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The Dutch East India Company landed the first European settlers on the Cape of Good Hope in 1652
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settlers as early as 1795 tried to establish an independent republic.
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The defeat of the Boers in 1902
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in 1910 to the Union of South Africa, composed of four provinces, the two former republics
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Organized political activity among Africans started with the establishment of the African National Congress in 1912.
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Jan Christiaan Smuts brought the nation into World War II, South Africa became a charter member of the United Nations in 1945
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The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, 1949,
The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, 1949 -
The Groups Areas Act, 1950
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The Immorality Act
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The Population Registration Act, also in 1950
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The Bantu Authorities Act, 1951, assigned all Africans to their native land.
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The Abolition of Passes and Coordination of Documents Act, 1952
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In 1960, 70 black protesters were killed during a peaceful demonstration in Sharpesville.
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South Africa declared itself a republic in 1961
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Apartheid's grip on South Africa began to give way when F. W. de Klerk replaced P. W. Botha as president in 1989.
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Apartthied Ended
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A new national constitution was approved and adopted in May 1996.
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On June 2, 1999, Thabo Mbeki, the pragmatic deputy president and leader of the ANC, was elected president in a landslide, having already assumed many of Mandela's governing responsibilities.
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As expected, on April 15, 2004, the African National Congress won South Africa's general election
