| From | To | Event |
| 1882 | | Abraham September (freed slave) begins Orange River irrigation |
| 1882 | | Approximately 4645 settlers arrive. South End Cemetery in Port Elizabeth started. Use of Dutch recognised in Cape Parliament. |
| 1882.08.29 | | 229 Norwegians arrive aboard the "Lapland" and settle at the mouth of the Umzimkulu river (Port Shepstone), Natal. |
| 1883 | 1890. | Germans occupy South West Africa and German East Africa |
| 1883 | | Revd Gwayi Tyamzashe; last black man to hold a claim in Kimberley mines; loses his claim |
| 1884 | 1885. | Warren takes over Stellaland and Goshen; establishes Crown Colony of British Bechuanaland and Bechuanaland Protectorate |
| 1884 | | The Anglican St. Cuthbert's Church built in Port Elizabeth. Barberton goldfields opened. |
| 1885 | | Railway line opened from Cape to Kimberley. |
| 1886 | | Gold found on Witwatersrand |
| 1886 | | Gold discovered in the Transvaal (Witwatersrand) |
| 1888 | | C.J. Rhodes amalgamates Kimberley mining companies as De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd |
| 1888 | | 'Rudd concession' signed by Lobengula |
| 1888 | | British South Africa Company founded. |
| 1890 | | Pioneer Column of Rhodes's British South Africa Company departs from Kimberley to occupy Rhodesia |
| 1890 | | Railway line reaches from Cape to Bloemfontein. First railway line in Transvaal, from Johannesburg to Boksburg. |
| 1892 | | Mankurwane of Tlhaping dies |
| 1892 | | Railway line to Johannesburg completed with connections from Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and East London. |
| 1894.11.02 | | Railway line between Lourenco Marques and Johannesburg opened. |
| 1894 | | Glen Grey Act passed in Cape to control African labour and land |
| 1895 | | The Jameson Raid takes place in the Johannesburg district in December. The Pretoria-Delagoa Bay railway line opened by the South African Republic. Railway line opened between Durban and Johannesburg on 16 Dec 1896. Rinderpest causes big loss of cattle. |
| 1896 | | Montshiwa of Rolong dies |
| 1896 | | Rinderpest epidemic; spreading through Africa; breaks out here |
| 1896 | 1897. | Bechuanaland Campaign/Galeshewe's War begins at Phokwane and spreads to Langeberg |
| 1897 | | Luka Mothibi killed in Langeberg |
| 1897 | | Zululand incorporated into Natal. Railway line opened between Cape Town and Bulawayo. |
| 1899.10.11 | 1902.05.31 | The Second Anglo-Boer War. |
| 1899.10.13 | | Boers invade Natal |
| 1899.10.14 | | Sieges of Mafeking and Kimberley started. |
| 1899.10.20 | | Battle of Talana. |
| 1899.10.21 | | Battle of Elandslaagte. |
| 1899.10.30 | | Battle of Lombard's Kop. |
| 1899.10.30 | | Siege of Ladysmith started. |
| 1899.11.23 | | Battle of Belmont. |
| 1899.11.25 | | Battle of Graspan. |
| 1899.11.28 | | Battle of Modder River. |
| 1899.12.10 | | Battle of Stormberg. |
| 1899.12.11 | | Battle of Magersfontein. |
| 1899.12.15 | | Battle of Colenso. Battle of Dundee. Imperial Penny Postage adopted by Cape Colony |
| 1900.01.06 | | Boers attack Ladysmith. |
| 1900.01.23 | 1900.01.24 | Battle of Spion Kop. |
| 1900.02.05 | | Battle of Vaal Krantz. |
| 1900.02.15 | | Relief of Kimberley. |
| 1900.02.28 | | Ladysmith relieved. |
| 1900.03.07 | | Battle of Poplar Grove. |
| 1900.03.13 | | Bloemfontein captured. |
| 1900.06.11 | | Battle of Diamond Hill. Burning of farms (scorched earth) policy authorised in July / August. Amalgamation of Union and Castle Steamship Lines. |
| 1901 | | Bubonic plague in Cape Town. |
| 1901 | 1902. | 200 teachers arrive from England to teach in the British concentration camps, followed by 100 teachers from Canada, New Zealand and Australia. |
| 1901 | | Edward VII |
| 1902.05.31 | | Peace of Vereeniging signed, ending Anglo-Boer War. |
| 1904 | | Chinese labourers recruited for the Transvaal mines. |
| 1907 | | Asiatic Registration Act passed in Transvaal, Indians oppose it. |
| 1908 | | Second Asiatic Registration Act passed in Transvaal, beginning of passive resistance campaigns. |
| 1909 | | S.S. Waratah lost between Durban and Cape Town. |
| 1910.05.31 | | Union of South Africa established by joining the British colonies and the Boer republics |
| 1910 | | Laying of foundation stone of Union Buildings in Pretoria. |
| 1910 | | George V |
| 1910 | | Halley's Comet |
| 1910 | | Union of South Africa established |
| 1911.05.17 | | Census of population taken. |
| 1912 | | Titanic sinks |
| 1913 | | Miners' strikes and riots on Witwatersrand. Indian riots in Natal. March of Natal Indians into Transvaal. Natives Land Act restricts black ownership of land. |
| 1914 | | First World War |
| 1915 | | Afrikaans becomes the second official language, after English. South West Africa and South Africa linked by railway line. |
| 1918 | | Influenza epidemic with pneumonia. |
| 1921 | | Diamond mines closed down in Kimberley, economic depression. |
| 1922.10.04 | | Inauguration of Witwatersrand University. |
| 1923 | | Platinum discovered in Waterberg district of Transvaal. |
| 1924.06.17 | | General elections in South Africa. |
| 1925 | | South Africa reverts to gold standard. Afrikaans constituted an official language. |
| 1930 | | White women receive the vote. |
| 1932 | | Airmail service between South Africa and Britain started in January. Wireless telephone communication established with Britain in February. |
| 1933 | | South Africa House opened in London. Afrikaans Bible issued. |
| 1934 | | Union Airways acquired by government on 01 August 1936. South African Broadcasting Corporation established. |
| 1936 | | Edward VIII |
| 1936 | | George VI |
| 1938 | | Great Trek Centenary celebrations. |
| 1939 | | Second World War |
| 1941 | | South African Forces take Mega in Southern Abyssinia. South African Forces arrive in Egypt in April. |
| 1941 | | Heroic stand by South African Forces at Sidi Resegh in November 1944. The black-out in Cape Town is suspended. 6th South African Armoured Division leads 8th Army offensive in Italy, South Africans were the first to enter Florence. |
| 1945.03.17 | | South African Forces capture Monte Sole and Monte Caprara, which were barring entering into Bologna. |
| 1945 | | 34 people killed and 90 injured in explosion of the Grand Magazine in Pretoria. |
| 1945 | | Announcement made that as from the beginning of the war until 05 March 1945, more than 1500 South African soldiers were decorated, 2386 were mentioned in despatches and 330 were commended. |
| 1945 | | Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuked |
| 1948 | | Known as the beginning of apartheid era. |
| 1948 | | Nationalist Government come to power in SA |
| 1950 | | Korean War |
| 1952 | | Elizabeth II |
| 1957 | | Sputnik |
| 1961 | | South Africa becomes a republic and leaves the Commonwealth. |
| 1965 | | Rhodesian UDI |
| 1967 | | Six Day Arab - Isreali War |
| 1969 | | Man on the Moon |
| 1972 | | Watergate |
| 1975 | | South African Forces in Angola. |
| 1975 | | Angola and Mozambique independence |
| 1976 | 1981. | The homelands of Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei are separated from South Africa and established as independent states. |
| 1982 | | Falklands War |
| 1984 | | Coloureds and Asians given the vote. |
| 1986 | | Halley's Comet |
| 1990 | | The start of repealing of apartheid laws. |
| 1991 | | Gulf War |
| 1994.03.27 | | First democratic general elections. |
| 1997 | | Princess Diana dies in motor accident in Paris |
| 1999 | | Second democratic elections in SA. ANC governs with just short of two thirds majority |
