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After the British seized the Cape of Good
Hope area in 1806, many of the Dutch settlers (the Boers) trekked north to
found their own republics. The discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold
(1886) spurred wealth and immigration and intensified the subjugation of
the native inhabitants. The Boers resisted British encroachments, but were
defeated in the Boer War (1899-1902). The resulting Union of South Africa
operated under a policy of apartheid - the separate development of the
races. The 1990s brought an end to apartheid politically and ushered in
black majority rule. After the end of
Apartheid in 1994, the new government of South Africa had to integrate the
independent and semi-independent Bantustans into the political structure
of South Africa. To this end, it abolished the four former provinces of
South Africa, namely the Cape of Good Hope Province, Natal, Orange Free
State, and Transvaal) and replaced them with nine fully integrated
provinces.
The new provinces were much smaller than the former provinces, which was
done in order to allow the local government more resources. The new
provinces are:
Eastern Cape (Transkei and Ciskei homelands)
Free State (Orange Free State)
Gauteng (Transvaal)
KwaZulu-Natal (Natal)
Mpumalanga (Eastern Transvaal)
Limpopo (Northern Province)
Northern Cape (Cape Province)
North West (Transvaal, Cape Province, and Bophuthatswana Bantustan)
Western Cape (Cape Province)
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