Box 5.1 The social history of South Africa

Archaeological research has established that South Africa was populated as far back as 8000 years ago by hunter-gatherers, whose descendants were the Khoikhoi stock herders. The Khoikhoi, who later migrated to Namaqualand, gave the name San to these early hunter-gatherers. From the interaction between the Khoikhoi and the San (and to a lesser extent Bantu -speaking people) a heterogenic society developed along the Cape coast and in the interior of the country (see Bredenkamp, 1986).

The Dutch sent an expedition to the Cape in 1652, to establish a settlement and to cultivate vegetables and other commodities to supply ships en route to the east. These first colonists soon came into contact with the indigenous peoples of the country, which in many cases led to conflict about the use of land and natural resources. Accustomed to the European way of life, they tapped the natural resources more fully than the indigenous peoples: they hunted, fished, cultivated the land, felled trees and excavated rock for building. As time passed, individuals and family groups moved further inland and eastward, mainly for farming purposes, resulting in the establishment of small settlements and towns.

The interior of the country was already populated by black people trekking southwards. They hunted, kept livestock and cultivated the land on a scale only sufficient for their own domestic use.

Until the turn of the last century, an agrarian lifestyle provided the vast majority of the population with a home and sustenance. However, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Industrial Revolution and its aftermath led to major economic, political and social changes. By now the country was divided between British rule of the former colonies of the Cape and Natal, and the two Boer republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. After unification in 1910, South Africa became independent, although still a Commonwealth state.

When the National Party came into power in 1948 the policy of race segregation was introduced which alienated South Africa from the international community and the Republic of South Africa was established in 1961. Toward the middle of the 1980's and especially from the beginning of the 1990's, internal dissent, including pending economic collapse, combined with external pressure and forced change within the country. This resulted in the first democratic election in 1994. One of the cornerstones of the new political order is the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996).