The University of the Witwatersrand was named the Transvaal University College from 1906 to 1910.
126-860: Transvaal University College was a multi-campus public research university in South Africa which gave rise to the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Pretoria . In 1896 the South African School of Mines was founded in Kimberley . Eight years later, in 1904, the school was moved to Johannesburg and was renamed the Transvaal Technical Institute. The school's name changed yet again in 1906 to Transvaal University College. On 4 March 1908
252-714: A cultural or ethnic one. The compound term Khoisan / Khoesān is a modern anthropological convention in use since the early-to-mid 20th century. Khoisan is a coinage by Leonhard Schulze in the 1920s and popularised by Isaac Schapera . It entered wider usage from the 1960s based on the proposal of a " Khoisan " language family by Joseph Greenberg . During the Colonial/Apartheid era, Afrikaans-speaking persons with partial Khoesān ancestry were historically also grouped as Cape Blacks ( Afrikaans : Kaap Swartes ) or Western Cape Blacks ( Afrikaans : Wes-Kaap Swartes ) to rather inaccurately distinguish them from
378-475: 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,
504-461: 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
630-699: 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
756-409: 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
882-421: A linguistic phylum by Joseph Greenberg in 1955. Their genetic relationship was questioned later in the 20th century, and the term now serves mostly as a convenience term without implying genetic unity, much like " Papuan " and " Australian " are. Their most notable uniting feature is their click consonants . They are categorized in two families, and a number of possible language isolates. The Kxʼa family
1008-520: A mostly Xhosa population. Andries Stockenström facilitated the creation of the "Kat River" Khoi settlement near the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony. The settlements thrived and expanded, and Kat River quickly became a large and successful region of the Cape that subsisted more or less autonomously. The people were predominantly Afrikaans-speaking Gonaqua Khoi, but the settlement also began to attract other Khoi, Xhosa and mixed-race groups of
1134-490: A multi-regional hypothesis that suggests the Khoi-San may be a source population for anatomically modern humans.) Their languages show a vague typological similarity, largely confined to the prevalence of click consonants . They are not verifiably derived from a common proto-language, but are today split into at least three separate and unrelated language families ( Khoe-Kwadi , Tuu and Kxʼa ). It has been suggested that
1260-522: 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
1386-476: 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 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
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#17327868048001512-650: A racist based system of governance because on average only white people owned property adequate to meet the test. In the Herero and Namaqua genocide in German South-West Africa , over 10,000 Nama are estimated to have been killed during 1904–1907. The San of the Kalahari were described in Specimens of Bushman Folklore by Wilhelm H. I. Bleek and Lucy C. Lloyd (1911). They were brought to
1638-673: 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
1764-733: A separate institution. The Johannesburg campus was reincorporated as the South African School of Mines and Technology which in 1920 was renamed the University College, Johannesburg and ultimately became the University of the Witwatersrand on 1 March 1922. The University of the Witwatersrand , named the Transvaal University College from 1906 to 1910, is the third oldest South African university in continuous operation. Instruction commenced in 1908 with 32 students, 4 professors and 3 lecturers in
1890-480: 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 a largely non-violent struggle by the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid activists both inside and outside
2016-627: 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
2142-617: Is a catch-all term for the indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who traditionally speak non- Bantu languages , combining the Khoekhoen and the Sān peoples. Khoi-San populations traditionally speak click languages and are considered to be the only indigenous historical communities throughout Southern Africa, remaining predominant until the Bantu and European colonisation in areas climatically unfavorable to Bantu (sorghum-based) agriculture, such as
2268-593: 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, the long formal name in English has been
2394-666: 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
2520-543: Is later seen in the click consonants and loan words from ancient Khoe-san languages into the evolution of blended agro-pastoralist & hunter-gatherer communities that would eventually evolve into the now extant, amalgamated modern native linguistic communities found in South Africa, Botswana & Namibia (e.g. in South African Xhosa , Sotho , Tswana , Zulu people.) Today these groups represent
2646-586: 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 , the Commonwealth of Nations , and the G20 . A developing , newly industrialised country , South Africa has
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#17327868048002772-481: 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
2898-722: 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
3024-608: Is used to determine when different subgroups separated from one another, and hence their last common ancestry. The authors of these studies suggested that the San may have been one of the first populations to differentiate from the most recent common paternal ancestor of all extant humans. Various Y-chromosome studies since confirmed that the Khoisan carry some of the most divergent (oldest) Y-chromosome haplogroups . These haplogroups are specific sub-groups of haplogroups A and B ,
3150-551: The Bantu-speaking peoples , the other indigenous African population of South Africa who also had significant Khoe-San ancestry. The term Khoisan (also spelled KhoiSan , Khoi-San , Khoe-San ) has also been introduced in South African usage as a self-designation after the end of apartheid in the late 1990s. Since the 2010s, there has been a "Khoisan activist" movement, demanding recognition and land rights from
3276-585: The Cape region , through to Namibia , where Khoekhoe populations of Nama and Damara people are prevalent groups, and Botswana . Considerable genocide and forced assimilations from invading Bantu-speaking groups is evidenced by prevalence of click phonemes in many especially Zulu and Xhosa Southern African Bantu languages. Many Khoe-Sān peoples are the descendants of a very early dispersal of anatomically modern humans to Southern Africa before 150,000 years ago. (However, see below for recent work supporting
3402-479: 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
3528-649: The German Colonial Empire between 1904 and 1908. In South Africa the Khoi-San suffered genocide at the hands of the Bantu Nguni tribes in the provinces of KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape. The Khoi-San of both provinces were subjected to violent campaigns of territorial dominance by the invading Bantu settlers of the Zulu and Xhosa tribes. The Bantu genocide killed or drove off the men, while
3654-613: 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
3780-704: 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
3906-869: 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
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4032-495: 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
4158-597: The Kya Rosa , 270 Skinner Street a late Victorian residence purchased from Leo Weinthal the then owner of The Press (forerunner to the Pretoria News Newspaper). The first four professors were Prof H. Th. Reinink (Dutch), J. Purves (Scottish), D.F. du Toit Malherbe (South African) and A.C. Paterson (Scottish), who would also become the first Vice-Chancellor. The Pretoria campus remained the Transvaal University College until 10 October 1930 when it became
4284-745: 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
4410-760: 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
4536-962: 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
4662-498: 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
4788-655: 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 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),
4914-499: The Sandawe language of Tanzania ("Khoe–Sandawe"). The Hadza language of Tanzania has been associated with the Khoisan group due to the presence of click consonants. The Khoisan are one of the only populations with epicanthic folds outside of East Asia. They typically have hair texture of the tightest possible curl, a form of kinky hair sometimes referred to as "peppercorn" because of how it can roll into separate rounds on
5040-469: 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
5166-668: 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
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5292-848: 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
5418-460: The University of Pretoria when the University of Pretoria Private Act, No. 13 of 1930 was promulgated. During this time the colloquial name for the university, Tukkies or Tuks, was derived from the Afrikaans acronym for the college — Transvaalse Universiteits-Kollege (TUK). The University of Pretoria is the fourth South African institution in continuous operation to be awarded university status. South Africa South Africa , officially
5544-467: The University of the Free State discovered 8,000-year-old carvings made by the Khoisan people. The carvings depicted a hippopotamus, horse, and antelope in the 'Rain Snake' Dyke of the Vredefort impact structure , which may have spiritual significance regarding the rain-making mythology of the Khoisan. In the Herero and Namaqua genocide , about 10,000 Nama , a Khoekhoe group, and an unknown number of San people were killed in an extermination campaign by
5670-405: 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
5796-677: 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
5922-472: 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
6048-441: 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 the highest Gini coefficient of 0.63, South Africa
6174-424: 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 the oldest archaeological and human-fossil sites in
6300-456: 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
6426-514: 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
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#17327868048006552-437: The Bushveld exists in the north-east including Kruger National Park and the Sabi Sand Game Reserve , as well as in the far north in the Waterberg Biosphere . South Africa houses many endemic species , among them the critically endangered riverine rabbit ( Bunolagus monticullaris ) in the Karoo. Khoisan Khoi-San ( / ˈ k ɔɪ s ɑː n / KOY -sahn ) or Khoe-Sān ( pronounced [kxʰoesaːn] )
6678-407: The Cape. The so-called "Bushman wars" were to a large extent the response of the San after their dispossession. At the start of the 18th century, the Khoikhoi in the Western Cape lived in a state dominated by the Dutch. By the end of the century the majority of the Khoisan operated as 'wage labourers', not that dissimilar to slaves. Geographically, the further away the labourer was from Cape Town,
6804-463: 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
6930-417: The Khoekhoe may represent Late Stone Age arrivals to Southern Africa, displaced by Bantu expansion reaching the area roughly around 1,500AD . Sān are popularly thought of as foragers in the entire southern Africa and regions of Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Northern South Africa. The word sān is from the Khoekhoe language and refers to foragers ("those who pick things up from
7056-434: The Khoi-San, and bearers of haplogroup L1-6 in central/eastern Africa ancestral to everyone else. This group gave rise to the San population of hunter gatherers . A much later wave of migration, around or before the beginning of the Common Era , gave rise to the Khoe people, who were pastoralists . This group carried DNA from Eurasian as well as some Neanderthal groups. Due to their early expansion and separation,
7182-432: The Khoisan in both matrilineal and patrilineal groupings is a further indicator that they represent a population historically distinct from other Africans. Some genomic studies have further revealed that Khoisan groups have been influenced by 9 to 30% genetic admixture in the last few thousand years from an East African population who carried a Eurasian admixture component. Furthermore, they place an East African origin for
7308-451: 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
7434-409: 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 :
7560-454: 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
7686-412: 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
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#17327868048007812-661: 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
7938-553: 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
8064-419: The Tanzanian Luxmanda . Geneticists in 2024 sampled ancient 10,000 year old remains from South Africa, Oakhurst Rockshelter. The examined population had a strong genetic continuity with the San and Khoe. The later advent of pastoralism and farming groups in the last 2,000 years would transform the genepool of most parts of Southern Africa, but many Khoisan preserve, and are identical to the genetic signature of
8190-472: The Transvaal University College (TUC) transferred its arts and science courses to its newly established Pretoria Campus initially offering courses in languages, sciences, and law. In 1910 the Colonial Secretary, General Jan Smuts tabled the act constituting the university as a separate entity before the Transvaal Parliament, the "Transvaalse Universiteits-Inlijvingswet", Law 1 of 1910. The Johannesburg and Pretoria campuses separated on 17 May 1910, each becoming
8316-406: 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
8442-546: The ancient Sangoan skeletal remains. Against the traditional interpretation that finds a common origin for the Khoi and San, other evidence has suggested that the ancestors of the Khoi peoples are relatively recent pre-Bantu agricultural immigrants to southern Africa who abandoned agriculture as the climate dried and either joined the San as hunter-gatherers or retained pastoralism. With the hypothesized arrival of pastoralists & bantoid agro-pastoralists in southern Africa starting around 2,300 years ago, linguistic development
8568-557: 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
8694-438: 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
8820-440: 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
8946-432: 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
9072-520: 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 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
9198-404: 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 is a multi-ethnic society encompassing a wide variety of cultures , languages , and religions ; it
9324-452: The distribution of the L0d haplogroup. Rosti et al. suggest a connection of this recent expansion with the spread of click consonants to eastern African languages ( Hadza language ). The Late Stone Age Sangoan industry occupied southern Africa in areas where annual rainfall is less than a metre (1000 mm; 39.4 in). The contemporary San and Khoi peoples resemble those represented by
9450-894: The end of Apartheid in 1994, the term "Khoisan" has gradually come to be used as a self-designation by South African Khoikhoi as representing the "first nations" of South Africa vis-a-vis the ruling Bantu majority. A conference on "Khoisan Identities and Cultural Heritage" was organised by the University of the Western Cape in 1997. and "Khoisan activism" has been reported in the South African media beginning in 2015. The South African government allowed Khoisan families (up until 1998) to pursue land claims which existed prior to 1913. The South African Deputy Chief Land Claims Commissioner, Thami Mdontswa, has said that constitutional reform would be required to enable Khoisan people to pursue further claims to land from which their direct ancestors were removed prior to 9 June 1913. In 2019, scientists from
9576-550: 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
9702-1339: 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
9828-535: 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
9954-475: 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
10080-567: The globalised world's attention in the 1950s by South African author Laurens van der Post in a six-part television documentary. The Ancestral land conflict in Botswana concerns the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), established in 1961 for wildlife, while the San were permitted to continue their hunter-gatherer lifestyle. In the 1990s, the government of Botswana began a policy of "relocating" CKGR residents outside
10206-529: The government and white minority which owns large parts of the country's private land. It is suggested that the ancestors of the modern Khoisan expanded to southern Africa (from East or Central Africa ) before 150,000 years ago, possibly as early as before 260,000 years ago, so that by the beginning of the MIS 5 " megadrought " 130,000 years ago, there were two ancestral population clusters in Africa, bearers of mt-DNA haplogroup L0 in southern Africa ancestral to
10332-433: The ground") who do not own livestock. As such, it was used in reference to all hunter-gatherer populations who came into contact with Khoekhoe-speaking communities, and was largely referring to the lifestyle, distinct from a pastoralist or agriculturalist one, and not to any particular ethnicity. While there are attendant cosmologies and languages associated with this way of life, the term is an economic designator rather than
10458-445: 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
10584-558: 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
10710-495: The journal Nature suggests that current genetic data may be best understood as reflecting internal admixtures of multiple population sources across Africa, including ancestral populations of the Khoisan. The San populations ancestral to the Khoisan were spread throughout much of southern and eastern Africa throughout the Late Stone Age after about 75 ka. A further expansion dated to about 20 ka has been proposed based on
10836-654: The more difficult it became to transport agricultural produce to the markets. The issuing of grazing licences north of the Berg River in what was then the Tulbagh Basin propelled colonial expansion in the area. This system of land relocation led to the Khoijhou losing their land and livestock as well as dramatic change in the social, economic and political development. After the defeat of the Xhosa rebellion in 1853,
10962-610: 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
11088-608: The new Cape Government endeavoured to grant the Khoi political rights to avert future racial discontent. The government enacted the Cape franchise in 1853, which decreed that all male citizens meeting a low property test, regardless of colour, had the right to vote and to seek election in Parliament. The property test was an indirect way by the British Cape Government (who took over from the Dutch in 1812) to retain
11214-664: 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
11340-703: 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
11466-733: 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
11592-696: 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
11718-428: The older hunter-gatherers. On 21 September 2020, the University of Cape Town launched its new Khoi and San Centre, with an undergraduate degree programme planned to be rolled out in the following years. The centre will support and consolidate this collaborative work on research commissions on language (including Khoekhoegowab ), sacred human remains, land and gender. Many descendants of Khoisan people still live on
11844-838: 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
11970-404: 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
12096-618: 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,
12222-475: The paternal haplogroup E1b1b found in these Southern African populations, as well as the introduction of pastoralism into the region. The paper also noted that the Bantu expansion had a notable genetic impact in a number of Khoisan groups. On the basis of PCA projections, the East African ancestry identified in the genomes of Khoe-Kwadi speakers and other southern Africans is related to an individual from
12348-545: The populations ancestral to the Khoisan have been estimated as having represented the "largest human population" during the majority of the anatomically modern human timeline, from their early separation before 150 kya until the recent peopling of Eurasia some 70 kya. They were much more widespread than today, their modern distribution being due to their decimation in the course of the Bantu expansion . They were dispersed throughout much of southern and southeastern Africa. There
12474-573: 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
12600-691: 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
12726-593: 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
12852-404: 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
12978-492: The quantitative majority of extant admixed ancient Khoe-San descendants by the millions. The Khoikhoi enter the historical record with their first contact with Portuguese explorers, about 1,000 years after their displacement by the Bantu. Local population dropped after the Khoi were exposed to smallpox from Europeans. The Khoi waged more frequent attacks against Europeans when the Dutch East India Company enclosed traditional grazing land for farms. Khoikhoi social organisation
13104-484: 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 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 ,
13230-529: The reserve. In 2002, the government cut off all services to CKGR residents. A legal battle began, and in 2006 the High Court of Botswana ruled that the residents had been forcibly and unconstitutionally removed. The policy of relocation continued, however, and in 2012 the San people (Basarwa) appealed to the United Nations to force the government to recognise their land and resource rights. Following
13356-540: 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
13482-521: The scalp. Charles Darwin wrote about the Khoisan and sexual selection in The Descent of Man in 1882, commenting that their steatopygia , seen primarily in females, evolved through sexual selection in human evolution , and that "the posterior part of the body projects in a most wonderful manner". Historically, some females were observed by anthropologists to exhibit elongated labia minora , which sometimes projected as much as 10 cm below
13608-546: 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
13734-455: The two earliest branches on the human Y-chromosome tree. Similar to findings from Y-chromosome studies, mitochondrial DNA studies also showed evidence that the Khoisan people carry high frequencies of the earliest haplogroup branches in the human mitochondrial DNA tree. The most divergent (oldest) mitochondrial haplogroup, L0d , has been identified at its highest frequencies in the southern African Khoi and San groups. The distinctiveness of
13860-547: 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
13986-449: The vulva when standing. Though well documented, the motivations behind this practice and the voices of the women who perform it are rarely explored in the research. In the 1990s, genomic studies of the world's peoples found that the Y chromosome of San men share certain patterns of polymorphisms that are distinct from those of all other populations. Because the Y chromosome is highly conserved between generations, this type of DNA test
14112-438: 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
14238-468: 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
14364-644: The women and children were absorbed into the Bantu tribes. These forced assimilations led to language adaptations of clicks etc and the Khoi-San DNA also produced lighter skin tones among the Bantu. The Bantu colonisation process totally extinguished the Khoi-San independent identity,to the extent that the remnants now call themselves either Zulu or Xhosa. In Botswana , many of the indigenous San people have been forcibly relocated from their land to reservations. To make them relocate, they were denied access to water on their land and faced arrest if they hunted, which
14490-579: 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
14616-420: Was also a significant back-migration of bearers of L0 towards eastern Africa between 120 and 75 kya. Rito et al. (2013) speculate that pressure from such back-migration may even have contributed to the dispersal of East African populations out of Africa at about 70 kya. Recent work has suggested that the multi-regional hypothesis may be supported by current human population genetic data. A 2023 study published in
14742-626: 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
14868-518: 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
14994-496: Was profoundly damaged and, in the end, destroyed by colonial expansion and land seizure from the late 17th century onwards. As social structures broke down, some Khoikhoi people settled on farms and became bondsmen (bondservants) or farm workers; many were incorporated into existing Khoi clan and family groups of the Xhosa people . Georg Schmidt, a Moravian Brother from Herrnhut , Saxony, now Germany, founded Genadendal in 1738, which
15120-596: Was proposed in 2010, combining the ǂʼAmkoe (ǂHoan) language with the ǃKung (Juu) dialect cluster. ǃKung includes about a dozen dialects, with no clear-cut delineation between them. Sands et al. (2010) propose a division into four clusters: The Khoi (Khoe) family is divided into a Khoikhoi ( Khoekhoe and Khoemana dialects) and a Kalahari (Tshu–Khwe) branch. The Kalahari branch of Khoe includes Shua and Tsoa (with dialects), and Kxoe , Naro , Gǁana and ǂHaba (with dialects). Khoe also has been tentatively aligned with Kwadi ("Kwadi–Khoe"), and more speculatively with
15246-575: 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
15372-464: 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
15498-495: 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
15624-486: 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
15750-616: Was the first mission station in southern Africa, among the Khoi people in Baviaanskloof in the Riviersonderend Mountains . Early European settlers sometimes intermarried with Khoikhoi women, resulting in a sizeable mixed-race population now known as the Griqua . The Griqua people too would migrate to what was by that time the frontierlands of the Xhosa native reserves and establish Griqualand East, which contained
15876-445: Was their primary source of food. Their lands lie in the middle of the world's richest diamond field. Officially, the government denies that there is any link to mining and claims the relocation is to preserve the wildlife and ecosystem, even though the San people have lived sustainably on the land for millennia. On the reservations they struggle to find employment, and alcoholism is rampant. The "Khoisan languages" were proposed as
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