Republic of South Africa

2026-09-13T09:34:11Z

156.155.97.174: Cited sources for the enslavement and extermination of the indigenous Saan and Khoekhoen by European colonists.

{{Infobox country|name=Republic of South Africa|native_name=iNingizimu Afrika|image_flag=Flag_of_South_Africa.svg|image_coat=South Africa COA.svg|national_motto=ǃke e: ǀxarra ǁke|englishmotto=Unity in diversity|image_map=South_Africa_Map.svg|map_width=290|capital=[[Pretoria]] (executive) [[Cape Town]] (legislative) [[Bloemfontein]] (judicial)|largest_city=[[Johannesburg]]|official_languages=Afrikaans English Ndebele Sepedi Sesotho Setswana Swazi Tshivenda Xhosa Xitsonga Zulu|mode_of_production=[[Capitalism]]|government_type=Unitary parliamentary republic with an executive presidency|leader_title1=President|leader_name1=[[Cyril Ramaphosa]]|leader_title2=Deputy President|leader_name2=[[Paul Mashatile]]|leader_title3=Speaker of the National Assembly|leader_name3=[[Thoko Didiza]]|leader_title4=Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces|leader_name4=[[Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane]]|legislature=[[Parliament of the Republic of South Africa|Parliament]]|upper_house=[[National Council of Provinces]]|lower_house=[[National Assembly of South Africa|National Assembly]]|area_km2=1,221,037|population_census=62,027,503|population_census_year=2022|population_census_rank=23rd|population_density_km2=50.8|population_density_rank=169th|currency=South African rand|currency_code=ZAR|drives_on=left|calling_code=+27|iso3166code=ZA|cctld=.za}}

'''South Africa''', officially the '''Republic of South Africa''', is the southernmost country in [[Africa]] with a coastline that borders both the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and the [[Indian Ocean]]. It borders [[Republic of Namibia|Namibia]] and [[Republic of Botswana|Botswana]] to the northwest, [[Republic of Zimbabwe|Zimbabwe]], [[Kingdom of Eswatini|Eswatini]], and [[Republic of Mozambique|Mozambique]] to the northeast and it encloses [[Kingdom of Lesotho|Lesotho]].

== History ==

=== Pre-colonization ===
South Africa has been continuously inhabited by humans for nearly two million years and is one of the regions where modern humans evolved during the Middle Stone Age, between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago. Significant social changes began around 2,000 years ago when several waves of migrants moved southward from West and Central Africa. These groups brought with them domesticated animals and crops, as well as technologies such as pottery-making, mining, and metalworking. The [[Khoikhoi]], former hunter-gatherers in [[Republic of Botswana|Botswana]], adopted domesticated sheep and cattle from these Iron Age migrants and migrated south toward the Cape Coast. Simultaneously, Bantu-speaking Iron Age migrants settled south of the Limpopo River and rapidly expanded across eastern South Africa. By AD 400, they had established settlements in KwaZulu-Natal, and by AD 600, they settled the Eastern Cape.<ref name=":6">{{Citation|author=Hermann Giliomee, Bernard Mbenga, Bill Nasson|year=2022|title=New History of South Africa|page=6,7|publisher=Tafelberg|isbn=9780624092230}}</ref>

=== Dutch colonization ===
On 6 April 1652, a group of 90 European colonists, employed by the [[Dutch East India Company]], arrived at Table Bay to establish the Cape Colony. At the time of their arrival, an estimated 75,000 Khoikhoi pastoralists and San hunter-gatherers inhabited the region known today as the Northern Cape, Western Cape, and Eastern Cape provinces.<ref name=":6" />

Initially intended to be a modest resupply post for ships traversing the Europe-Asia trade route, the Cape Colony gradually expanded over the following century. <ref name=":6" /> Through systematic colonisation, land encroachment, and the appropriation of resources, by 1795, the Colony had come to occupy the entirety of the area today known as the Western Cape. This expansion caused the widespread dispossession of the Khoikhoi and San peoples, whose pastoral and hunter-gatherer livelihoods were disrupted by the seizure of pastures, livestock, and water sources,<ref>{{Citation|author=Richard Elphick|year=1985|title=Khoikhoi and the founding of White South Africa|title-url=https://archive.org/details/khoikhoifounding0000elph|page=173,174}}</ref> as well as the capture, enslavement<ref>{{Citation|last=Eldredge|first=Elizabeth|year=1994|title=Slavery in South Africa: Captive labour on the Dutch frontier - eds. Elizabeth Eldredge & Fred Morton|title-url=https://archive.org/details/slaveryinsouthaf00eldr|chapter=Chapter 5: Slave raiding across the Cape Frontier|page=93-126|quote=In the 19th century the tradition of slave raiding, as practiced by Boers and trekboers in the eastern Cape, spread with the advancement of the Dutch frontier. Captive indigenes, the booty of countless commando raids, helped to satisfy the labor demands of these cash-poor pastoral farmers before the abolition of the overseas slave trade and became one of their principal labor sources for decades after. Until the 1820s, their victims were mainly Khoisan men, women, and children, but as these populations dispersed or vanished and trekboers and later Voortrekkers moved further into the interior, Bantu-speaking peoples—BaTswana, BaSotho, and Nguni-speakers—served their purposes. The effect on highveld societies was devastating. Such frontier communities as the Bastaards, Griqua, and Kora themselves escaped enslavement by raiding innocent Khoikhoi and BaTswana and exchanging captives in eastern Cape markets for guns and ammunition. The BaTswana of Transorangia had to defend themselves from slave-raids at the same time they were beset with severe ecological crises. In brief, the sustained, high level of violence with which Dutch-speakers expanded their control over land and people beyond the Cape frontier seriously disrupted the demographic and political stability of indigenous societies. In some cases, it destroyed them altogether. The ultimate source of the upheavals of the 1820s and 1830s in the Cape interior predates the arrival of refugees from the east and the formation of the AmaNdebele miUtary state and lays instead in a long-term process of raiding for cattle and slaves that originated on the Cape frontier in the eighteenth century and continued in the 19th century as Dutch-speaking pastoralists migrated inland. Evidence that slave raiding pervaded the frontier is contained in contemporary accounts published by European travelers and missionaries.|city=Pietermaritzburg|publisher=University of Natal Press|isbn=0869809075|series=|trans-lang=English}}</ref> and extermination<ref>{{Citation|last=Adhikari|first=Mohamed|year=2010|title=A total extinction confidently hoped for: the destruction of Cape San society under Dutch colonial rule, 1700 –1795|page=19-44|quote=San (Bushman) society in the Cape Colony was almost completely annihilated during the 18th and 19th centuries as a result of land confiscation, massacre, forced labour and cultural suppression that accompanied colonial rule. [. . .] Much of the dispossession and slaughter happened in the 18th century along the northern and northeastern frontiers under Dutch East India Company (DEIC, also VOC) rule, with continued displacement and killing under the relatively benign auspices of British imperialism through the 19th century. The main agents of destruction were Dutch-speaking pastoralists whose murderous land-grabbing and ecologically damaging farming practices ensured the virtual extinction of Cape San society.|publisher=Routlege: Taylor & Francis Group|doi=10.1080/14623528.2010.508274|series=Journal of Genocide Research|volume=12|trans-lang=English}}</ref> of their people.

In the early 19th century the [[Colonialism|colony]] was seized by the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|British]] during the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref name=":5">{{Citation|author=A. B. Davidson|year=1979|title=The Great Soviet Encyclopedia|title-url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/South+Africa%2c+Republic+of|chapter=South Africa, Republic of}}</ref>

=== British colonization ===
Although the British Empire defeated the Boer [[Settler colonialism|settlers]], they let them create their own states where Africans were racially segregated from the Europeans.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Domenico Losurdo]]|year=2011|title=Liberalism: A Counter-History|chapter=The West and the Barbarians|page=221–222|publisher=Verso|isbn=9781844676934|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=5BB3406BC2E64972831A1C00D5D4BFE4|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacebhsj2yxuoudkhkjp6lzgr5jvgyhu76zxe4gw3d65gpg32a6nded4?filename=Domenico%20Losurdo%2C%20Gregory%20Elliott%20-%20Liberalism_%20A%20Counter-History-Verso%20%282011%29.pdf}}</ref>

African dockworkers first [[Strike action|struck]] in 1874.<ref name=":2">{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Tricontinental]]|title=The 1973 Durban Strikes: Building Popular Democratic Power in South Africa|date=2023-01-24|url=https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-1973-durban-strikes/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124145200/https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-1973-durban-strikes/|archive-date=2023-01-24|retrieved=2023-02-10}}</ref> At the 1885 [[Berlin Conference]], European powers divided and colonized Africa, and the British took control of what is now South Africa.<ref name=":3">{{News citation|title=South Africa and the continental struggle for socialism|date=2014-01-26|url=https://www.liberationnews.org/south-africa-and-the-struggle-for-socialism-html/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714090508/https://www.liberationnews.org/south-africa-and-the-struggle-for-socialism-html/|archive-date=2019-07-14|retrieved=2022-07-02|newspaper=[[Liberation News]]}}</ref> They fought against the Boers again from 1899 to 1902.<ref name=":4">{{Web citation|date=2023-03-31|title=Josie Mpama|url=https://thetricontinental.org/studies-feminisms-5-josie-mpama-of-struggle-women-in-struggle/|newspaper=[[Tricontinental]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412070443/https://thetricontinental.org/studies-feminisms-5-josie-mpama-of-struggle-women-in-struggle/|archive-date=2023-04-12|retrieved=2023-04-16|author=Josie Mpama}}</ref> Africans rebelled again in 1906 under the leadership of [[Bambatha kaMancinza]] following a poll tax.<ref name=":3" /> In 1910, the UK united various Boer settlements and British colonies into a single state.<ref name=":4" />

=== Apartheid era ===
The [[Afrikaner Nationalist Party]] took power in 1948 and had direct connections to [[National Socialism|German fascism]].<ref name=":4" />

During the apartheid era, many Black Africans were confined to puppet states called [[Bantustan|Bantustans]] that were nominally independent. Bantustans made up 13% of the country's area and were on poor land far from urban areas. Africans who left the Bantustans without identification documents could be arrested and deported to the nearest Bantustan.<ref name=":0">{{News citation|author=Lewis Barnes|newspaper=[[Liberation News]]|title=South Africa: Major developments in the long struggle for land reform|date=2018-05-05|url=https://www.liberationnews.org/south-africa-major-developments-in-the-long-struggle-for-land-reform/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714114629/https://www.liberationnews.org/south-africa-major-developments-in-the-long-struggle-for-land-reform/|archive-date=2019-07-14|retrieved=2022-07-02}}</ref>

In 1960, [[White supremacy|white supremacist]] forces killed members of the [[Pan-Africanist Congress]] who were protesting against apartheid in the [[Sharpeville massacre]]. Dockworkers in Durban struck in 1969 and again in 1972. [[Inkatha Freedom Party|Inkatha]], a [[reactionary]] [[Zulu]] [[Nationalism|nationalist]] organization, opposed the strikes.<ref name=":2" />

The [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] suppressed the anti-apartheid movement from the 1960s to 1980s and provided information about [[African National Congress|ANC]] members and activities. In 1981, they sent the South African military into [[People's Republic of Mozambique (1975–1990)|Mozambique]] to assassinate ANC members in exile. The CIA was responsible for the arrest of [[Nelson Mandela]] and violated a [[United Nations|UN]] policy by sending weapons to South Africa.<ref>{{Citation|author=William Blum|year=2002|title=Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower|chapter=A Concise History of United States Global Interventions,
1945 to the Present|isbn=9781842772201|publisher=Zed Books Ltd|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=29EED3C6906FF165E08303B9EAF66B4F|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedas5bwprytpzcih6tof3ipede5uzmcvt47tfzwp4cptdau6vmjpy?filename=William%20Blum%20-%20Rogue%20State_%20A%20Guide%20to%20the%20World%27s%20Only%20Superpower-Zed%20Books%20Ltd%20%282002%29.pdf|page=122–123}}</ref>

In the 1980s, the [[United States of America|United States]] provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to South African media to promote Western [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] ideals and counter [[Marxism]].<ref>{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Monthly Review]]|title=Manufacturing consent: How the United States has penetrated South African media|date=2022-08-08|url=https://mronline.org/2022/08/08/manufacturing-consent-how-the-united-states-has-penetrated-south-african-media/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808182146/https://mronline.org/2022/08/08/manufacturing-consent-how-the-united-states-has-penetrated-south-african-media/|archive-date=2022-08-08|retrieved=2022-08-09|author=Ajit Singh, Roscoe Palm}}</ref>

Apartheid South Africa supported [[Republic of Rhodesia (1965–1979)|Rhodesia]]'s [[Racism|racist]] government and invaded [[Republic of Angola|Angola]], [[Republic of Mozambique|Mozambique]], and [[Republic of Namibia|Namibia]].<ref name=":32">{{News citation|newspaper=[[Liberation News]]|title=South Africa and the continental struggle for socialism|date=2014-01-26|url=https://www.liberationnews.org/south-africa-and-the-struggle-for-socialism-html/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714090508/https://www.liberationnews.org/south-africa-and-the-struggle-for-socialism-html/|archive-date=2019-07-14|retrieved=2022-07-02}}</ref>

=== Post-apartheid ===
In the 2024 national election, the alliance of the ANC, [[South African Communist Party|SACP]], and the [[Congress of South African Trade Unions]] secured a combined 40.18% compared to 59.50% in 2019. The [[MK Party|MK]] and [[Economic Freedom Fighters|EFF]] parties, which previously broke away from the ANC, secured 14.58% and 9.52% respectively.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Independent Electoral Comission (IEC) of South Africa|newspaper=IEC Election Results|title=NPE Results Dashboard 2024|url=https://results.elections.org.za/dashboards/npe/|retrieved=2025-01-21|quote=ANC 40.18%, DA 21.81%, M.K. 14.58%, EFF 9.52%, IFP 3.85%, PA 2.06%, VF+ 1.36%, ACTIONSA 1.2%}}</ref>

The richest 1% of the population controls more than 40% of the wealth.<ref name=":12">{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Tricontinental]]|title=This Land Is the Land of Our Ancestors|date=2022-06-22|url=https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-farmworkers-south-africa/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220905041651/https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-farmworkers-south-africa/|archive-date=2022-09-05|retrieved=2022-11-12}}</ref>

In May 2026, various organizations in South Africa convened for a "Conference of the Left" organized by the [[South African Communist Party]] (SACP), with attendance by organizations such as the [[Economic Freedom Fighters]] (EFF), [[Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania|Pan Africanist Congress of Azania]] (PAC), [[Azanian People's Organization]] (AZAPO), [[uMkhonto weSizwe Party]] (MKP), the [[Socialist Party of Azania]], [[Workers' Socialist Party]], [[Independent Labour Party]], key [[trade union]] federations, and other [[Marxism|Marxist]] and [[Pan-Africanism|Pan-Africanist]] formations, as well as international solidarity delegates and guests.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Nicholas Mwangi|newspaper=Peoples Dispatch|title=South Africa’s Conference of the Left issues a bold call for working-class unity|date=2026-05-30|url=https://peoplesdispatch.org/2026/05/30/south-africas-conference-of-the-left-issues-a-bold-call-for-working-class-unity/}}</ref>

== Current racial inequality ==
White settlers own over 70% of South Africa's farmland despite only being 8% of the population,<ref>{{News citation|author=Francis Njubi Nesbitt|newspaper=[[MintPress News]]|title=In South Africa, Trump Embraces a Global Neo-Nazi Myth|date=2018-08-27|url=https://www.mintpressnews.com/south-africa-white-genocide/248288/|retrieved=2022-07-02}}</ref> whereas Africans only own 4% of the farmland.<ref name=":1">{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Tricontinental]]|title=This Land Is the Land of Our Ancestors|date=2022-06-22|url=https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-farmworkers-south-africa/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220905041651/https://thetricontinental.org/dossier-farmworkers-south-africa/|archive-date=2022-09-05|retrieved=2022-11-12}}</ref> The average income for settlers is five times higher than for Black Africans.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
[[Category:South Africa]]
[[Category:African countries]]
[[Category:BRICS]]
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:Former settler-colonial states]]
[[Category:Global south]]
<references />
{{DEFAULTSORT:South_Africa}}
[[Category:G20 members]]

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Republic of South Africa