The South African Republic, also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result of the Second Boer War.
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, better known as Paul Kruger, was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and State President of the South African Republic from 1883 to 1900. Nicknamed Oom Paul, he came to international prominence as the face of the Boer cause—that of the Transvaal and its neighbour the Orange Free State—against Britain during the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. He has been called a personification of Afrikanerdom and admirers venerate him as a tragic folk hero.
Pieter Johannes "Piet" Potgieter was a South African Boer political figure. He was the acting head of state of Zoutpansberg from 1852 to 1854, and the first son of voortrekker Andries Potgieter.
The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was an ancient state in South Africa located at the confluence of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers, south of Great Zimbabwe. The kingdom was the first stage in a development that would culminate in the creation of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe in the 13th century, and with gold trading links to Rhapta and Kilwa Kisiwani on the African east coast. At its height the capital's population was about 5000 people. Although traditionally assumed to have been the first kingdom in Southern Africa, excavations in the same region at Mapela Hill show evidence for sacral kingship nearly 200 years earlier.
Paracalliope is a genus of amphipod crustaceans that live in Australasia. They include the most common freshwater amphipods in New Zealand, where they are particularly frequent in slow-flowing reaches of rivers. They shelter among weed beds and are important prey items for fish such as the New Zealand smelt, Retropinna retropinna, which are in turn important prey for the freshwater eels Anguilla australis and Anguilla dieffenbachii. Paracalliope acts as an intermediate host for the nematode Hedruris spinigera, which can thus reach their primary host, the eel.
Makapansgat is an archaeological location within the Makapansgat and Zwartkrans Valleys, northeast of Mokopane in Limpopo province, South Africa. It is an important palaeontological site, with the local limeworks containing Australopithecus-bearing deposits dating to between 3.0 and 2.6 million years BP. The whole Makapan Valley has been declared a South African Heritage Site. Makapansgat belongs to the Cradle of Humankind.
The Diocese of St Mark the Evangelist is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, in the geographical area of the Limpopo province in the north of South Africa.
Mosesetjane is a village situated northwest of the town of Mokopane in the Waterberg District of the Limpopo province of South Africa. It is divided into three sections under three chiefs: Chief Kekana of the Kgobudi section, Chief Frans Ledwaba of the Sekgoboko section, and Chief N Lebelo of the Mmalepetleke area.
Schoemansdal was a settlement situated 16 km west of Louis Trichardt (Makhado), which had its origins during the Great Trek. It existed from 1848 to 1867, and functioned as the capital of an autonomous region until the S.A.R. Volksraad was established, when the outpost came under the supervision and regulations of the central government. The settlement was evacuated after only thirty years when attacked by Venda militants. The government rendered indecisive support and the town as torched by Katze-Katze on the night of 15 July 1867.
The Mogalakwena mine is a large open pit mine located in the north-western part of South Africa in Mokopane, Limpopo. Mogalakwena represents one of the largest platinum reserves in South Africa having estimated reserves of 264.9 million oz of platinum. The mine produces around 310,000 oz of platinum/year.
Leopard's Kopje is an archaeological site, the type site of the associated region or culture that marked the Middle Iron Age in Zimbabwe. The ceramics from the Leopard's Kopje type site have been classified as part of phase II of the Leopard's Kopje culture. For information on the region of Leopard's Kopje, see the "Associated sites" section of this article.
Shadreck Chirikure is Edward Hall Professor of Archaeological Science at the University of Oxford where he is Director of the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology. He holds a British Academy Global Professorship within the same School at Oxford. He is a leading archaeologist, studying ancient materials and technology, human-materials relations and history of technology. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2024.
Kweneng’ ruins are the remains of a pre-colonial Tswana capital occupied from the 14th to the 19th century AD in South Africa. The site is located 30km south of the modern-day city of Johannesburg. Settlement at the site likely began around the 1300s and saw its peak in the 14th century. The Kweneng' ruins are similar to those built by other early civilizations found in the southern Africa region during this period, including the Luba–Lunda kingdom, Kingdom of Mutapa, Bokoni, and many others, as these groups share ancestry. Kweneng' was the largest of several sizable settlements inhabited by Tswana speakers prior to European arrival. Several circular stone walled family compounds are spread out over an area 10km long and 2km wide. It is likely that Kweneng' was abandoned in the 1820s during the period of colonial expansion-related civil wars known as the Mfecane or Difaqane, leading to the dispersal of its inhabitants.
Tefo Mapesela is a Mosotho accountant and politician who serves as the leader of the Basotho Patriotic Party. He has been a proportional representation member of the National Assembly since April 2023, after previously serving as the legislator for Mokhotlong No. 79 constituency from 2015 until 2022. A former member of the All Basotho Convention, Mapesela served as the Minister of Trade and Industry from 2017 until 2018, as the Minister of Defence and National Security from 2018 to 2020 and as the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security between 2020 and 2021.
Mapela Hill is an archaeological site located in southwestern Zimbabwe, 90km northwest of Mapungubwe.
