The first known inhabitants of South Africa were Stone-age hunters. They migrated over a period of time, or simply died out. The few survivors were later joined by the San and the Khoikhoi from Central Africa. The San (Bushmen) were hunters/gatherers, and the Khoikhoi (Hottentots) shepherds/stock farmers. These two groups, considered to be the oldest inhabitants of the country, became known as the Khoisan. They, in turn, were driven away by various other groups from Central Africa, who were moving in a southerly direction. It is commonly accepted that the southward migration of the Bantu-speaking nations, who eventually would reach the northern regions of South Africa, previously known as the Transvaal, started during the 3rd century.

By the time the first Europeans came to South Africa, there were various African tribes living in small settlements within its borders. The European settlers carried foreign diseases such as small-pox, which wiped out large numbers of the Khoisan population. Small groups of San (Bushmen) still roam the desert regions of Botswana and Namibia.

In 1497/98 the Portugese navigator Bartholomeu Diaz discovered a sea route from Europe to India by sailing around the southernmost tip of what later became known as Africa, an achievement repeated by Vasco da Gama shortly afterwards. This southern point of Africa later became known as "Cape of good Hope" because of the fresh water and food supplies that awaited the ships here on their long voyage to India and other far-off countries. By 1600 the Cape had already become a regular resting-place for Dutch sailors. In 1648 they suffered their first shipwreck here and a full year passed before the survivors were able to return to Holland.

In 1652 the Dutch East India Company instructed ship's doctor Jan van Riebeeck to establish a settlement at the Cape as a permanent supply station for its ships en route to India. Van Riebeeck planted vegetables, wheat and fruit trees. Vineyards followed, and the supply station rapidly expanded, eventually growing into what is known today as Cape Town. Simon and Willem Adriaan van der Stel were among Jan van Riebeeck's well-known successors.

Gradually a small but prosperous colony of Dutch farmers developed at the southern point of Africa. The labour force consisted of Hottentots and, later, imported slaves. Prospective settlers were offered favourable conditions of settlement and more Dutch citizens emigrated to the new colony. They were joined by German, English and French nationals. To supply their own needs, the colonists soon embarked on stock farming, moving ever further into the country. When their expanding crops encroached on the land of the indigenous populations, resistance by the latter led to a number of wars, but these were soon over, with the immigrants invariably the victors. These early colonists were the forebears of the Boer nation or Afrikaners - so called because of their language, Afrikaans, which mainly evolved from Old Dutch.

As the number of colonists increased, so did the tendency for farmers to move deeper into the hinterland, where they settled on fertile stretches of land and expanded into large-scale farming. Thus the French Huguenots who came ashore in 1688, settled in the fertile valley currently known as Franschhoek. Among the possessions they brought from France were the rootstocks of various grape varieties. With their knowledge of viticulture and the vineyards they established at Franschhoek, they laid the foundation for the flourishing wine industry in that region. Today the French names of numerous wine estates and farms still bear witness to their success as farmers.

In 1795, during the wars that followed the French Revolution, British armed forces occupied the Cape in an attempt to prevent it from falling into French hands. The Cape was returned to the Netherlands in 1803, but was reoccupied by Britain in 1806. By the end of 1814 British rule was firmly established and thousands of British subjects emigrated to the Cape.

To escape British rule, many Boers (Voortrekkers) left the Cape, and the Great Trek into the unknown started. The Voortrekkers proclaimed the Republic of the Orange Free State on the northern banks of the Orange River, and the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek on the other side of the Vaal River (Transvaal). Britain reacted by annexing Natal to save it from occupation by the Boers. A lot of new problems developed with the discovery of diamonds at Kimberley in 1867. Kimberley was situated in the Cape Colony and both the Boers and the English rulers laid claim to the area. The situation took a turn for the worse when a British arbiter ruled in favour of the latter. In 1877 British forces occupied the Transvaal, but they were defeated by the Boers in 1880. This First Boer War ended in 1881, with the Transvaal regaining its independence.

The Second Boer War started in 1899. One of its primary causes was the refusal of the Boer government to grant "foreigners" the right to vote. These foreigners were mostly British nationals who had flocked to the Transvaal following the discovery of gold in the "Witwatersrand" area (later Johannesburg). The tension reached breaking point when Cecil John Rhodes, prime minister of the Cape Colony, gave the order for a British regiment under Leander Starr Jameson to invade the Transvaal. Rhodes was an extremely ambitious man. His greatest ideal was to expand British rule throughout Africa - from Cape to Cairo. The former Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was named after him.

During the initial stages of the Second Boer War, which started in 1899, the English suffered one defeat after another and it would seem as if the Boers under President Paul Kruger and his brave generals such as Christiaan de Wet, could not be defeated. However, a counter-offensive under Lord Kitchener, based on his "scorched earth" policy and the torturing of women and children in concentration camps, finally ensured England of victory, and the war ended in 1902.

The two Boer republics were granted autonomous rule in 1906, and in 1910 united with Natal and the Cape to form the Union of South Africa.

Although many South Africans sympathised with the Germans, South Africa actively supported the Allied forces in both World Wars. In 1915 German South West Africa (now Namibia) was captured from the Germans and became a mandated territory under the supervision of the League of Nations. At the end of the Second World War the UN wanted to turn the territory into a trust area under its control, but SA refused to recognise this and annexed South West Africa. In 1971 the International Court declared the presence of South African armed forces in Namibia unlawful. The protracted dispute was resolved in 1988 with an accord entered into by SA, the UN, Angola and Cuba, which led to the independece of Namibia in 1990. Walvis Bay remained under South African rule until 1994.