A Brief History

In 1488, Khoe herders were tending to their cattle when they spotted a large boat in the distance. The Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias had landed his ship on the shores of Mossel Bay. The Khoe were the first people of southern Africa to meet the Europeans. The sailors were not always welcome, and the Khoe were thankful the strangers never stayed long. But all that would change in 1652. That year, Dutch sailors set anchor off the coast of the Cape of Good Hope. South Africa’s long history of colonization had begun.

The Dutch East India Company established a settlement near the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. It was meant to be a place where sailors could stop for fresh food before they set off to Asia. However, the Dutch sailors began to stay and farm the land. Over the next 100 years, more European people came to South Africa, and the Khoe lost much of the land they used to herd cattle. During this time, many fights broke out between the Khoe and the Dutch.

The Khoe struggled to survive and began working for the Dutch farmers. They worked alongside enslaved people who had been sent to the Cape from other parts of Africa and Asia. Both the enslaved workers and Khoe dealt with harsh conditions.

By 1806, the British Empire had taken control of the Cape Colony, and many British settlers began moving to the area and taking over land. Under British rule, the Cape Colony had new laws which made English the official language. In 1833, the British also banned slavery across their empire. Many Dutch-speaking farmers in the colony did not agree with these laws and decided to leave. More than 10,000 farmers, known as the Boers, traveled by wagons to the interior part of South Africa. This event is known as the Great Trek.

As the different groups of Boers traveled north and east, they met many African peoples, including the powerful kingdoms of the Sotho, Pedi, Zulu, and Ndebele. The African kingdoms often treated the Boers and British as they did other Indigenous kingdoms. At times, they had peaceful relationships with each other. They traded goods or saw each other as allies fighting against a common enemy. At first, some of the African leaders let the Boers use the land in the region. However, the Boers soon claimed the land as their own and fighting broke out. Eventually, the farmers set up republics where they created their own laws. These Boer republics would be known as the Orange Free State and South African Republic.

After diamonds were discovered in the region, the British wanted to expand their control and battled the Zulu kingdom. By the end of the 19th century, the Zulu had lost much of Zululand to the British as well as the ability to rule themselves.

Tensions between the Boers and the British were growing. Gold had been found in the Boer republics, and many British workers moved to the area to mine. During this time, Black mine workers also began to face inequality when compared to White workers. The British hoped to bring the Boer republics and the goldfields under their control, but the Boers wanted independence. In 1899, the South African War began between the British Empire and the Boer republics. At the end of the war, the British took over the republics and united all its South African colonies into a new country called the Union of South Africa. This country would have its own government but still be tied to the British Empire.

Life in this new country was far from equal. Only White people were allowed to become members of parliament, and most Black people were not allowed to vote. It also became very hard for Black people to buy or rent land to farm.

In 1912, a group of Black South Africans formed the South African Native National Congress (later called the African National Congress) to protest discrimination against Black people. Many other groups, including those of South Asian ancestry and people of mixed descent, also formed groups to protest unfair treatment.

By 1949, South Africa had laws that separated people by race. This was the beginning of a system known as apartheid. Many other countries that had been part of the British Empire did not agree with apartheid and began pressuring South Africa to change. In 1960, the White population voted to leave the British Empire and make South Africa a republic. Under this new republic, the unfair apartheid system continued. It finally ended in 1994 when South Africa became a democratic country. That year, the people elected the country’s first Black president: Nelson Mandela. This event marked a new era in South Africa’s history.

The history of colonialism in South Africa spans centuries. It tells the story of many different peoples, empires, and kingdoms. There were times when these people had peaceful relationships with each other, but there were many periods of conflict. This colonial past has shaped South Africa, and in many ways, it still impacts the nation and its people today.