Problems have plagued South Africa since its birth. Not only has the land been claimed and re-claimed several times, but the people in the country have had to repeatedly deal with racial disputes.

The following is a time line of some key events in the history of South Africa.

1652—The Dutch East India Company landed and settled the Cape of Good Hope.

1795—The settlers tried to establish an independent republic, free of direct Dutch control. The settlers became known as Boers or Afrikaners.

1814—Britain took posession of the colony and added 5,000 settlers to the 15,000 already there. The anglicization, or “Britain-izing,” of the government drove 12,000 Afrikaners into African tribal territory.

1833—The new government freed all slaves.

1867—The discovery of gold and diamonds brought an influx of “outlanders,” sparked ideas of rebellion.

1899—The Boers War began as British expansionists fought the Afrikaners.

1902—The Boers were defeated by British expansionists.

1910—The Union of South Africa was created and Louis Botha, a Boer, became the first Prime Minister.

1945—South Africa became a charter member of the United Nations, but refused to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Apartheid, racial separation, dominated domestic politics. The Nationalist Party gained power and imposed restrictions on Bantus, Asians and blacks.

1960—The African National Congress was outlawed by the government.

1961—The ANC, led by Nelson Mandela, launched its sabotage campaign against the government.

1961—On May 31, the Union of South Africa broke with Britain to become the Republic of South Africa.

1962—Mandela was imprisoned to serve a life sentence for helping plan the ANC’s sabotage campaign. During this time, other anti-apartheid leaders and followers were also imprisoned. Walter Sisulu, a former African National Congress leader, was imprisoned for 26 years. Helen Joseph, a friend of Mandela’s and the first white to be placed under house arrest, also went to prison.

1963—Nationalist Prime Minister H.F. Verwoerd and his government asserted the power to restrict freedom of those who opposed rigid racial laws.

1966—Verwoerd was assassinated amid racial tension. Balthaza J. Vorster, also a Nationalist, took his place as Prime Minister.

1978—On June 4, Vorster resigned amid scandals and Pieter W. Botha succeeded him.

1984—On Sept. 14, Botha became President of South Africa.

1985—On July 26, a state of emergency was declared in response to anti-apartheid protests. The declaration covered 36 cities and towns and allowed police to make arrests without warrants and to detain people indefinitely.

1986—On June 12, a second national state of emergency was declared. It was extended until June 1988, but has been in effect for 43 months.

1989—Botha suffered a stroke which led to his resignation. F.W. de Klerk took his place. In September, de Klerk was officially elected as South African president.

In October, the South African government released Sisulu from prison.

1990—Recent developments in South Africa include the dropping of restrictions against the ANC, the Pan-Africanist Congress, the South African Communist Party and more than 55 other anti-apartheid grops. Restrictions against more than 300 people banned from working, publishing or speacking publicly have also been lifted.

The possibility of Mandela’s release has been brewing since fall 1989. Mandela made demands including lifting the state of emergency declaration and releasing all political prisoners. His release is pending.