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31 May 1961 is recognized as the official date of Independence as South Africa became a Republic on that date.

The Republic of South Africa as it is today did not gain independence fully at a single point in history. Rather, it went through a series of transitions. It first gained partial independence from Britain on 31 May 1910. Then it formed the Union of South Africa under partial British and Dutch rule. It then gained further independence from the statue of Westminster on 11 December 1931.

From there it gained full independence on 31 May 1961 to form the Republic of South Africa which was governed by the apartheid regime.

Apartheid ended gradually in 1990 and the first democratic elections took place on 14 April 1994 when the first black president of the Republic was democratically elected - Nelson Mandela.

South Africa

Official name: Republic of South Africa

Independence from Britain: 1934

In 1652 Dutch settlers arrived at the Cape and set up a refreshment post for the journey to the Dutch East Indies. With minimal impact on the local peoples (Bantu speaking groups and Bushmen) the Dutch started to move inland and colonize. The arrival of the British in the eighteenth century accelerated the process. The Cape colony was ceded to the British in 1814. In 1816, Shaka kaSenzangakhona became Zulu ruler, to be assassinated by Dingane in 1828. The Great Trek of the Boers moving away from the British in the Cape started in 1836 -- leading to the founding of the Republic of Natal in 1838 and the Orange Free State in 1854. Britain took Natal from the Boers in 1843. The Transvaal was recognized as an independent state by the British in 1852 and the Cape Colony was granted self-government in 1872. Zulu War and two Anglo-Boer wars followed, and the country was unified under British dominion in 1910. Independence for white minority rule came in 1934. In 1958 Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, the Prime Minister, introduced the Grand Apartheid policy. The African National Congress, formed in 1912, finally came into power in 1994 when the first multiracial, multiparty elections were held.

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