The year 1870 in the history of the Cape Colony marks the dawn of a new era in South Africa, and it can be said that the development of modern South Africa began on that date. Despite political complications that arose from time to time, progress in Cape Colony continued at a steady pace until the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer Wars in 1899. The discovery of diamonds in the Orange River in 1867 was immediately followed by similar finds in the Vaal River. This led to the rapid occupation and development of huge tracts of the country, which had hitherto been sparsely inhabited. Dutoitspan and Bultfontein diamond mines were discovered in 1870, and in 1871 the even richer mines of Kimberley and De Beers were discovered. These four great deposits of mineral wealth were incredibly productive, and constituted the greatest industrial asset that the Colony possessed.
Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere, 1st Baronet was a British colonial administrator. He had a successful career in India, rising to become Governor of Bombay (1862–1867). However, as High Commissioner for Southern Africa (1877–1880), he implemented a set of policies which attempted to impose a British confederation on the region and which led to the overthrow of the Cape's first elected government in 1878 and to a string of regional wars, culminating in the invasion of Zululand (1879) and the First Boer War (1880-1881). The British Prime Minister, Gladstone, recalled Frere to London to face charges of misconduct; Whitehall officially censured Frere for acting recklessly.
Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr was a South African politician. He was affectionately known as Onze Jan, "our Jan" in Dutch.
Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr was a South African politician and intellectual in the years preceding apartheid. In his lifetime he was regarded as one of the cleverest men in the country, and it was widely expected that he would eventually become Prime Minister of South Africa. He came from a well-known Afrikaner family; his uncle, also Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr but known affectionately as "Onze Jan" among fellow Afrikaners, was a famous figure in the Afrikaans language movement.
John Xavier Merriman was the last prime minister of the Cape Colony before the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910.
The City of Cape Town is the metropolitan municipality which governs the city of Cape Town, South Africa and its suburbs and exurbs. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 3,740,026.
The Xhosa Wars were a series of nine wars or flare-ups between the Xhosa Kingdom and European settlers in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa. These events were the longest-running military action in the history of African colonialism.
Sir John Gordon Sprigg, was a British administrator, politician and four-time prime minister of the Cape Colony.
Sir John Charles Molteno was a soldier, businessman, champion of responsible government and the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.
Sir Thomas Charles Scanlen was a politician and administrator of the Cape Colony.
Although the Democratic Alliance of South Africa in its present form is fairly new, its roots can be traced far back in South African political history, through a complex sequence of splits and mergers.
Ian Douglas Neilson is a South African civil engineer and politician who currently serves as Deputy Mayor of Cape Town after having taken the office on 27 May 2009. He previously served as the Mayoral Committee Member for Finance from 2006 until 2016 and Executive Councillor for Safety and Health from 2000 until 2002.
Saul Solomon was an influential liberal politician of the Cape Colony. A tireless defender of racial and religious equality, Saul Solomon was an important member of the movement for responsible government and an opponent of Lord Carnarvon's disastrous Confederation scheme.
Dr Henry White, M.L.C. was a Member of Parliament and Treasurer General of the Cape Colony.
The Koegas atrocities or Koegas affair (1878–80) was a notorious murder case in the Cape Colony, which led to deep political divisions and a follow up campaign, due to the perceived racial bias of the country's Attorney General. It culminated in libel suits, filed by the government against several liberal leaders and news outlets.
Lieutenant Colonel John Thomas Eustace was an influential conservative member of the Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope.
Philippus Johannes Andries Watermeyer (1825-1897) was a prominent Member of the Cape Legislative Assembly.
The Eastern Province Separatist League was a loose political movement of the 19th century Cape Colony. It fought not for independence, but for a separate British-ruled colony in the eastern half of the Cape Colony, with a more restrictive political system and an expansionist policy eastwards against the remaining independent Xhosa states. It was crushed in the 1870s, and many of its members later moved to the new pro-imperialist, Rhodesian “progressive party”.
Jan Christoffel Hofmeyr also known as Stoffel Hofmeyr was a notary, financier, benefactor and Mayor of Cape Town.
David Christiaan de Waal was a Cape politician, businessman and Mayor of Cape Town.
