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140-602: The Cape Supergroup rocks were deposited in a purely marine setting, within a 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) wide passive margin basin known as the Cape Basin. The rocks were deposited over a 170-million-year period ranging from approximately 485 Ma ( Tremadocian ) to the Early Carboniferous (about 330 Ma; late Mississippian ). Up to 10 kilometres (33,000 ft) of strata were preserved throughout. The Cape Supergroup rocks later underwent deformation during

280-507: A largely non-violent struggle by the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid activists both inside and outside the country, the repeal of discriminatory laws began in the mid-1980s. Universal elections took place in 1994 , following which all racial groups have held political representation in the country's liberal democracy , which comprises a parliamentary republic and nine provinces. South Africa

420-475: A framework, the nationalist government classified all peoples into three races ( Whites , Blacks , Indians and Coloured people (people of mixed race) ) and developed rights and limitations for each. The white minority (less than 20%) controlled the vastly larger black majority. The legally institutionalised segregation became known as apartheid . While whites enjoyed the highest standard of living in all of Africa, comparable to First World Western nations,

560-461: A generally temperate climate because it is surrounded by the Atlantic and Indian Oceans on three sides, because it is located in the climatically milder Southern Hemisphere , and because its average elevation rises steadily toward the north (toward the equator) and further inland. This varied topography and oceanic influence result in a great variety of climatic zones. The climatic zones range from

700-699: A half after the discovery of the cape sea route, Jan van Riebeeck established a victualling station at the Cape of Good Hope, at what would become Cape Town , on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. In time, the cape became home to a large population of vrijlieden , also known as vrijburgers ( lit.   ' free citizens ' ), former company employees who stayed in Dutch territories overseas after serving their contracts. Dutch traders also brought thousands of enslaved people to

840-409: A high point of 62 years in 1992 to a low of 53 in 2005, and the failure of the government to take steps to address the pandemic in its early years. In May 2008, riots left over 60 people dead. The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions estimated that over 100,000 people were driven from their homes. The targets were mainly legal and illegal migrants , and refugees seeking asylum, but a third of

980-707: A major earthquake , originating from movement of the northern end of the Worcester Fault. Another major (inactive) fault runs for 300 km along the southern edge of the Swartberg Mountains. The Swartberg Mountains were uplifted along this fault, to such an extent that in the Oudtshoorn region the rocks that form the base of the Cape Supergroup are exposed. These are locally known as the "Cango Group", but are probably continuous with

1120-526: A maximum thickness of 2000 m, was laid down. These sandstones are very hard, and erosion resistant. They therefore form the bulk of mountains and steep cliffs and rugged crags of the Cape Fold Belt, including the upper 600 m of the 1 km high Table Mountain , below which Cape Town is situated. It contains no fossils. The Peninsula formation can be traced from 300 km north of Cape Town (i.e. about 50 km north of Vanrhynsdorp on

1260-421: A maximum width of about 50 km (mostly only 15–30 km wide). Almost all of these ranges consist of hard erosion resistant Peninsula Group rocks. The valleys tend to be floored by Bokkeveld Group mudstones. A remarkable feature of these ranges is that the 1500 m high mountains (from base to crest) are cut through by very narrow, almost vertically walled defiles , not much more than 50–70 m wide at

1400-644: A mountain range of immense proportions to the south of the former rift valley. The folded Cape Supergroup formed the northern foothills of this towering mountain range. The weight of the Falkland-Cape Supergroup mountains caused the continental crust of Southern Africa to sag, forming a retroarc foreland system, into which the Karoo Supergroup was deposited. Eventually much of the Cape Supergroup became buried under these Karoo deposits, only to re-emerge as mountains when upliftment of

1540-522: A period of intense political and economic crisis since 2020 with growing numbers of international institutions, businesses and political figures warning that the country risks collapsing into a failed state due to high unemployment, low economic growth, low business investment, rising levels of violent crime, disorder, political corruption, and state capture . The country has been undergoing an energy crisis since 2007, resulting in routine rolling electricity blackouts due to loadshedding . According to

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1680-556: A road cutting between Durban and Pietermaritzburg , particularly at the Marian Hill Toll Plaza. Most of the group has been deeply eroded by numerous rivers creating the ragged plateaus and scarps of the Durban-Pietermaritzburg region. With the widening and deepening of the rift valley, the entire southern portion of what was to become South Africa, as far as a line extending from Calvinia in

1820-673: A second term in office by the National Assembly against the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters , Julius Malema . South Africa is in southernmost Africa, with a coastline that stretches more than 2,500 km (1,553 mi) and along two oceans (the South Atlantic and the Indian). At 1,219,912 km (471,011 sq mi), South Africa is the 24th-largest country in the world. Excluding

1960-494: A shift towards industrialisation and urbanisation. The Union of South Africa was created in 1910 out of the former Cape , Natal , Transvaal , and Orange River colonies, becoming a republic in 1961 . Though a system of non-racial franchise had existed in the Cape, it was gradually eroded, and the vast majority of Black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994. The National Party imposed apartheid in 1948, institutionalising previous racial segregation . After

2100-515: A thin layer (on average only about 60 m thick ) in the Peninsula Formation rocks of the more inland mountains to the west of a line between Swellendam and Calvinia . These diamictite rocks are composed of finely ground mud, containing a jumble of faceted pebbles. They can easily be recognized at a distance as this formation readily erodes into fertile, gently sloping, green swaths in a landscape where this contrasts starkly with

2240-627: A transition of policies and government. In 1990, the National Party government took the first step towards dismantling discrimination when it lifted the ban on the ANC and other political organisations. It released Nelson Mandela from prison after 27 years of serving a sentence for sabotage. A negotiation process followed. With approval from the white electorate in a 1992 referendum , the government continued negotiations to end apartheid. South Africa held its first universal elections in 1994 , which

2380-553: A variety of brachiopods , as well as trilobites , molluscs , echinoderms (including starfish , crinoids , and the extinct blastoids and cystoids ), foraminifera and fish with jaws ( placoderms ). The upper layers of the Bokkeveld Group become increasingly more sandy, grading into the sandstone of the Witteberg Group , named for the range of mountains to the south of Matjiesfontein and Laingsburg in

2520-610: Is Afrikaans for mountain; its plural is berge .) 33°24′S 22°00′E  /  33.4°S 22°E  / -33.4; 22 South Africa South Africa , officially the Republic of South Africa ( RSA ), is the southernmost country in Africa . Its nine provinces are bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 miles) of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean ; to

2660-467: Is a multi-ethnic society encompassing a wide variety of cultures , languages , and religions ; it is often referred to as the " rainbow nation " to describe the country's multicultural diversity, especially in the wake of apartheid. Recognised as a middle power in international affairs, it maintains significant regional influence and is a member of BRICS , the African Union , SADC , SACU ,

2800-551: Is attested to by the fact that the 1 km high Table Mountain on the Cape Peninsula is a syncline mountain , meaning that it formed part of the bottom of a valley when the Cape Supergroup was initially folded. The anticline , or highest elevation of the fold between Table Mountain and the Hottentots-Holland Mountains (1.2 to 1.6 km elevation), on the opposite side of the isthmus connecting

2940-587: Is found throughout the extent of the lower Bokkeveld Group exposures. The Bokkeveld Group contains five complete coarsening-upward cycles and is arranged into three distinctive facies arrangements represented by the subgroups. The geological formations are also distinguished by their sedimentology of alternating mudstone / siltstone and sandstones . The Bokkeveld Group subgroups and their respective geological formations are listed below (from oldest to youngest): Ceres Subgroup: Bidouw Subgroup (West of 24ºE): Traka Subgroup (East of 24ºE): The bulk of

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3080-666: Is known as Namaqualand , which becomes more arid near the Orange River. The little rain that falls tends to fall in winter, which results in one of the world's most spectacular displays of flowers carpeting huge stretches of veld in spring (August–September). South Africa also has one offshore possession, the small sub-Antarctic archipelago of the Prince Edward Islands, consisting of Marion Island (290 km or 110 sq mi) and Prince Edward Island (45 km or 17 sq mi) South Africa has

3220-481: Is rare. The coldest place on mainland South Africa is Buffelsfontein in the Eastern Cape , where a temperature of −20.1 °C (−4.2 °F) was recorded in 2013. The Prince Edward Islands have colder average annual temperatures, but Buffelsfontein has colder extremes. The deep interior of mainland South Africa has the hottest temperatures: a temperature of 51.7 °C (125.06 °F) was recorded in 1948 in

3360-722: Is surrounded by the Great Escarpment whose eastern, and highest, stretch is known as the Drakensberg . Mafadi in the Drakensberg at 3,450 m (11,320 ft) is the highest peak. The KwaZulu-Natal–Lesotho international border is formed by the highest portion of the Great Escarpment which reaches an altitude of over 3,000 m (9,800 ft). The south and south-western parts of the plateau (at approximately 1,100–1,800   m above sea level) and

3500-522: Is truncated by the overlying Dwyka sediments of glacial origin. The latter forms part of the Karoo Supergroup . Therefore, the Witteberg Group forms the uppermost layer of the Cape Supergroup. It tends to form the most inland outcrops of the Cape Supergroup, and can be traced eastwards as far as the Bokkeveld Group can be traced (i.e. to Port Alfred), about 120 km beyond the Cape Fold Belt. The Bokkeveld and Witteberg groups do not occur in

3640-649: The Breede River Valley in the west to Port Alfred near Grahamstown in the east. The group displays lateral continuity throughout the length of the Cape Fold Belt. The Msikaba Formation rocks appear north-northeast of Port St. Johns in the Eastern Cape . The Bokkeveld Group is subdivided into three subgroups: the Ceres Subgroup and Bidouw Subgroup that are found West of 24ºE, and the Traka Subgroup found East of 24ºE. The Ceres Subgroup

3780-663: The Cape Supergroup , which is more extensive than the Fold Belt. The Supergroup is divided into several distinct Groups. The western and southern extents of the Supergroup have been folded into a series of longitudinal mountain ranges, by the collision of the Falkland Plateau into what would later become South Africa (see diagrams on the left). However, the entire suite in this region slopes downwards towards

3920-723: The Cape Town City Bowl and Table Bay. The Pakhuis Formation is also well exposed on the road along Michell's Pass just below the Tolhuis, and especially on the Pakhuis Pass near Clanwilliam , from which the formation derives its name. The glaciers which formed the Pakhuis and Cederberg formations came from the north west, in the direction of the South Pole which was located in the neighborhood of Cameroon at

4060-628: The Cape orogeny , in which the rocks were folded and thrust upwards. The Cape orogeny formed the Cape Fold Belt and the mountains that range along the Cape and the southern parts of South Africa . An additional geological formation, the Msikaba Formation , found north of Port St. Johns in the Eastern Cape is considered to correlate with the Witteberg Group of the Cape Supergroup. Bokkeveld Group outcrops and exposures range from

4200-494: The Carboniferous and early Permian periods. After closure of the rift valley, and rucking of the Cape Supergroup into a series of parallel folds, running mainly east-west (with a short section running north-south in the west, due to collision with eastward moving Patagonia), the continued subduction of the paleo-Pacific Plate beneath the Falkland Plateau and the resulting collision of the latter with Southern Africa, raised

4340-649: The Cederberg 200 km to the north of the Cape Peninsula , and then along the south coast as far as Port Elizabeth , 650 km to the east (see the two maps one above the other on the right). The rocks were laid down as sediments in a rift valley that developed in southern Gondwana , just south of Southern Africa, during the Cambrian - Ordovician Periods (starting about 510 million years ago, and ending about 330–350 million years ago). (See

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4480-662: The Commonwealth of Nations , and the G20 . A developing , newly industrialised country , South Africa has the largest economy in Africa by nominal GDP. It is tied with Ethiopia for the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa, and is a biodiversity hotspot with unique biomes , plant, and animal life. Since the end of apartheid, government accountability and quality of life have substantially improved. However, crime , poverty , and inequality remain widespread. Having

4620-479: The Dutch East India Company were shipwrecked at the cape for several months. The sailors were able to survive by obtaining fresh water and meat from the natives. They also sowed vegetables in the fertile soil. Upon their return to Holland, they reported favourably on the cape's potential as a "warehouse and garden" for provisions to stock passing ships for long voyages. In 1652, a century and

4760-584: The Gondwana rifting when South America and the Falkland Plateau separated from Africa. Patagonia was to the west of Cape Town and the Falkland Islands were to the south during the Jurassic Period prior to separation. Most of these faults are inactive today, but on 29 September 1969 the towns of Ceres and Tulbagh , about 160 km north-east of Cape Town, were severely damaged by

4900-613: The Highveld . This relatively well-watered area is home to a great proportion of the country's commercial farmlands and contains its largest conurbation (Gauteng). To the north of Highveld, from about the 25°   30'   S line of latitude, the plateau slopes downwards into the Bushveld , which ultimately gives way to the Limpopo River lowlands or Lowveld . The coastal belt, below the Great Escarpment, moving clockwise from

5040-704: The Indian Ocean trade . The events around Mapungubwe's collapse circa 1300 are unknown, however trade routes shifted north from the Limpopo to the Zambezi , precipitating the rise of Great Zimbabwe . The hill was abandoned and Mapungubwe's population scattered. In 1487, the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias led the first European voyage to land in southern Africa. On 4 December, he landed at Walfisch Bay (now known as Walvis Bay in present-day Namibia). This

5180-869: The International Court of Justice regarding Israel 's conduct in the Gaza Strip as part of the Israel–Hamas war , alleging that Israel had committed and was committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. South Africa has repeatedly hosted senior leaders of Hamas , the group responsible for the October 7th massacre in Israel. Following the 2024 general elections , the African National Congress saw its share of

5320-495: The International Monetary Fund , South Africa is suffering from "massive corruption" and state capture. The Zondo Commission , established in 2018 in order to investigate allegations of corruption and state capture released its findings in 2022. It found rampant corruption at every level of government, including Transnet , Eskom , and Denel , as well as law enforcement , intelligence agencies , and

5460-796: The Native Location Act of 1879 and the system of pass laws . Eight years after the end of the Second Boer War and after four years of negotiation, the South Africa Act 1909 granted nominal independence while creating the Union of South Africa on 31 May 1910. The union was a dominion that included the former territories of the Cape, Transvaal and Natal colonies, as well as the Orange Free State republic. The Natives' Land Act of 1913 severely restricted

5600-593: The Ou Kaapse Weg (road) goes up the slope from Westlake on to the Silvermine plateau. In the cutting one can also see the abrupt and obvious transition into the Peninsula Formation above it. Looking up the slope from below to the first hairpin bend, the granite basement on which the Graafwater formation rests is visible. And in the cutting at the first hairpin bend, the ocher-colored, gritty clay into which

5740-760: The Outeniqua and Langeberg ranges to the south and the Swartberg range to the north is known as the Little Karoo , which consists of semi-desert shrubland similar to that of the Great Karoo, except that its northern strip along the foothills of the Swartberg Mountains has a somewhat higher rainfall and is, therefore, more cultivated than the Great Karoo. The Little Karoo is famous for its ostrich farming around Oudtshoorn . The lowland area to

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5880-962: The Pedi people . King Sekhukhune managed to defeat the army on 1 August 1876. Another attack by the Lydenburg Volunteer Corps was also repulsed. On 16 February 1877, the two parties signed a peace treaty at Botshabelo . The Boers' inability to subdue the Pedi led to the departure of Burgers in favour of Paul Kruger and the British annexation of the South African Republic. In 1878 and 1879 three British attacks were successfully repelled until Garnet Wolseley defeated Sekhukhune in November 1879 with an army of 2,000 British soldiers, Boers and 10,000 Swazis. The Anglo-Zulu War

6020-498: The Prince Edward Islands , the country lies between latitudes 22° and 35°S , and longitudes 16° and 33°E . The interior of South Africa consists of a large, in most places almost flat plateau with an altitude of between 1,000 m (3,300 ft) and 2,100 m (6,900 ft), highest in the east and sloping gently downwards towards the west and north, and slightly so to the south and south-west. This plateau

6160-405: The Second Boer War (1899–1902) and, although suffering heavy casualties due to Boer attrition warfare , they were ultimately successful due in part to scorched earth tactics such as concentration camps , in which 27,000 Boer civilians died due to a combination of disease and neglect. South Africa's urban population grew rapidly from the end of the 19th century onward. After the devastation of

6300-474: The South African Party and National Party merged to form the United Party , seeking reconciliation between Afrikaners and English-speaking whites. In 1939, the party split over the entry of the union into World War II, as an ally of the United Kingdom, a move which National Party followers opposed. In 1948, the National Party was elected to power. It strengthened the racial segregation begun under Dutch and British colonial rule. Taking Canada's Indian Act as

6440-405: The South African Republic , the Natalia Republic , and the Orange Free State . In the interior, the Cape Colony expanded at the expense of the Batswana and Griqua , and Boer expansion caused great instability in the Middle Orange River region. The Matabele kingdom came to dominate the eastern interior, and raided the Venda kingdom. The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1884 in

6580-419: The Tradouws Pass , Kogmanskloof, Garcia's pass, the Gourits River gorge (which does not have a road running through it), and Michell's Pass , which is, however, more V-shaped than the others, but impressive nevertheless. In addition several roads and highways crest the mountains over cols, or go through them via tunnels. A number of parallel faults still run roughly parallel with the coast, having formed during

6720-405: The Vaal River valley. Settlements of Bantu-speaking peoples , who were iron-using agriculturists and herdsmen , were present south of the Limpopo River (now the northern border with Botswana and Zimbabwe ) by the 4th or 5th century CE. The Bantu slowly moved south. The earliest ironworks in modern-day KwaZulu-Natal Province are believed to date from around 1050. The southernmost group

6860-677: The Xhosa Wars , as both sides competed for the pastureland near the Great Fish River, which the colonists desired for grazing cattle. Vrijburgers who became independent farmers on the frontier were known as Boers , with some adopting semi-nomadic lifestyles being denoted as trekboers . The Boers formed loose militias , which they termed commandos , and forged alliances with Khoisan peoples to repel Xhosa raids. Both sides launched bloody but inconclusive offensives, and sporadic violence, often accompanied by livestock theft, remained common for several decades. Great Britain occupied Cape Town between 1795 and 1803 to prevent it from falling under

7000-472: The civil service . It documented evidence of systemic corruption , fraud , racketeering , bribery , money laundering , and state capture. It investigated the African National Congress party and Jacob Zuma, whom it concluded were complicit in state capture through their direct assistance to the Gupta family . "The Commission estimated the total amount of money spent by the state which was 'tainted' by state capture to be around R57 billion. More than 97% of

7140-578: The fossils found in the Cape Supergroup are eroded fragments of benthic invertebrate Malvinokaffric fauna, particularly that of various brachiopods such as Australocoelia , Australospirifer , and chonetids . Crinoids are also found, although their dis-articulated ossicles are more common, as are trace fossils such as worm burrows and feeding trails left by other invertebrates. Rarer are fossils of trilobites , bivalves , cephalopods , gastropods , ophiuroids , hyoliths , echinoids , echinoderms , conulariids , cricoconarids, and corals . In

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7280-431: The " Malmesbury Group " that forms the base of Table Mountain on the Cape Peninsula , and similar outcrops in the Western Cape . In the Little Karoo the outcrop is composed of limestone , into which an underground stream has carved the impressively extensive Cango Caves . The following is a list of the largest individual ranges within the Cape Fold Belt include from west to east. (Translations in brackets; berg

7420-456: The 14th largest emitter of carbon dioxide, primarily from its heavy reliance on coal and oil for energy production . As part of its international commitments, South Africa has pledged to peak emissions between 2020 and 2025. South Africa signed the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity on 4 June 1994 and became a party to the convention on 2 November 1995. It has subsequently produced a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan , which

7560-514: The ANC won by an overwhelming majority. It has been in power ever since. The country rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations and became a member of the Southern African Development Community . In post-apartheid South Africa, unemployment remained high. While many black people have risen to middle or upper classes, the overall unemployment rate of black people worsened between 1994 and 2003 by official metrics but declined significantly using expanded definitions. Poverty among white South Africans, which

7700-439: The Cape Fold Belt, being made up of the local lowest (oldest) strata of the Cape Supergroup, composed predominantly of quartzitic sandstone which forms the impressive, almost vertical cliffs which characterize the mountain and the rest of the range which constitutes the backbone of the Cape Peninsula . The degree to which the original Cape Fold mountains (formed during the Carboniferous and early Permian Periods) have been eroded

7840-414: The Cape Supergroup sediments, but also the southern portions of the Dwyka and Ecca Groups of the Karoo Supergroup. By the time Gondwana broke up about 150 million years ago, the Falkland Mountains had been all but eroded away, before drifting south-westwards to their present position off the coast of southern South America , close to Cape Horn , leaving behind only the submarine Agulhas Bank along

7980-463: The Congo , Rwanda , Eritrea , Ethiopia and Somalia . Competition over jobs, business opportunities, public services and housing has led to tension between refugees and host communities. While xenophobia in South Africa is still a problem, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2011 reported that recent violence had not been as widespread as initially feared. Nevertheless, as South Africa continues to grapple with racial issues, one of

8120-401: The Fold Belt into the Eastern Cape and northern KwaZulu-Natal , where no folding took place. The initial sedimentation into the rift valley which developed in southern Gondwana (see diagram at top left) was confined to the western and eastern ends of the rift. Rivers diverted into these early rifts deposited sand and gravel to form the Klipheuwel Group in the west, and the Natal Group in

8260-470: The Karoo's Ecca Group . During these Ecca times continued collision of the Falkland Plateau into Southern Africa, and subduction of oceanic crust under the plateau caused the formation of a range of mountains of Himalayan proportions to the south of South Africa. The Cape Fold Mountains became fully formed during this period to become the northern foothills of this enormous mountain range. The folding that occurred during this period therefore involved not only

8400-451: The Lowveld covering 19,633 square kilometres (7,580 sq mi) The coastal belt below the south and south-western stretches of the Great Escarpment contains several ranges of Cape Fold Mountains which run parallel to the coast, separating the Great Escarpment from the ocean. (These parallel ranges of fold mountains are shown on the map, above left. Note the course of the Great Escarpment to the north of these mountain ranges.) The land between

8540-409: The Ndwandwe, however were repelled by Gaza. During the early 19th century, many Dutch settlers departed from the Cape Colony , where they had been subjected to British control, in a series of migrant groups who came to be known as Voortrekkers , meaning "pathfinders" or "pioneers". They migrated to the future Natal , Free State, and Transvaal regions. The Boers founded the Boer republics :

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8680-454: The Northern Cape Kalahari near Upington , but this temperature is unofficial and was not recorded with standard equipment; the official highest temperature is 48.8 °C (119.84 °F) at Vioolsdrif in January 1993. Climate change in South Africa is leading to increased temperatures and rainfall variability. Extreme weather events are becoming more prominent. This is a critical concern for South Africans as climate change will affect

8820-423: The Peninsula Formation sediments, the western portion of the region was covered for a geologically brief period by glaciers. The diamictite sediments that were laid down by these glaciers, or in glacial lakes, are known as the Pakhuis and Cederberg Formations . A small patch of Pakhuis tillite occurs on the top of Table Mountain at Maclear's Beacon , but most of the Pakhuis and Cederberg Formations are found as

8960-652: The Peninsula to the Mainland, has been eroded away. The Malmesbury shale and granite basement on which this anticline mountain rested also formed an anticline; but being composed of much softer rocks, readily eroded into a 50 km wide flat plain, (now covered with dune sands) called the "Cape Flats". The Cape Fold Belt (i.e. the mountain ranges) extends from about Clanwilliam (approximately 200 km north of Cape Town), to about Port Elizabeth (approximately 650 km east of Cape Town). The Cape Supergroup sediments beyond these points are not folded into mountain ranges, but do, in places, form steep cliffs or gorges, where

9100-412: The R57 billion came from Transnet and Eskom. Out of these funds, the Gupta enterprise received at least R15 billion. The total loss to the state is difficult to quantify, but would far exceed that R15 billion." South Africa has maintained a position of neutrality in regards to the Russia invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the ongoing war . On 29 December 2023, South Africa formally submitted its case to

9240-661: The South African National Biodiversity Institute, parts of southern Africa will see an increase in temperature by about 1 °C (1.8 °F) along the coast to more than 4 °C (7.2 °F) in the already hot hinterland such as the Northern Cape in late spring and summertime by 2050. The Cape Floral Region is predicted to be hit very hard by climate change. Drought, increased intensity and frequency of fire, and climbing temperatures are expected to push many rare species towards extinction. South Africa has published two national climate change reports in 2011 and 2016. South Africa contributes considerable carbon dioxide emissions , being

9380-553: The South African government because of its racial policies. The boycotts and restrictions were later extended to international sanctions and the divestment of holdings by foreign investors. The Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith , signed by Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Harry Schwarz in 1974, enshrined the principles of peaceful transition of power and equality for all, the first of such agreements by black and white political leaders in South Africa. Ultimately, F.W. de Klerk opened bilateral discussions with Nelson Mandela in 1993 for

9520-401: The West Coast), southwards to Cape Town and then eastwards to northern KwaZulu-Natal , a total distance of approximately 1800 km, roughly along the South African coastline. Only the section between Clanwilliam (approximately 200 km north of Cape Town) and Port Elizabeth (approximately 650 km east of Cape Town) is folded into the Cape Fold Mountains. During the laying down of

9660-421: The Worcester-Robertson valley in the middle of the Fold Belt. Although the Dwyka and Ecca sediments adjoining the Cape Fold Mountains were subjected to the same compression forces that gave rise to the Cape Mountains, they do not form the same mountain ranges as do the Cape Fold Mountains. This is because they are composed of much softer rocks than the Peninsula Formation Sandstone, and were thus soon eroded into

9800-406: The adjoining plain below (at approximately 700–800   m above sea level – see map on the right) is known as the Great Karoo , which consists of sparsely populated shrubland . To the north, the Great Karoo fades into the more arid Bushmanland, which eventually becomes the Kalahari Desert in the north-west of the country. The mid-eastern and highest part of the plateau is known as

9940-557: The arrival of the 1820 Settlers . The new colonists were induced to settle for a variety of reasons, namely to increase the size of the European workforce and to bolster frontier regions against Xhosa incursions. In the early 1800s, the Mfecane (lit. 'crushing') saw a heightened period of conflict, migration, and state formation among native groups, caused by the complex interplay of international trade, environmental instability, and European colonisation. Chiefdoms grew wealthier and competed over trade routes and grazing land, leading to

10080-418: The bare rocky surfaces of the quartzites above and below. In several locations the quartzites below the glacial horizon have been rucked into a series of folds. This is believed to have been caused by the movement of ice ploughing into the underlying unconsolidated sands. A good example of this can be seen on a ridge of rocks near Maclear 's Beacon on Table Mountain, close to the edge of the plateau overlooking

10220-581: The black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy. The Freedom Charter , adopted in 1955 by the Congress Alliance , demanded a non-racial society and an end to discrimination. On 31 May 1961, the country became a republic following a referendum (only open to white voters) which narrowly passed; the British-dominated Natal province largely voted against

10360-446: The bottom, through which rivers flow from the inland Great Escarpment to the sea. It is from within these narrow defiles, many of which can be traveled by road, that one is afforded a cross sectional view of the mountains, and can appreciate their intense folding and distortion (see the photographs on the top right above). Their origin is as follows: After the fold mountains had been formed they became buried under sediments derived from

10500-554: The coast, which is subtropical . The Free State is particularly flat because it lies centrally on the high plateau. North of the Vaal River , the Highveld becomes better watered and does not experience subtropical extremes of heat. Johannesburg, in the centre of the Highveld, is at 1,740 m (5,709 ft) above sea level and receives an annual rainfall of 760 mm (29.9 in). Winters in this region are cold, although snow

10640-760: The control of the French First Republic , which had invaded the Low Countries . After briefly returning to Dutch rule under the Batavian Republic in 1803, the cape was occupied again by the British in 1806. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars , it was formally ceded to Great Britain and became an integral part of the British Empire . British emigration to South Africa began around 1818, subsequently culminating in

10780-665: The depression that had been the Agulhas Sea, and rucking the Cape Supergroup sediments into folds running roughly parallel to what would ultimately become the south-western and southern coastlines of South Africa. This mountain building continued into the next phase of the Karoo sedimentation, which began about 260 million years ago, after the ice sheets had melted, leaving a large lake (the Karoo Sea) extending over much of South Africa. The resulting marine or lacustrine deposits form

10920-657: The early Devonian Period) there was further subsidence of the rift valley floor. This brought about the deposition of deeper-water, fine grained sediments of the Bokkeveld Group . This is in marked contrast to the predominantly sandy sediments of the Table Mountain Group. The Bokkeveld Group consists predominantly mudstones. After the Cape Supergroup had been folded into the Cape Fold Mountains, these soft mudstones readily washed away from

11060-503: The east. These formations contain no fossils. Today the Klipheuwel Group is exposed in several small patches near Lamberts Bay, Piketberg, and to the south-west of Paarl Rock . The Natal Group, which is similar to the Table Mountain Group (see below), is found in several elongated patches near the coast of the northern Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal . It forms the impressive cliffs of Oribi Gorge , and can also be seen in

11200-518: The ebb and flow of tidal currents, as well as polygonal sand-filled mud cracks that indicate occasional exposure to desiccation. This layer, known as the Graafwater Formation , reaches a maximum thickness of 400 m, but on the Cape Peninsula it is only 60–70 m thick. No fossils have been found in the Graafwater rocks, but shallow-water animal tracks have been found. A particularly good example of these tracks can be viewed in

11340-428: The eroding African landscape to form the parallel ranges of mountains that run for 800 km along the southern and south-western Cape coastline today. In fact, they form the coastline, either sloping steeply directly into the sea, or are separated from it by a relatively narrow coastal plain. The Falkland Mountain range had probably eroded into relative insignificance by the mid-Jurassic Period, and started drifting to

11480-611: The extreme desert of the southern Namib in the farthest northwest to the lush subtropical climate in the east along the border with Mozambique and the Indian Ocean. Winters in South Africa occur between June and August. The extreme southwest has a climate similar to that of the Mediterranean with wet winters and hot, dry summers, hosting the famous fynbos biome of shrubland and thicket . This area produces much of

11620-1286: The first hominin fossil discovered in Africa, the Taung Child (found near Taung ) in 1924. Other hominin remains have come from the sites of Makapansgat in Limpopo Province; Cornelia and Florisbad in Free State Province ; Border Cave in KwaZulu-Natal Province; Klasies River Caves in Eastern Cape Province; and Pinnacle Point , Elandsfontein and Die Kelders Cave in Western Cape Province. These finds suggest that various hominid species existed in South Africa from about three million years ago, starting with Australopithecus africanus , followed by Australopithecus sediba , Homo ergaster , Homo erectus , Homo rhodesiensis , Homo helmei , Homo naledi and modern humans ( Homo sapiens ). Modern humans have inhabited Southern Africa for at least 170,000 years. Various researchers have located pebble tools within

11760-417: The flat plains of the "Lower Karoo" , except where they were protected by hard, erosion resistant dolerite or turbidite caps, to form isolated mountains that stand out from the plain. The mountains are not particularly ancient, despite their old-looking appearance. They are considered middle-aged in geologic terms. They were created when the Falkland Plateau collided with Southern Africa, when Pangaea ,

11900-535: The fledgling colony from Indonesia , Madagascar , and parts of eastern Africa. Some of the earliest mixed race communities in the country were formed between vrijburgers , enslaved people, and indigenous peoples. This led to the development of a new ethnic group, the Cape Coloureds , most of whom adopted the Dutch language and Christian faith. The Khoisan people, comprising the Khoikhoi and San, were

12040-475: The formation of the Ndwandwe and Mthethwa Paramountcies in the east. Ndwandwe defeated Mthethwa which split into different groups, one of which was led by Shaka of the amaZulu . The 1810s saw the fourth and fifth Xhosa Wars as British colonisation expanded. Ndwandwe splintered amid costly raids and Shaka's Zulu Kingdom rose to fill the power vacuum. The Gaza kingdom formed. The Zulu totally defeated

12180-612: The foyer of Geology Department of the University of Stellenbosch, where a slab of Graafwater rock from the Cederberg mountains has been built into the wall. The cutting for Chapman's Peak Drive, on the Cape Peninsula, is carved into the Graafwater Formation which overlays the Cape Granite basement rock below the road. The Graafwater Formation can also be clearly seen in the cutting on the second hairpin bend as

12320-567: The granite weathers is clearly displayed. With further subsidence of the rift valley floor, and possibly breaking through to the ocean, the sediments abruptly become more sandy, indicative of a sudden increase in the depth of the Agulhas Sea (see photograph on the right). A deposit, known as the Peninsula Formation (also often referred to as Table Mountain Sandstone ), consisting of thickly layered quartzitic sandstone , with

12460-554: The highest Gini coefficient of 0.63, South Africa is considered one of the most unequal countries in the world, if not the most unequal. The name "South Africa" is derived from the country's geographic location at the southern tip of Africa. Upon formation, the country was named the Union of South Africa in English and Unie van Zuid-Afrika in Dutch , reflecting its origin from the unification of four British colonies. Since 1961,

12600-445: The indigenous inhabitants of South Africa. Conflicts with Dutch settlers began in the 17th century and continued for centuries. Initial encounters between Dutch coloniers and Khoikhoi were peaceful, but tensions arose over land and resources. The Khoikhoi resisted Dutch expansion, leading to skirmishes and battles. The eastward expansion of Dutch colonists ushered in a series of wars with the southwesterly migrating Xhosa tribe, known as

12740-558: The interior started the Mineral Revolution and increased economic growth and immigration. This intensified British subjugation of the indigenous people. The struggle to control these important economic resources was a factor in relations between Europeans and the indigenous population and also between the Boers and the British. On 16 May 1876, President Thomas François Burgers of the South African Republic declared war against

12880-490: The judicial capital. The largest and most populous city is Johannesburg , followed by Cape Town and the busiest port city in sub-Saharan Africa, Durban . Archaeological findings suggest that various hominid species existed in South Africa about 2.5 million years ago, and modern humans inhabited the region over 100,000 years ago. The first known people were the indigenous Khoisan , and Bantu-speaking peoples who expanded from West and Central Africa later settled in

13020-518: The long formal name in English has been the "Republic of South Africa" and Republiek van Suid-Afrika in Afrikaans . The country has an official name in 12 official languages . Mzansi , derived from the Xhosa noun uMzantsi meaning "south", is a colloquial name for South Africa, while some Pan-Africanist political parties prefer the term " Azania ". South Africa contains some of

13160-554: The massive Himalaya-sized Falkland Mountains to the south of the Cape Fold Belt. Sediments eroded from these mountains provided the bulk of the 6 km thick Beaufort sediments in the Karoo Basin, but they also covered the Cape Fold Belt, thereby protecting them from erosion. At the end of the Karoo Period about 180 million years ago, the subcontinent was covered by a thick layer of Drakensberg lavas , an event that

13300-652: The mountain tops, and only remain in the valleys. Here they form the fertile soils on which the vineyards and fruit orchards of the Western Cape flourish with the help of irrigation from the rivers that have their sources in the surrounding mountains. The Bokkeveld Group does not extend on to the Cape Peninsula or its isthmus (the Cape Flats). Here the Stellenbosch , Franschhoek , Paarl , Durbanville , Tulbagh and Constantia vineyards have been planted on

13440-610: The national vote fall below 50% for the first time since the end of Apartheid, though it remained the single largest party in the South African Parliament. President Ramaphosa announced a national unity government , the first since the Cabinet of Nelson Mandela , and entered a deal with the Democratic Alliance , the previous main opposition party, and other minor parties. Ramaphosa was reelected for

13580-495: The north and east, so that the oldest rocks are exposed in the south and west, while the youngest members of the Supergroup are exposed in the north, where the entire Cape Supergroup dives beneath the Karoo rocks . Drilling in the Karoo has established that Cape Supergroup rocks are found below the surface up to approximately 150 km north of their northernmost exposure on the surface. The Cape Supergroup extends eastwards beyond

13720-450: The north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia , Botswana , and Zimbabwe ; to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini ; and it encloses Lesotho . Covering an area of 1,221,037 square kilometres (471,445 square miles), the country has over 62 million people . Pretoria is the administrative capital, while Cape Town , as the seat of Parliament , is the legislative capital. Bloemfontein has traditionally been regarded as

13860-600: The north of the Cape Peninsula is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean and the first row of north–south running Cape Fold Mountains to the east. The Cape Fold Mountains peter out at about the 32°   S line of latitude, after which the Great Escarpment bounds the coastal plain. The most southerly portion of this coastal belt is known as the Swartland and Malmesbury Plain, which is an important wheat growing region, relying on winter rains. The region further north

14000-651: The north of the Swartberg range up to the Great Escarpment is the lowland part of the Great Karoo, which is climatically and botanically almost indistinguishable from the Karoo above the Great Escarpment. The narrow coastal strip between the Outeniqua and Langeberg ranges and the ocean has a moderately high year-round rainfall, which is known as the Garden Route . It is famous for the most extensive areas of forests in South Africa (a generally forest-poor country). In

14140-663: The north-eastern Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal , where the Cape Supergroup is represent only by the Natal Group and a trace of the Peninsula Formation (without the intervening Graafwater Formation). The Witteberg sediments were laid down in what remained of the Agulhas Sea – a shallow, much reduced expanse of water compared to its size during the Bokkeveld period. Immediately following the Witteberg period (about 330 million years ago) much of Gondwana (particularly what

14280-677: The northeast, consists of the Limpopo Lowveld, which merges into the Mpumalanga Lowveld, below the Mpumalanga Drakensberg (the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment). This is hotter, drier and less intensely cultivated than the Highveld above the escarpment. The Kruger National Park , located in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in north-eastern South Africa, occupies a large portion of

14420-747: The obstacles were the presence of the independent states of the Boers, and the Zululand army. The Zulu nation defeated the British at the Battle of Isandlwana . Eventually Zululand lost the war, resulting in the termination of the Zulu nation's independence. The Boer republics successfully resisted British encroachments during the First Boer War (1880–1881) using guerrilla warfare tactics, which were well-suited to local conditions. The British returned with greater numbers, more experience, and new strategy in

14560-633: The oldest archaeological and human-fossil sites in the world. Archaeologists have recovered extensive fossil remains from a series of caves in Gauteng Province. The area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site , has been branded "the Cradle of Humankind ". The sites include Sterkfontein , one of the richest sites for hominin fossils in the world, as well as Swartkrans , Gondolin Cave , Kromdraai , Cooper's Cave and Malapa . Raymond Dart identified

14700-838: The organisation in 1961 and rejoined it in 1994. Despite opposition to apartheid both within and outside the country, the government legislated for a continuation of apartheid. The security forces cracked down on internal dissent, and violence became widespread, with anti-apartheid organisations such as the African National Congress (ANC), the Azanian People's Organisation , and the Pan-Africanist Congress carrying out guerrilla warfare and urban sabotage. The three rival resistance movements also engaged in occasional inter-factional clashes as they jockeyed for domestic influence. Apartheid became increasingly controversial, and several countries began to boycott business with

14840-404: The overall status and wellbeing of the country, for example with regards to water resources . Speedy environmental changes are resulting in clear effects on the community and environmental level in different ways and aspects, starting with air quality, to temperature and weather patterns, reaching out to food security and disease burden. According to computer-generated climate modelling produced by

14980-682: The ownership of land by blacks; at that stage they controlled only 7% of the country. The amount of land reserved for indigenous peoples was later marginally increased. In 1931, the union became fully sovereign from the United Kingdom with the passage of the Statute of Westminster , which abolished the last powers of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to legislate in the country. Only three other African countries—Liberia, Ethiopia, and Egypt—had been independent prior to that point. In 1934,

15120-573: The present-day Groot River , in May 1488. On his return he saw the cape, which he named Cabo das Tormentas ('Cape of Storms'). King John II renamed the point Cabo da Boa Esperança , or Cape of Good Hope , as it led to the riches of the East Indies . Dias' feat of navigation was immortalised in Luís de Camões ' 1572 epic poem Os Lusíadas . By the early 17th century, Portugal's maritime power

15260-691: The presidency, National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams announced that Zuma would again face prosecution on 16 criminal charges – 12 charges of fraud, two of corruption, and one each of racketeering and money laundering, just as in the 2006 indictment. A warrant was issued for his arrest in February 2020 after he failed to appear in court. In 2021 he was found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. In response, supporters of Zuma engaged in protests which led to riots, looting, vandalism and widespread violence, leaving 354 people dead. South Africa has been undergoing

15400-593: The proposal. Elizabeth II lost the title Queen of South Africa , and the last Governor-General , Charles Robberts Swart , became state president . As a concession to the Westminster system , the appointment of the president remained by parliament and was virtually powerless until P. W. Botha 's Constitution Act of 1983 , which eliminated the office of prime minister and instated a unique "strong presidency" responsible to parliament . Pressured by other Commonwealth of Nations countries, South Africa withdrew from

15540-404: The proposed solutions has been to pass legislation, such as the pending Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill , to uphold South Africa's ban on racism and commitment to equality. On 14 February 2018, Jacob Zuma resigned the presidency. Since 15 February, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has been President of South Africa. On 16 March 2018, just over a month after President Jacob Zuma resigned from

15680-412: The protective layer over the Cape Fold Belt eroded away, exposing their mountain tops. The rivers breached these ridges, after possibly being dammed back for a short period, creating a narrow passage through the low rocky barrier. Continued erosion exposed more and more of these quartzitic mountain ranges, but the rivers, now confined to narrow, fast flowing gorges, continued breaking through each barrier as

15820-561: The region 2,000 to 1,000 years ago. In the north, the Kingdom of Mapungubwe formed in the 13th century. In 1652, the Dutch established the first European settlement at Table Bay , and in 1795 and 1806 , the British occupied it. The Mfecane , a period of significant upheaval, led to the formation of various African kingdoms, including the Zulu Kingdom . The region was further colonised, and diamonds and gold were discovered , bringing

15960-540: The ruins are thought to be created by the Bakone , a Northern Sotho people. Around 1220, in the Limpopo - Shashe Basin, the elite of K2 moved to settle the flat-topped summit of Mapungubwe Hill, with the population settling below. Rainmaking was crucial to the development of sacral kingship . By 1250, the capital had a population of 5000 and the state covered 30,000 km² (11,500 square miles), growing wealthy through

16100-735: The sequence of sedimentary rock layers of the Cape Supergroup in the southwestern corner of South Africa . It was originally continuous with the Ventana Mountains near Bahía Blanca in Argentina , the Pensacola Mountains (East Antarctica), the Ellsworth Mountains (West Antarctica) and the Hunter-Bowen orogeny in eastern Australia. The rocks involved are generally sandstones and shales , with

16240-574: The shales ( Bokkeveld Group ) persisting in the valley floors while the erosion resistant sandstones (of the Peninsula Formation) form the parallel ranges, the Cape Fold Mountains, which reach a maximum height of 2325 m at Seweweekspoortpiek ('Seven Weeks Defile Peak' in Afrikaans). The Cape Fold Mountains form a series of parallel ranges that run along the south-western and southern coastlines of South Africa for 850 km from

16380-483: The south-west corner of the country, the Cape Peninsula forms the southernmost tip of the coastal strip which borders the Atlantic Ocean and ultimately terminates at the country's border with Namibia at the Orange River . The Cape Peninsula has a Mediterranean climate , making it and its immediate surrounds the only portion of Sub-Saharan Africa which receives most of its rainfall in winter. The coastal belt to

16520-422: The south-west soon after Gondwana began to break up 150 million years ago, leaving the Cape Fold Belt to edge the southern portion of the newly formed African continent. Even though the mountains are very old by Andean and Alpine standards, they remain steep and rugged due to their quartzitic sandstone geology (see below) making them very resistant to weathering . The famous Table Mountain forms part of

16660-464: The southern Karoo . These rocks were laid down 370 – 330 million years ago in the silted up, and therefore shallow marine conditions of what remained of the Agulhas Sea. The group contains fewer fossils than the Bokkeveld Group, but the assemblage that is preserved includes primitive fish, an extinct species of shark, brachiopods, bivalves , and a meter long sea scorpion . There are also plant fossils and numerous animal tracks. The Witteberg Group

16800-558: The southern coastline of Africa. The Cape Fold Mountains possibly survived erosional obliteration, firstly because of the extremely hard rocks (the Peninsula Formation Sandstone) that form the backbone of the mountain chains, but also possibly because they had become buried under the Karoo deposits which originated in the Falkland Mountains. Thus traces of Karoo deposits can, for instance, be found in

16940-400: The subcontinent, about 180 million years ago, and again 20 million years ago, started an episode of continuous erosion that was to remove many kilometers of surface deposits from Southern Africa. Although the tops of the original Cape Fold Mountains were eroded away, they eroded much slower than the considerably softer Karoo deposits to the north. Thus the Cape Fold Belt "erupted" from

17080-472: The supercontinent formed during the Cambrian - Ordovician periods (from 510 to about 330–350 million years ago),. Their stature, with heights varying from 1000m to 2300m, is mostly due to the weather-resistant rocks of quartzitic sandstone of the Peninsula Group (see above). They occur in long parallel ranges each not much more than 10 km wide, separated by equally long valleys with

17220-479: The surrounding landscape eroded to lower and lower levels, particularly during the past 20 million years. These 150‑million-year-old rivers therefore cut the defile, starting by flowing over, and then through the gradually erupting Cape Fold Mountains, to form the spectacular "poorte" and "klowe" (plural of "poort" and "kloof", the Afrikaans for defile or chasm) that characterize these mountains today. The best known defiles are: Meiringspoort , Seweweekspoort ,

17360-513: The surrounding sediments have been eroded away (see, for instance, Oribi Gorge in KwaZulu-Natal ). The mountains, although only of moderate height, are majestic and dramatic. This is due in part to numerous geological factors; The ranges usually have few to no foothills and rise directly from valley floors. The bases of the mountains are usually at or near sea level. The mountains of the Cape Fold Belt are composed of rocks belonging to

17500-587: The time. The Upper Peninsula Formation, above the Pakhuis and Cederberg Formations, consists of much softer sandstone than the Lower Peninsula Formation, and is often referred to as the Nardouw Formation . In the Cederberg this formation has been eroded by the wind into a wide variety of "sculptures", caves, and other fascinating structures for which these mountains have become well-known. About 400 million years ago (in

17640-460: The upper Bidouw and Traka Subgroups, plant and trace fossils are more common than invertebrate fossils. Lycopods and trace fossils of Spirophyton have been recovered. Rare bony fish fossils have also been found, mainly of placoderm fishes, although placoderm fish are mainly known from rocks of the overlying Witteberg Group. Cape Supergroup The Cape Fold Belt is a fold and thrust belt of late Paleozoic age, which affected

17780-547: The victims were South African citizens. In a 2006 survey, the South African Migration Project concluded that South Africans are more opposed to immigration than any other national group. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 2008 reported that over 200,000 refugees applied for asylum in South Africa, almost four times as many as the year before. These people were mainly from Zimbabwe , though many also come from Burundi , Democratic Republic of

17920-438: The wars, Dutch-descendant Boer farmers fled into cities from the devastated Transvaal and Orange Free State territories to become the class of the white urban poor. Anti-British policies among white South Africans focused on independence. During the Dutch and British colonial years, racial segregation was mostly informal, though some legislation was enacted to control the settlement and movement of indigenous people, including

18060-400: The weathered Cape Granite and Malmesbury shale soils, which form the basement rocks on which the Cape Supergroup rocks in this region rest. The Bokkeveld Group extends eastwards to Port Alfred (near Grahamstown ), approximately 120 km beyond the eastern extent of the Cape Fold Belt. The bulk of the fossils found in the Cape Supergroup occur in the Bokkeveld mudstones. They include

18200-642: The west to East London in the east, plus the KwaZulu-Natal coastline, became flooded, leading to a seaway across the southern and eastern parts of the country, called the Agulhas Sea. The sea floor consisted of the Klipheuwel Group in the west, the Natal Group in the east, and eroded pre-Cambrian rocks in between. The first sediments into the initially still shallow, possibly inland, sea were alternating layers of maroon-colored mudstones and buff-colored sandstones, each mostly between 10 and 30 cm thick. The mudstone units commonly display ripple marks from

18340-468: The wine in South Africa and is known for its wind, which blows intermittently almost all year. The severity of this wind made passing around the Cape of Good Hope particularly treacherous for sailors, causing many shipwrecks. Further east on the south coast, rainfall is distributed more evenly throughout the year, producing a green landscape. The annual rainfall increases south of the Lowveld, especially near

18480-498: The yellow block labeled C on the Earth's geological timeline diagram on the right.) An 8-km-thick layer of sediment, known as the Cape Supergroup (see below), accumulated on the floor of this rift valley. Closure of the rift valley, starting 330 million years ago, resulted from the development of a subduction zone along the southern margin of Gondwana , and the consequent drift of the Falkland Plateau back towards Africa, during

18620-403: Was accompanied by upliftment or bulging of Southern Africa, ushering in an almost uninterrupted period, continuing to the present, of erosion removing many kilometers of surface rocks from the entire subcontinent. Rivers running off this bulging interior into the seas that were forming around South Africa as Gondwana was breaking up 150 million years ago, eventually encountered rocky ridges as

18760-439: Was fought in 1879 between the British and the Zulu Kingdom . Following Lord Carnarvon 's successful introduction of federation in Canada , it was thought that similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might succeed with the African kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics in South Africa. In 1874, Henry Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as the British High Commissioner to bring such plans into being. Among

18900-444: Was previously rare, increased. The government struggled to achieve the monetary and fiscal discipline to ensure both redistribution of wealth and economic growth. The United Nations Human Development Index rose steadily until the mid-1990s then fell from 1995 to 2005 before recovering its 1995 peak in 2013. The fall is in large part attributable to the South African HIV/AIDS pandemic which saw South African life expectancy fall from

19040-519: Was received by the convention on 7 June 2006. The country is ranked sixth out of the world's seventeen megadiverse countries . Ecotourism in South Africa has become more prevalent in recent years, as a possible method of maintaining and improving biodiversity. Numerous mammals are found in the Bushveld including lions, African leopards , South African cheetahs , southern white rhinos , blue wildebeest , kudus , impalas , hyenas , hippopotamuses and South African giraffes . A significant extent of

19180-464: Was south of the furthest point reached in 1485 by his predecessor, the Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão ( Cape Cross , north of the bay). Dias continued down the western coast of southern Africa. After 8 January 1488, prevented by storms from proceeding along the coast, he sailed out of sight of land and passed the southernmost point of Africa without seeing it. He reached as far up the eastern coast of Africa as, what he called, Rio do Infante , probably

19320-415: Was starting to decline, and English and Dutch merchants competed to oust Portugal from its lucrative monopoly on the spice trade . Representatives of the British East India Company sporadically called at the cape in search of provisions as early as 1601 but later came to favour Ascension Island and Saint Helena as alternative ports of refuge. Dutch interest was aroused after 1647, when two employees of

19460-420: Was the Xhosa people , whose language incorporates certain linguistic traits from the earlier Khoisan people. The Xhosa reached the Great Fish River , in today's Eastern Cape Province. As they migrated, these larger Iron Age populations displaced or assimilated earlier peoples. In Mpumalanga Province, several stone circles have been found along with a stone arrangement that has been named Adam's Calendar , and

19600-433: Was to become Africa and Antarctica, but also parts of South America and India) became covered in a kilometers thick layer of ice as the super-continent drifted over the South Pole. The diamictite deposits left by these glaciers form the first layer of the Karoo Supergroup , called the Dwyka Group . During the glaciation period the Falkland Plateau started to move northwards into what was to become southern Africa, closing

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