1910 Union of South Africa formed.

1912 SANNC, later ANC, founded.

1913 Natives’ Land Act passed.

1914 NP founded.

1920 Native Affairs Act creates separate administration for blacks living in Native Reserves.

1923 Natives (Urban Areas) Act extends segregation to towns.

1925 Afrikaans becomes an official language alongside English.

1948 (Reunited) National Party (HNP) wins election.

1949 Prohibition of mixed marriages.

1950 Population registration (to determine a person’s race), Immorality and Group Areas Acts; Suppression of Communism Act.

1951 Separate Representation of Voters Bill enacted.

1952 Native Laws Amendment Act, Abolition of Passes Act starts reference book (dompas) for Africans. ANC launched Defiance Campaign.

1953 Government wins election with mandate to remove coloureds from common voters’ roll in the Cape. Bantu Education Act passed. Reservation of Separate Amenities Act.

1955 Forced removals from Johannesburg’s non-white Sofiatown suburb continues through to 1958 from other suburbs. Freedom Charter adopted.

1956 Coloureds removed from common voters’ roll. Treason Trial of 156 anti-apartheid activists.

1958 Hendrik Verwoerd becomes Prime Minister.

1959 PAC breaks away from ANC.

1960 Anti Pass Law campaign; Sharpeville shootings. ANC and PAC banned, both set up military wings. State of Emergency declared. White referendum of forming a Republic.

1961 Mandela proposes the adoption of an armed struggle.

1962 Mandela arrested.

1966 Verwoerd assassinated in parliament, B.J. Vorster takes over.

1975-6 South Africa invades Angola, then withdraws, but SA continues to side with UNITA in civil war until 1989.

1976 Soweto riots. Many teenagers flee the country for military training. Internal Security Act passed.

1977 Seventeen organizations and two newspapers banned.

1978 P.W. Botha succeeds Vorster after he resigns over funding scandal.

1980 Zimbabwe wins independence. ANC breaks with Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Inkatha.

1984 Tricameral parliaments formed, no representation for blacks. Widespread rioting begins.

1985 State of Emergency in 36 magisterial districts declared.

1986 Pass Laws abolished.

1988 Seventeen anti-apartheid organizations banned, including UDF.

1989 P.W. Botha has stroke, resigns, succeeded by F.W. de Klerk. NP wins general election. Anti-apartheid demonstrations permitted in major cities.

1990 Mandela released from prison. ANC, PAC, SACP unbanned. Namibia gains independence. Separate Amenities Act repealed. Fighting between Inkatha and ANC spreads to the Transvaal. NP allows all races to join.

1991 National Peace accord signed. Talks on relinquishing white hold on power begin. Group Areas Act, Population Registration Act, Native Land and Trust Act repealed.

1992 Forty-five people killed in Boipatong massacre.

1993 Chris Hani assassinated by white right-winger. Election date announced.

1994 ANC wins first democratic election by massive majority. Homelands reincorporated.

1998 October: Truth and Reconciliation report published.

2000 June: The New National Party (formerly the National Party) incorporated in the Democratic Party.