in the field in
13/11/1914. General Botha�s forces crushed the rebellion
of General
Christaan de Wet in the Orange Free State, opening the way to march
on the German colonists of South West Africa.
13 October 1914, The Boers in South Africa, under Christian de
Wet, rebelled against British rule.
10 September 1914,) South Africa confirmed its loyalty to
Britain in the developing European War.
1913, South Africa passed the Natives Land Act; this set aside 90% of
the country for White people, who comprised less than one third of the
population. Black people were pushed into �homelands�.
25/11/1913, In Natal, police opened fire on demonstrators
protesting against the imprisonment of Mahatma Ghandi, killing 2 and injuring 20.
8 January 1912, The Africa
National Congress (ANC) was formed in Bloemfontein, South Africa. It was
originally known as the South Africa Native National Congress (SANNC), changing
its name in 1923. Its aim was to restore the Zulu Nation, which had been
reduced to virtual slavery by the British after the war of 1879. Pixley ka Isaka
Seme was one of the founders, along with Alfred Mangena, D Montsoia
and RW
Msimang.
15 September 1910, Louis Botha, an Afrikaner (Boer), became Prime
Minister of South Africa.
1
July 1910.
South Africa became a dominion of the
31 May 1910. The colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the
Transvaal, and the Orange River Colony united
to form the Union of South Africa, see 31 May 1902.
24 May 1910, In South Africa, L Starr Jameson founded the
Unionist Party, on an imperialist ideology.
7 December 1909, A proclamation was read on the steps of the
Royal Exchange, London, announcing the
creation of the self-governing Union of South Africa.
20 September 1909, The South Africa Act received the Royal Assent.
16 August 1909, The Conservative leader Arthur Balfour argued that
giving equal rights to South African Black people would undermine White
civilization.
27 July 1909, MPs gave the South African Union Bill its second
reading, but
deplored the fact that the Bill would deny the Black population the right to
vote.
12 June 1909.
Gandhi
protests at racial registration
30 January 1908. Mohandas Ghandi, who led a
campaign against the requirement for all Asian people to register, was released
from a South African prison by General Smuts.
11 January 1908, Gandhi was imprisoned in
Johannesburg for refusing to register as an Asian.
22 March 1907. Mohandas
Ghandi 1869-1948) started a
civil disobedience campaign in
Zulu
rebellion, suppressed by British
12 December 1907, Dinizulu, King of the Zulus, surrendered to the British; a
Zulu rebellion had been triggered by the imposition of a poll tax.
23 July 1906, 1,000 Zulu rebels
surrendered to British troops in
10 June 1906, In South Africa, Zulu
leader Bambaata and 100s of his followers were killed.
6 May 1906, British
soldiers killed 60 Zulus at
20 February 1906, Unrest in Natal grew into
a major revolt.
12 December 1906, In South Africa, the Transvaal was given
autonomy with White
male suffrage.
6 December 1906, Self government was granted to
19 July 1906, Alfred Beit, South African financier, died.
11/11/1905, Israel Aaron Maisels, South African
politician, was born in Johannesburg, (died 1994)
26
January 1905.
The world�s largest diamond was found at the Premier Mines in
28 September 1902, 15,000 requests a week for South African gold mining permits.
26 March 1902. Statesman and colonial administrator, Cecil John
Rhodes, died aged 48 in
4 August 1901. Gold was discovered in
the South African Rand.
19 May 1901, Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, first President of
the South African Republic, died (born 1819)
Boer War 1899-1906
9 August 1906,� The Boer War Commission reported that
corruption and incompetence in conducting the war cost
14 July 1904, Paul Kruger, leader of the Boer Republic of Transvaal during
the Boer War, died.
25 August 1903, A Royal Commission into the Boer War criticised poor campaign planning
and revealed that 100,000 British lives were lost.
31 May 1902. The Boer War ended with the Peace of Vereeniging. (See 11 October 1899).
The Boers accepted the sovereignty of the British Crown over Transvaal and the Orange Free State but gained the promise of self government. This
came in 1910 with the Government of South Africa Act, see 31 May 1910. The Boers also received �3 million to
repair and restock their farms. At first the Boers were winning, farmers
humiliating the British Army. However towards the end only 80,000 Boers were
fighting 450,000 elite British troops, the Boers relying on mobility and
guerrilla tactics. Under Lord Kitchener, the British countered the
Boers by herding them off their land into concentration camps where 20,000, one in three inmates,
died of disease and starvation. These camps did much to damage Britain�s
reputation in the world.
12 April 1902, Following British successes against the Boers in South Africa, Kitchener
met with Boer leaders for peace negotiations.
10 April 1902, Fighting in the Boer war
ceased.
7 March 1902, The Battle of Tweebosch,
the last major Boer victory in the
Boer War.
25 February 1902. Boers routed the British
army at Klerksdorp.
25 December 1901, The Boers gained victory in
South Africa, at Tweefontein.
23 October 1901, In
8 September 1901, Hendrik Verwoerd, South African
Prime Minister who was responsible for the policy of apartheid, was born in
7 August 1901, In South Africa, Kitchener announced that all Boers who failed
to surrender by 15 September would be permanently banished from the territory.
British
concentration camps
13 February 1902, The UK Government
refused to let a German committee visit the South African Boer concentration
camps.
24 July 1901, Britain admitted that over 100,000 people
were now interned in the South African concentration camps.
17 June 1901, Lloyd George spoke out against starvation, lack of hygiene, and poor
conditions in the concentration camps in South Africa, where Britain was
detaining the Boers. The camps had originally been set up to feed Boers
displaced from their farms by the fighting; in February 1901 their function
changed to interning Boer men who might fight a guerrilla war, also their
families who might also use guerrilla tactics. The camps now contained some
75,000 people, mostly women and children.
19 March 1901, The Boer leader, Botha, rejected
16 March 1901, Negotiations between Kitchener,
for Britain, and the Boer leader Louis Botha broke down because Britain refused
to accept an amnesty for Boers and other rebels in the Cape and Natal
Provinces.
15 December 1900, Soon after Lord Roberts declared that the Boer War was
over, British troops in South Africa suffered a surprise defeat and the capture
of hundreds of their men by the Boer attackers led by General P.H. Kritzinger. 573 men
in four companies of the Northumberland Fusiliers were taken prisoner at the
battle of Magaliesberg.
12 December 1900, In London, the War Office announced that the Boer War had cost
the lives of over 11,000 soldiers, over two thirds of that number due to
disease.
25 October 1900, Britain annexed the former Boer South African
Republic, and renamed it the Transvaal Colony. This ended the Boer War.
6 October 1900, Boer
leader Paul Kruger travelled
to Germany to ask for support, but Kaiser Wilhelm
II refused to meet him.
4 July 1900, Britain
annexed the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. Kruger travelled to Germany to
try and gain support for the Boers. However on 6 October 1900 Kaiser Wilhelm
II refused to meet with Kruger.
11 June 1900, Battle
of Diamond Hill, near Pretoria, Second Boer War. Lord Roberts attacked General Botha,
driving him from his position.
5 June 1900, Briitsh
troops captured Pretoria.
1 June 1900, In
South Africa, the city of Pretoria surrendered to British troops under Lord Roberts.
31 May 1900, The
British took Johannesburg.
24 May 1900. Britain annexed the
18 May 1900, At 9:17 p.m. in London, the Reuters news agency
broke the news of the victory at Mafeking. As author Phillip Knightley later noted, "Britain
went mad. The celebrations lasted for five nights, and surpassed the victory
celebrations of the First and Second World Wars in size, intensity, and
enthusiasm. Baden-Powell
became the most popular English hero since Nelson, and a household name not only in
Britain but also throughout the United States
17 May 1900. The British relieved Mafeking, after a siege of 217 days
which began on 12 October 1899, in the Boer War.
25 April 1900, The
British Army in South Africa used balloon observers to direct fire on Boer
positions.
9 April 1900. The Boers defeated the British at Kronstadt.
15 March 1900, British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury rejected US President
McKinley�s offer to mediate in the Boer War.
13 March 1900. General Roberts captured
28 February 1900. The relief of Ladysmith,
The British,
however, were losing huge numbers of horses in their cavalry campaigns during the Boer
War. From 1899-1902 347,000 of the total 518,000 British horses died. The country
was not short of good grazing, and just 2% were lost directly in battle. Most
died of overwork, disease or malnutrition. Attila the Hun may have suffered similar
attrition to his fighting capabilities in the 400s.
27 February 1900. The Boer General, Piet Cronje,
surrendered to the British after
his defeat at Paarderberg.
16 February 1900. Siege of
11 February 1900, South African forces under
Colonel
Hannay began an invasion of the Orange Free State.
24 January 1900. The British under General Warren took Spion Kop, in the Boer War.
6 January 1900, Battle of Ladysmith.
27 December 1899, Harry Escombe, South African
politician, died (born 25 July 1838).
16 December 1899. At the end of a bad week for the British in South Africa, 2,000 men
and 12 heavy guns had been lost in battles with the Boers.
15 December 1899. The Boers defeated the
British, under Sir
Redvers Buller, at the Battle of Colenso.
11 December 1899. The Boers under Piet Cronje defeated the British at Magersfontein.
15/11/1899. Sir Winston Churchill was captured by the Boers whilst working as
a reporter for the Morning Post. He was on board an armoured train
derailed in an ambush, and had persuaded the engine driver to take the remains of
the train back with the wounded, and was captured by a Boer horseman with a
rifle; Churchill had lost his pistol helping clear the railway line. He escaped
a few weeks later.
2/11/1899. The Boers
under Piet
Joubert laid siege to Ladysmith, an important railway junction in
Natal. See 28 February 1900.
20 October 1899, Battle at Talana Hill, near Dundee, Natal, in the Boer War.
17 October 1899, British
troops defeated the Boers at Glencoe.
15 October 1899. The Boers, who surrounded Mafeking on 12 October 1899,
laid siege to Kimberley. The siege of Kimberley was lifted by the British on 16
February 1900.
14 October 1899. Winston Churchill left for
South Africa to report for The Morning Post.
12 October 1899, The Boers began the siege of Mafeking.� Baden Powell
defended the town until it wads relieved by Colonel Plumer 217 days later.
11 October 1899. The Boer War began. (See 31 May 1902). It was between the
British Empire and the Republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free
State. President
Kruger of the Orange
Free State had sent a telegram to Britain on 9/11/1899 demanding that
Britain stop sending troops and arms to South Africa. Troubles had begun in the
1890s with the discovery of gold and diamonds in the Transvaal and this
prompted many prospectors to arrive in the area. The Boers called them
Uitlanders and President Kruger of the Transvaal taxed them
heavily and refused them the vote. He feared that if they had the vote, Cecil Rhodes, Premier of Cape Province, who
had considerable mining interests, would gain control of the Transvaal. Kaiser William of Germany expressed support
for the Boers in the �Kruger Telegram� of 1896; Britain�s imperial ambitions were making her unpopular abroad at this
time.
The Boers had 50,000 men
against the British with 15,000 regulars in South Africa and another 10,000 due
from India.� The Boers had better
knowledge of the terrain, and their horsemen war more mobile then the ponderous
British forces, whose fighting was based on Crimean tactics.� However the Boers were to waste their forces
in besieging the British in strategically unimportant towns such as Ladysmith,
instead of sending the majority of their forces out in to South Africa and
depriving the British of naval supplies by capturing the ports.
6 January 1896. Cecil Rhodes was forced to resign as Prime Minister of Cape Colony because of his
involvement in the Jameson raid.
2 January 1896, The Jameson Raid, into the Boer colony of Transvaal to support
British settlers, ended in failure.
29 December 1895. Leander Starr Jameson, an agent of the British South Africa Company,
invaded the Boer Republic of Transvaal with 470 men. On 2 January 1896 Jameson
surrendered At Doorn Kop after a defeat at Krugersdorp. On 3 January 1896 Kaiser William
II sent a telegram to Paul Kruger
congratulating him on the defeat of Jameson.
This caused outrage in Britain, which saw the
telegram as an attempt by Germany to expand its
influence in Africa. Britain mocked the German Navy, saying it would be
�child�s play� for the British Navy to wipe it out. Wilhelm I now decided on a course of
massive expansion of the German Navy, seeing Britain no longer as an ally but a
potential threat.
5 June 1899, In
South Africa the Bloemfontein Conference ended with Britain and the Boers
failing to agree on an extension of the franchise to non-Boer Whites, or
Uitlanders, in the Transvaal.
13/11/1893, The Boer republic of the
Transvaal annexed the African State of Swaziland.
10 May 1893, The British colony of Natal,
South Africa, became self-governing.
17 July 1890. Cecil Rhodes became Prime Minister of the Cape
Colony.
29
October 1889. Britain granted a
charter to the British South Africa
Company, under Cecil Rhodes, to colonise Bechuenaland and other parts of southern Africa.
21
June 1887, In South Africa, Britain
seized Zululand in order to block the Boer�s access to the sea.
20 September 1886.
The city of Johannesburg was founded.
8 September 1886, Thousands flocked to
Witwatersrand, South Africa, as public gold digging was
permitted.
6 February 1886. An English carpenter, George Walker, discovered gold in the Transvaal, South Africa. Whilst digging the
foundations for a cottage for a gold prospector, his shovel uncovered a seam of
gold; specks of the metal had been found in rivers for the past 30 years but
geologists now believed the Witwatersrand Ridge, in the Boer Republic, contained
large gold fields. Boers feared a large influx of foreigners.
British-Zulu
conflict 1879-97
30 December 1897, Zululand was annexed to Natal.
8 February 1884, King Cetywayo,
former ruler of the Zulus, died, see 29 January 1883.
29 January 1883, King Cetywayo
of the Zulus was restored to a
(part of) his old kingdom by the British under Shepstone, as decided by PM Gladstone.� However Cetywayo�s enemies attacked within the week,
and after a year�s fighting Cetywayo was defeated and fled to a native
reserve at Ekowe, see 8 February 1884.
28 July 1879, King Cetywayo
of the Zulus was captured
by the British.� He was brought to London
in August 1882, where Gladstone decided upon his restoration, but
only to a part of his old Kingdom.� See
29 January 1883.
4 July 1879, The
British routed the Zulus at
Ulundi, see 11 January 1879 and 28 August 2879.
22 January 1879, Battle of Rorke�s Drift, where a few
British soldiers fought off a large Zulu
army. Eleven VCs were awarded for this action.
11 January 1879. The British-Zulu war began.� Lord Chelmsford
entered Zululand, with 13,000 troops.�
The British accused the Zulu King, Cetywayo, of fomenting revolt
against the Boers and British.� The
British, in December 1878, demanded reparations from Cetywayo, whilst awarding him
the territory he claimed from the Boers. �See 4 July 1879.
23 January 1894, King Lobengula of Matabeleland was killed.
16 April 1883, Paul Kruger became President of South Africa.
9 December 1881, Thomas Burgers, President of the Transvaal
Republic, died (born 15 April 1834).
5 April 1881, The Convention of Pretoria; The Transvaal
became effectively independent, with only nominal British sovereignty.
27 February 1881. The Boers defeated a British force at the Battle of Majuba in Northern Transvaal,
killing 359 men. This was part of a force of 1,500 men that had marched into
the Transvaal in December 1880.
8 February 1881, Battle
of Ingogo River, First Boer War. The Boers defeated a small British force
of 5 companies, 4 guns and a mounted force.
28 January 1881, The Boers defeated the British at Laing�s
Nek.
30 December 1880, The
Transvaal became a Republic, headed by Paul Kruger.
9 December 1880, After
Britain had annexed the Transvaal in 1877, on this day 9,000 Boers fought for
their freedom and won, see 9 December 1838, 16 December 1949.
16 December 1879, The Transvaal Republic was founded.
29 March 1879, Battle of
Kambula, Zulu War. The British under Colonel Wood defeated the Zulus under Cetewayo.
28 March 1879, Battle of
Inhlobane Mountain, Zulu War. A british force of 1,300 under Colonels Buller
and Russell
was defeated by a Zulu force.
22 January 1879, Battle
of Isandhlwana, Zulu War. Six Companies of the 24th Regiment
under Colonel
Durnford were overwhelmed by a Zulu attack under Matyana.
12 April 1877. Britain annexed the South African Republic of Transvaal, to the anger
of the Boer farmers. The Transvaal treasury was bankrupt following
false hopes of gold and a costly war against the Black population. At the Sand
River Conference in 1852 Britain had
recognised the Transvaal, but now Britain claimed that the republic was unable
to defend itself and that British subjects there were in danger. The Boers
offered non-violent resistance, and their leader, Paul Kruger, went to London to
present their case.
22 May 1874, Daniel Malan, the South African politician who was responsible for the apartheid
policy, was born in Riebeck West, Cape Province.
27 October 1871. In South Africa, Britain annexed the diamond-rich region
of Griqualand West.
1870, Diamonds were discovered
at Kimberley.
24 May 1870, Jan
Christian Smuts, South African soldier and Prime Minister, was born
in Malmesbury, Cape Colony.
12 February 1869, Sir
John Brand, President of the Orange Free State, concluded a second
Treaty with the Basuto, thye Treaty of Aliwal North, after they had resumed
hostilities following the Treaty of 3 April 1866.
3 April 1866, Sir
John Brand, President of the Orange Free State,� concluded the Treaty of Thaba Bosigo with the
Basuto people of South Africa, against whose incursions he had been fighting
since 1865. See 12 February 1869.
27 September 1862, Louis Botha, South African military commander
and first President of the country in 1910, was born near Greytown, Natal.
12 July 1856, Natal was made a British colony.
1855, The city of Pretoria
was founded. The ground on which it stands was purchased from the Boers
by Martinus
Pretorius.
7 October 1854, Christian de
Wet, Boer General, was born.
23 March 1854, Alfred Milner,
British colonial administrator of South Africa, was born.
17 February 1854, Britain
signed the Convention of Bloemfontein,
agreeing to withdraw from territory in South Africa north of the Orange River.
This left the Orange Free State for Boer settlers.
5
July 1853, The colonial administrator Cecil Rhodes, Prime Minister of Cape Colony 1890-96,
was born at Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, the 7th of 11
children..� His father was a vicar.
17 January 1852, Britain
recognised the independence of the Transvaal Boers.
4 May 1843, Natal, South Africa, was declared a British
colony. This was during a period of conflict between the Boers and the British.
The Boers moved further inland to retain self-government.
15 July 1842, The Dutch signed a treaty agreeing that Durban was
under British rule.
Zulu Wars,
1837-38
16 December 1838 �At the Battle
of Blood River, 500 Boers defeated the Zulus under Dingaan. This was in revenge for
the killing of Boer leader, Piet Retief, and other Zulu attacks on Boer
settllements in February 1838. See 6 February 1838, 9 December 1838, 9 December
1880, 16 December 1949.
9 December 1838, Boer
commander Andries
Pretorius and his 460 men vowed to observe an annual Day of Thanksgiving if God granted them
victory over the Zulus. Seven days later they met 10,000 Zulus in battle; 3,000
Zulus died for the loss of 2 Boers, and Pretorius kept his vow.
22 September 1828, Shaka,
the Zulu King who founded the Zulu Kingdom in southern Africa, was murdered,
aged 41, by his brothers Dingane and Mhlangane; they now ruled
jointly.
12 April 1838, British
settlers in South Africa heavily defeated the Zulus at the Battle of Tugela.
17 February 1838, The Weenen Massacre. Voortrekkers were
slaughtered by Zulus near the town of Weenen, South Africa.
6 February 1838, The Boer
leader, Piet
Retief, was executed by the Zulu Chief Dingaan.
16 December 1837, Zulu Chief Dingaan
was defeated by a small force of Boers at Blood River.
25 July 1838, Harry Escombe,
South African politician, was born (died 27 December 1899).
1835, The township of Durban was
laid out, named after Sir Benjamin D�Urban, then Governor of Cape Colony.
1 December 1834, The slaves of the British Cape Colony were
freed; this caused resentment amongst Boer farmers who were not consulted over
the move.
15 April 1834, Thomas Burgers, President of the Transvaal
Republic, was born (died 9 December 1881).
20 January 1834, Petrus Joiubert, South African statesman, was
born (died 28 March 1900).
10 October 1825, Paul Kruger, South African politician and Boer leader, was born in Colesberg, Cape Colony.
1824, English colonists first
settled at what is now Durban (see 1835).
6 December 1823, Sir John Brand, President of the Orange Free
State, was born in Cape Town (died 14 July 1888).
13 August 1814, The British took over the colony of Cape of
Good Hope from the Dutch.
24 January 1814, John Colenso, Bishop of Natal, was born (died
20 June 1883).
10
January 1806.
Britain
seized the Cape Colony (South Africa) from the Dutch, whose government in Europe was a puppet of Napoleon. The
Boers were defeated at the Battle of Blaawberg. However the Boers, despite
having little love for the French, seemed to like the British even less;
Britain seized this colony in 1795, at the Battle of Muizenberg, but faced a
Boer rebellion there in 1801 and gave it up at the Treaty of Amiens, 1802.
16
September 1795,
In June 1795 a British fleet with 4,000 soldiers arrived off the Dutch Cape Colony (South Africa) to prevent the French from taking the territory. This
day the British soldiers landed at Muizenberg, and the Dutch soldiers, under Governor
Sluysken, largely fled without a fight. Sluyksen managed to negotiate a
truce with the British, but was soon evicted from power by settlers in the
interior who resisted his rule.
6 June 1781. Dutch Boer settlers in South Africa
massacred black Xhosa tribesmen for the third time in three years. Dutch
settlers were been expanding eastwards, and successfully enslaving or driving
away the Khoisan tribes, but the Xhosa put up more resistance.
31
December 1687,
The first boatload of Huguenots
sailed from Holland to settle in South Africa. They took vines to start a wine industry in the new colony.
7 April 1652. The first permanent European settlement in
Africa was founded by the Dutchman Jan Van Riebeck,
at Table Bay. For decades earlier, since the 1500s, ships, mostly Dutch and English,
had anchored here to refit their vessels for the voyage to the east. In 1620
two Englishmen, officers of the East
India Company, took it upon their own initiative to possess Table Bay in
the name of King
James, for fear that the Dutch would claim the area and charge
English ships to refit there. But London did not approve of their action and it
had no effect. The Portuguese influence was declining and they were not in a
position to resist the Dutch. The English seized St Helena island as a halfway
house to the east. France took colonies in Madagascar and elsewhere. The Dutch settlement was the beginning of the Boer,
farmer, settlers.
21 April 1634, Jan van Riebeck, Dutch surgeon and founder
of Cape Town, was born in The Netherlands.
29 May 1500, Bartholomew
Diaz, the Portuguese explorer who discovered the Cape of Good Hope in 1488,
was drowned during a storm at sea.
23 May 1498. Vasco da Gama
arrived at Calicut, southern India, after
discovering a route via the tip of southern Africa.
25 January 1498, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama visited Quelimane
and Mozambique in southeastern Africa.
25 December 1497, The Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama
reached the part of South Africa which he called Natal.
22/11/1497. The Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope in his search for a route to India. His fleet
comprised the St Gabriel, the St Raphael,
the Berrio, and a store ship. See 24 December 1524. He had set sail from
Lisbon on 8 July 1497.
8 July 1497, Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama set sail from
Lisbon to attempt to find a sea passage to India.
3 February 1488, Bartholomew Diaz of Portugal landed in Mossel
Bay, after rounding the Cape of Good Hope (which he called the Cape of Storms).� He was
the first known European to travel this far south.
For pre-European colonisation indigenous African
States in souhern Africa, see Zimbabwe
