Language/Zulu/Culture/South-Africa-Timeline
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Historical Timeline for South Africa - A chronology of key events
South Africa Timeline[edit | edit source]
Date | Event |
---|---|
3.3 million years BC. AD | Little Foot Australopithecus lives in the Magaliesberg region. |
100,000 BC AD | Presence of Homo sapiens. |
1st century BC. BC | Presence of Bushmen, pottery making near Cape Town. |
1300 | Installation of the Nguni in Natal. |
1488 | Bartolomeu Dias discovers the Cape of Good Hope. |
1497 | Vasco da Gama in his turn doubles the Cape of Good Hope. |
1593 | Nguni herders settle in Transkei. |
1652 | Jan Van Riebeeck sets up a counter in Cape Town for the V.O.C. |
1658 | Arrival of the first slaves from Java, Madagascar and the Gulf of Guinea. |
1680 | Foundation of Stellenbosch, Paarl. |
1688-1700 | Some 225 French Huguenots settle around Cape Town. |
1775 | Series of nine "border" wars against the Xhosa and the Boers. |
1795 | The British occupy the province of Cape Town. |
1803 | The Dutch retake Cape Town. |
1807 | The slave trade is prohibited in the British Empire. |
1806 - 1815 | The English settle permanently in Cape Town. |
1818 | Zulu leader Shaka sows terror. |
1820 | Arrival of 5,000 British colonists in Algoa Bay. |
1833 | Abolition of slavery throughout the Empire. |
1835 | Beginning of the Great Trek, the Boers march towards the Transvaal and Natal. |
1838 | Battle of the Blood River where the Boers defeat the Zulus. |
1843 | The English annex Natal. |
1852 and 1854 | London recognizes the independence of the two Boer entities, the South African Republic of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. |
1860 | Arrival in Natal of the first Indians employed in the cultivation of sugar cane. |
1867 | Discovery of the first diamond in Hopetown. |
1877- 1979 | Annexation of the Transvaal by Great Britain. |
1886 | Beginning of the gold rush. Johannesburg Foundation. |
1890 | Rhodes becomes Prime Minister of Cape Town. |
1893 | Gandhi arrives in South Africa; he founded the Indian Congress. |
1899-1902 | Boer War. Victory of the English. |
1910 | Creation of the Union of South Africa. |
1912 | Launch of the South African Native National Congress. |
1914 | Hertzog founds the National Party. The Union goes to war alongside the Allies. |
1923 | Creation of the African National Congress (ANC). |
1936 | Blacks lose the right to vote in Cape Town. |
1939 | The Union goes to war against the Axis. |
1948 | The National Party comes to power. Separate development laws are going to be passed. |
1949 | The Youth League, with Mandela, takes control of the ANC. |
1951 | Introduction of "passes" for blacks. |
1955 | The South African People's Congress adopts the Freedom Charter. |
1958 | Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid, is Prime Minister. |
1959 | Creation of the Bantustans and foundation of the Pan-African Congress. |
1960 | Sharpeville Massacre. The ANC is banned. Its president Albert Luthuli receives the Nobel Peace Prize. |
1961 | The Union of South Africa becomes the independent Republic of South Africa. Nelson Mandela goes into hiding. The ANC creates its armed branch. |
1962 | International tour of Mandela, arrested on his return. |
1963-1964 | At the "Rivonia trial", Mandela and the ANC leaders are sentenced to life imprisonment. |
1971 | Appearance of the Black Consciousness movement with Steve Biko. |
1976 | Riots by Soweto schoolchildren against Afrikaans. More than 500 dead and thousands of arrests. |
1984 | Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu wins the Nobel Peace Prize. |
1985 | Inkatha and the ANC go to war in the townships. Emergency state. |
1986 | Abolition of "passes" and authorization of mixed marriages. |
1989 | Frederik de Klerk becomes president. |
1990 | De Klerk frees Mandela after twenty-seven years in prison, abolishes the state of emergency, legalizes the ANC and repeals the laws on segregation in public places. The South Africans withdraw from South West Africa, which becomes independent Namibia. |
1991-1993 | Abolition of the major apartheid laws. The Interim Constitution for a Non-Racial Society is adopted. |
1994 | Mandela and de Klerk receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The ANC wins the first multiracial elections, installation of the coalition government. |
1995 | First democratic local elections. The ANC wins with more than 60% of the vote. |
1996 | Adoption of the final Constitution. |
1998 | Desmund Tutu gives President Mandela the five-volume report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. |
1999 | Second general elections in South Africa. Victory of the ANC. On June 14, Thabo Mbeki, the dolphin, is elected president for five years. |
2004 | Comfortably re-elected, Mbeki begins a second five-year term. |
2005 | Mbeki dismisses Vice-President Jacob Zuma, hero of the anti-apartheid struggle, implicated in a corruption case. |
2007 | Jacob Zuma is brought to the head of the ANC despite his legal setbacks. |
2008 | The Director General of Police is suspended for corruption. |
2008 | Resignation of Mbeki disowned by his party. Kgalema Motlanthe is appointed interim president. |
2009 | The ANC wins the elections, Zuma is elected President of the Republic. |
2010 | Organization of the Football World Cup. A first on the African continent. |
May 2012 | Re-election of Jacob Zuma at the head of the African National Congress, which confirms his leadership position, despite the corruption scandals and manners that mar his reputation. |
August 2012 | Marikana Massacre: 34 striking minors are killed by the police without warning. Emotion all over the country. |
December 2013 | Death of Nelson Mandela, the whole country is bereaved by the loss of its icon. |
May 2014 | Presidential elections, against a backdrop of social tensions and violent demonstrations. Jacob Zuma is reappointed. |
April 2016 | Nkandla case. The Constitutional Court orders President Zuma to repay part of the public funds used to renovate his private residence. He accepts but refuses to resign, demanded by the opposition. |
August 2016 | The municipal elections confirm the decline of the ANC. Large cities like Johannesburg, Pretoria or Port-Elizabeth are won by the opposition Democratic Alliance. |
October 2016 | The economic partnership agreement with the European Union enters into provisional application. It should help strengthen trade relations between the EU and South Africa. |
December 2017 | Jacob Zuma leaves the ANC presidency. |
January 2018 | South Africa assumes the presidency of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) for the year 2018. |
February 2018 | Zuma resigns from his post as President of the Republic. Vice-President Cyril Ramaphosa is elected by Parliament. |
May 2019 | Next elections. |
Sources[edit | edit source]
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