1st Millennium	South Africa is populated by: hunter-gatherers later known as "Bushmen" or "San," pastoralists, speaking KhoiKhoi and Khoisan,, and agriculturalists who speak one of many "Bantu" languages
1652	Small party of Dutchmen led by Jan van Riebeeck arrives at Cape with the purpose of establishing a refreshment station for ships; when they discover that the resources of the Cape are readily available, they decide to establish a colony
1770	Europeans and Bantu-speaking peoples meet at the Great Fish River; a long period of war begins forced land appropriation ensues throughout the 18th Century, indigenous South Africans fight the Europeans Europeans form "commandoes" to fight the indigenous people, and most of the San are killed the colony continues to expand from immigration and the import of slaves: 60,000 slaves are imported from Indonesia, India, Madagascar, and the East African coast between 1652 and 1807. Some are housed in the Slave Lodge, Cape Town.
1795	British conquer the Cape
1799	South African Missionary Society is established in South Africa, founded by members of the London Missionary Society
1803	Colony returned to status of Batavian Republic
1806	British are reinstated
1808	Slave trade to British colonies is forbidden
1809	Codes are issued by governors purportedly improving farmer-Khoi relations, realistically institutionalizing an unequal employer-employee relationship
1811	The British army is used in conflicts against amaXhosa, destroying any equality in the battlefield
1820	Zulu Kingdom under Shaka emerges as prominent power in present day KwaZulu-Natal First substantial settlement of English speakers established at Port Elizabeth
1834	All slaves in the Cape are "liberated".
1836	The Great Trek: Thousands of Dutch speakers, (now known as Afrikaners or Boers [farmers]) travel north, out of the colony
1838	Zulus are crushed by group of Voortrekkers (Afrikaners on the trek) at Battle of Blood River. A huge hill-top monument to the Voortrekkers is now in Pretoria, in Gauteng Province
1842	British annex Natal
1846	Defeat of amaXhosa at the War of the Axe
1852	Transvaal republic established by Voortrekkers
1853	Cape Constitution; Franchise established in Cape on the basis of male property ownership
1854	Orange Free State established by Voortrekkers (still called the Free State Province today)
1855	In addition to a series of droughts, lung sickness plagues cattle
1857	The Xhosa Cattle Killing; amaXhosa are weakened, event known as the National Suicide of the amaXhosi.
1867	Diamonds are discovered near Vaal River
1870s	Kimberley becomes a mining town and thousands of South African labourers are placed in labour compounds, excluded from the town centers
1877	Sir Theophilus Shepstone annexes the Transvaal according to British instruction
1881	First Anglo-Boer War; British army is defeated at Majuba Hill by the Boers; Transvaal is again independent
1886	Gold is discovered in Southern Transvaal; Paul Kruger is President of Transvaal at the time
1890s	Johannesburg has become a city of men; in 1898 there were 98 men for every 1 woman
1893	Mohandas Gandhi arrives in Durban on South Africa's eastern coast as a young lawyer, later activates and leads the local Indian population in campaigns against racism against Indians and pass book requirements.
1896	Glen Grey Acts Jameson Raid organized as excuse for British intervention
1899	Second Anglo-Boer War; Under the leadership of Paul Kruger, Afrikaner-controlled Transvaal and Orange Free State republics go to war with the British; called the "South African War," the "Boer War," or the "Second War of Liberation," depending on whom you ask
1900	British use scorched earth tactics and concentration camps against Boer civilians; 20,000 Afrikaner women and children die in the camps of malnutrition and disease. During the war untold thousands of the African population were killed. Many of the Africans were caught in the middle of the war, resulting in untold deaths counting in the thousands.
1902	War ends, British are victorious and annex the Transvaal Republics.
1904-07	60,000 men from China are brought to South Africa as unskilled labour.
1910	Union of South Africa is created retaining close ties with Britian; Louis Botha becomes first Prime Minister and forms the South African Party (SAP) Qualified franchise is institutionalised as it has existed in each of the 4 colonies
1912	Later to become the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Native National Congress (SANNC) is founded with John L. Dube elected President of the organization
1913	Natives Land Act of 1913 establishes the African Reserves, dividing land between "black" and "white" South Africans; 87% of total land is established as "white". SANNC sends a petition protesting land act to the prime minister; a delegation from the SANNC traveled to Britain in protest; nothing was changed later Sol Plaatje led another delegation to Britain, in hopes of British intervention on behalf of black South Africans with no result. The ANC (SANNC) believed in trying to work within the system set up by the british.
1914	General James Barry Hertzog breaks from SAP and forms the National Party. What becomes the more conservative Afrikaner political party, in close relationship with the Broederbund.
1919	SANNC organized a protest of pass laws that had been in existence since 19th Century there is a large protest against low wages in Port Elizabeth; civilians fire at the crowd A delegation led by the president of the Women's League of the SANNC, Mrs. Charlotte Maxeke, convinces the Prime Minister to modify the pass law system JC Smuts becomes Prime Minister upon Botha's death Afrikaner Broederbond (a white supremacist group) is established
1920	South African Party combines itself with the Unionist Party. What is considered the British party. Native Affairs Act establishes a Native Affairs Commission
1920s	Industrial and Commercial Workers Union of Africa, largely supported by agricultural labourers but involving those from the cities and reserves as well, becomes a mass movement of protest against white rule
1921	Unrest becomes more violent Communist Party of South Africa is founded
1922	Martial law is instituted by Smuts; violence is widespread Protest of white workers under slogan: "Workers of the World, Fight and Unite for a White South Africa"
1924	JBM Hertzog becomes Prime Minister with a coalition government consisting of the National Party and the Labour Party
1925	SANNC becomes the African National Congress with Revd. Zaccheus Mahabane as President Hertzog Bills proposed but not passed as law aimed at limiting black South African rights even further; the proposal was for a return of some land to black South Africans in return for exclusion from the franchise. It was blocked mainly because white farmers did not want to give up their land.
1927	The Native Administration Act establishes the power of chiefs and headmen in the local governments of the Reserves. ANC's shift to the political left is apparent as Josiah Gumede and Communist James La Guma visit the Soviet Union
1928	Communist Party, a multiracial party, suffers factionalism
1933	National Party and South African Party are fused as the United Party Afrikaner Nationalism strengthened as a Bible in Afrikaans is published
1936	The Hertzog Bills are reintroduced The All African Convention is established as the formal black opposition to the government; established by Davidson Don Jabavu and Dr. Xuma; the ANC is quite weak and small at this point The Natives Bill is passed
1939	South Africa declares war on Germany and Hertzog resigns; Smuts becomes Prime Minister (most Afrikaners have anti-British and pro-Nazi sentiments)
1944	ANC Youth League is founded by a group including: Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Anton Lembede, A.P.Mda, Jordan Ngubane; and later Robert Sobukwe
1946	Communists J.B. Marks and Moses Kotane join National Executive of the ANC as does Anton Lembede
1947	Lembede dies but Walter Sisulu, Nelson Mandela, and Oliver Tambo remain as important leaders of black resistance J.B. Marks leads a miners' strike
1948	National Party Government is established by election victory, with D.F. Malan as Prime Minister; apartheid ("apartness") becomes the institution of government
1949	Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act
1950s	Hendrik Verwoerd, one of the main architects of apartheid, is Minister of Native Affairs
1950	Population Registration Act enforced Immorality Act Group Areas Act Suppression of Communism Act Delegates from the South African Indian Congress, APO, African National Congress and Communist Party meet in an emergency conference in response to the Suppression of Communism Act
1952	Pass Laws implemented The nonviolent: Defiance Against Unjust Laws Campaign (popularly known as The Defiance Campaign) is launched by the ANC
1953	Bantu Education Bill established (education for Africans to be only servants and labourers) The Congress Alliance is established: The Coloured People's Congress, the Congress of Democrats, the South African Congress of Trade Unions, South African Indian Congress, and African National Congress
1955	Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is established Congress of the People held; Freedom Charter was established calling for a government of the people under which all would be equal
1956	Riotous Assemblies Act passed to repress mass opposition August 9, Mass Women's March and Rally -- this day is later established by the new democratic government as South African Women's Day
1957	The Black Sash, the Mothers' Union and the Women's Federation protest the Nursing Amendment Act
1958	Hendrik Verwoerd becomes Prime Minister Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), led by Robert Sobukwe, breaks from ANC
1959	Bantu Self-Government Act reaffirms geographic segregation and establishes "homelands" (also called Bantustans) supposedly based on ethnicity; these lands being the most remote and barren 13% of the country -- often not even contiguous the United Nations and the rest of the world refuse to recognize the Bantustans as "independent nations"
1960s	Most of the leadership of the Resistance is in exile, under house arrest, or in prison Close connections are established between governments and liberation movements in South Africa and neighboring Rhodesia, Angola and Mozambique
March 21, 1960	Sharpeville Massacre: PAC organizes a mass demonstration; police open fire on the crowd; 69 Protesters are killed, hundreds injured; this day is later established by the new democratic government as Human Rights Day
1960	Unlawful Organizations Act; ANC and PAC are banned
December 16, 1961	Birth of Umkhonto we Sizwe (meaning Spear of the Nation, also known simply as MK) - a group formed from the ANC, led by Nelson Mandela and Joe Slovo (head of the SA Communist Party), with the purpose of carrying out sabotage of infrastructure, with the aim of not harming the public, but would intensify the struggle; this day is later established by the new democratic government as the Day of Reconciliation at this time Albert Luthuli is President of the ANC and Moses Kotane is General Secretary of the Communist Party
1962	General Law Amendment Act The Rivonia Trial; Nelson Mandela and 7 comrades are sentenced to life imprisonment
1964-90	Mandela is imprisoned on Robben Island Prison and in Polsmoor Prison, both outside of Cape Town.
December 1966	156 people are arrested one morning for alleged Communism and High Treason .
1967	Terrorism Act South African Students' Organisation established; Steve Biko is one of the founders
1975	South African/Rhodesian backed force, the Mocambique National Resistance (MNR or RENAMO) established in Mozambique to counter-act the Socialist government of FRELIMO which overthrew Portugese colonial rule.
June 16, 1976	Soweto Uprisings -- thousands of students hold demonstration in protest of mandatory schooling in the Afrikaans language; Soweto (South West Township) is a huge African township of Johannesburg; Police fire at fleeing children; According to offical figures, 25 children were killed and 200 were injured; real figures are several hundred children killed; rioting spread throughout the country within days; this day is later established by the new democratic government as Youth Day. by 1977, thousands of people had been injured, and many hundreds had been killed Transkei "Homeland" is granted independence, capital is Umtata (the Transkei later becomes the Eastern Cape Province)
1977	Steve Biko, founder of the "Black Consciousness" movement, is arrested for disobeying a banning order, he is beaten and tortured
September 12, 1977	Biko dies in police custody and is buried outside of King William's Town, Eastern Cape, near his family home.
1978	P.W. Botha becomes Prime Minister
1980s	Violence breaks out between the ANC and the Azanian People's Organization (AZAPO -- a more radical black liberation group) human rights lawyers, Griffith and Victoria Mxenge, husband and wife, are murdered, and are also buried outside of King William's Town in the Eastern Cape
1983	P.W. Botha introduces a constitutional amendment providing for a new "Tricameral"parliamentary structure with chambers for Asians and Coloureds (mixed race) -- but with advisory political power only; the elections are boycotted United Democratic Front (UDF) is established to counter government's proposals; rioting begins to spread throughout the country, UDF especially influential in the townships
1984	Nkomati Accord between South Africa and Mozambique - a non aggression pact that S. Africa does not honor, through its arming of RENAMO; eventually one million Mozambicans die in the South African-initiated Civil War New "constitution" ratified
1985	20+ people are killed by police in Langa, a township of Cape Town As violence escalates the government declares a state of emergency the rand is at an all-time low U.S. sanctions are imposed on South Africa The ANC meets with business leaders
1986	A state of emergency is declared by the government Urban Areas Act repealed 7 young men, later known as The Guguletu Seven, are killed by police in that township of Cape Town Samora Machel, president of Mozambique, killed in a suspicious plane crash -- S. African security forces strongly implicated
March 23, 1988	Final defeat of S. African army in Angola by Cuban troops at the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale -- regarded worldwide as a crucial turning point in the liberation of South Africa
1988	ANC publishes "Constitutional Guidelines for a Democratic Society" South African forces withdraw from Angola and Namibia
1989	Fall of the Berlin Wall; the ANC no longer has the USSR as a powerful support President Botha relinquishes leadership of the National Party; F.W. de Klerk becomes Prime Minister Harare Declaration adopted by the UN General Assembly; based on the Freedom Charter, this document laid out what would be necessary for sanctions to be ended and for the restoration of South Africa to "the community of nations"
1990	Organizations are unbanned, including the ANC and the SA Communist Party de Klerk releases political prisoners including Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu Violent conflict increases between the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), a largely Zulu group, which receives generous military, logistical and financial support from the apartheid regime 1990-1994.
1990-94	More than 15,000 people die in political violence; this death toll is more than twice the entire death toll recorded since 1950.
1991	Some integration of public schools begins Land Acts of 1913 and 1936, The Group Areas Act of 1966, and the Population Registration Act of 1950 are repealed Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) convenes but soon comes to a stand still; violence escalates throughout South Africa Another multi-party CODESA convention is set up Bisho Massacre outside of East London where "homeland" police fire on unarmed protesting civilians
1993	Interim constitution is established Chris Hani, leader of the SA Communist Party, is assassinated
April 1994	First democratic, nonracial elections; ANC wins 63% of the vote while NP gets 20% of the vote; Nelson Mandela is sworn in as South Africa's president Government of National Unity (GNU) is put in place with ministers of the NP, ANC and IFP Reconstruction and Development Program (RDP) put in place
1995	Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act is passed led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) begins its proceedings
1995-98	TRC conducts intensive investigations of murders and massacres, 80% of the applicants for disclosure and amnesty are Black citizens, few white state security personnel apply
1996	NP withdraws from the GNU, but later rejoins the political arena. Present-day Constitution is adopted with a comprehensive Bill of Rights and the Reconstruction and Development Program Growth Employment and Redistribution Strategy (GEAR) replaces RDP as central economic plan of the ANC led government, shifting economic focus to growth and investment, but with an over-all loss of 500,000 jobs by 1999
June 2 1999	Second Democratic Elections are held; Thabo Mbeki is elected President, and the ANC captures 66.35% of the national vote
May, 2000	President Mbeki visits the US and states that the poor countries of the world are being left out of the Globalization movement; he emphasizes that HIV/AIDS is linked closely with poverty, and that drugs alone will not change the root causes of the disease's alarming spread throughout Africa (currently an estimated 10% of S. Africa's population are HIV positive -- with Zimbabwe at 25%)
July, 2000	UN World Conference on HIV/AIDS in Durban.
May, 2001	Official investigation into allegations of corruption around South Africa's biggest arms transaction in several years. The 1999 deal involves British, French, German, Italian, Swedish and South African firms.
July, 2001	NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development) is adopted by SA and many other African nations at the 37th Summit of the OAU. Much discussion results from the market orientated approach laid out in the document.
September, 2001	Durban hosts the UN Race Conference. The US sends low-level government representatives. Due to the call for slave era reparations.
November, 2001	The ruling ANC and the New National Party (the same party that ran the Apartheid era SA) announce a merger. The Arms Investigation panel clears the government of unlawful conduct.
December, 2001	The Rand falls to all time low, despite playing the game of neo-liberalism to the hilt. The High Court rules that pregnant women must be given AIDS drugs.
August, 2002	UN Summit on Sustainable Development hosted in Sandton; the wealthiest suburb in South Africa. There were massive civil society demonstrations outside of the conference. Including the Landless Peoples Movement, Treatment Action Campaign and the Anti-Privatization League.
October, 2002	17 right-wing extremists are arrested on suspicion of plotting against the state.
May, 2003	Walter Sisulu, a key anti-apartheid figure, dies at the age of 91.
July, 2003	President Bush visits South Africa - in the wake of his $15bn pledge to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa. And his $10bn pledge for countries which promise to 'fight corruption and open their markets.' Nelson Mandela leaves the country in protest. Tells President Bush that he does not want to speak with him.
August, 2003	Government agrees to roll-out of anti-retroviral AIDS drugs, after much local and international pressure.
September, 2003	Group 24 of Southern Hemisphere countries (otherwise known as developing countries) combine to combat overwhelming force of the US and Europe in trade negotiations. The group is lead by SA, Brazil and India amongst others.
January, 2004	President Mbeki attend Haitian 200 year independence celebration.
March, 2004	New national budget released. Large increases in funding for AIDS, Social Security & Land Redistribution programs among many other social programs. Budget is dubbed the "people orientated budget".
April, 2004	Third national elections. The ANC wins with almost 70%, followed by the Democratic Alliance at 13%.
May, 2004	SA wins bid to host 2010 Soccer World Cup
June, 2004	Haitian President Arisitide arrives in SA as a political exile.