The original peoples were Bushmen who lived in small, loosely knit groups. They depended on game and were widely dispersed territorially. The Hottentot also lived in the region and were defeated in battle with the Dutch in 1713 and lost their identity as a cultural group and intermarried with slaves and others to form the Cape Coloured people.
The first recorded discovery of the Cape of Good Hope was by Portugal 's Bartholomew Diaz in 1488. In 1580, Sir Francis Drake sailed around the Cape in The Golden Hind and recorded in his journal "This Cape is a most stately thing, and the fairest Cape in the whole circumference of the earth
". Cape Point
is the meeting place of two great currents, one from the equator (Agulhas Current- the strongest north-south current in the southern hemisphere) and the other from the Antarctic (Benguela Current).
Antonio de Saldanha was the first European to land in Table Bay in 1503 and named ' Table Mountain
'. Table Bay was called 'Saldanha' until 1601 until changed to ‘ Table Way ' by van Spilbergen.
In 1652 the Dutch East India Company established a post at Table Bay to provide vegetables, livestock and medical facilities for ships. During the seventeenth century the Dutch East India Company was very active and gained sovereign rights in the Cape of Good Hope . The Cape became an outstation of the Dutch East India Company's eastern empire, based in Batavia in Java.
The first road was to the tree-covered mountain slopes of Newlands and Kirstenbosch
to provide the needed timber. Wheat, oats and barley grew well in the Liesbeek River valley and the formation of a grain-farming enterprise in 1657. The early settlers on their discharge from the Company settled as independent farmers along the valley in Rondebosch and Rosebank. Van Riebeeck the first Governor acquired the Bishopscourt Estate in 1658 and established the first vineyard in South Africa. Van Riebeeck handed over the government of the Colony in 1662 to Zacharias Wagenaar.
In 1666, work started on the Castle of Good Hope
with soldiers moving living there from 1674. In 1667 the Company established a cattle-post in the Hout Bay
In 1737 eight ships were wrecked in a single storm in Table Bay, with a loss of over 200 lives. This forced the Company to build another alternative port at Simon's Town
where ships were safe under the lee of the Peninsula highlands.
The discovery of diamonds in 1867 at the confluence of the Gariep and Vaal Rivers catapulted Cape Town's importance and in 1880 Cecil Rhodes acquired the monopoly over the Kimberley diamond mines and then went on to develop the De Beers diamond empire. Gold was discovered in 1886 on the Witwatersand which further strengthened South Africa 's importance.
In 1899 Paul Kruger the then President of South Africa declared the South Africa War with Britain. A fierce war with 300,000 British soldiers fighting. In 1902 the two republics surrendered and signed the Peace of Vereeniging.
In 1910 the Union of South Africa came into being and the parliament to be located in Cape Town. The majority black population was excluded from power. In 1912 the African Native National Congress and later changed to the ANC was formed to resist white domination. In 1918 the Afrikaners formed the National Party as a counter movement and become very powerful in developing hard line Afrikaner nationalism and the formation of apartheid.
In 1952 the ANC organised a successful ‘ Defiance Campaign' and in 1960 the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) organised large demonstrations against the pass laws and some violent actions left many dead. The government then banned both the ANC and PAC who started an underground campaign.
In 1965 District Six in Cape Town was declared a white only area. All the residents were moved and the area destroyed. Only in very recent years has reconstruction started on the declared land. The story is well told at the District Six museum
From 1984 to 1900 was a time of protests and violence against the regime. In the late 80's both sides agreed that the best way forward was settlement and Nelson Mandela started secret talks with the government from his jail cell. In 1989 PW Botha had a stroke and was succeeded by FW de Klerk who became President. On the 2 February 1990 he unbanned the ANC, PAC and Communist Party; lifted large sections of the emergency regulations and announced the release of many politic prisoners.
On the 11 February 1990 Nelson Mandela walked out of prison after 27 years and in 1993 won the Nobel Peace prize along with P.W. de Klerk. On the 17 April 1994 the first election where all citizens could vote took place and Nelson Mandela became the President and Thabo Mbeki and FW de Klerk the deputy presidents.
South Africa is now a stable democracy and focusing on poverty reduction, education, and the development of a strong economy. The current president Thabo Mbeki was elected for the current term in 2004. Nelson Mandela officially retired at the age of 85 in 2004 and had his 90th birthday celebration in 2008 and recognised around the world.