Jan van Riebeeck Arrives, 1652
The arrival of Jan van Riebeeck, a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator, at Table Bay (Cape of Good Hope) marked the beginning of permanent European settlement in the region.
![Group of 17th century European explorers carrying supplies and a Dutch flag onto land, approached by indigenous people.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/1652_JanVanRiebeeckArrives_FH281148.jpg?h=d29cb276&itok=GHQ59e3N)
Map of Africa, ca. 1867
This nineteenth-century map depicts the known boundary lines, cities, rivers, lakes and elevation changes in Africa.
![Map of Africa, with distinct territories colored in red, blue, and yellow. Includes close up maps of Liberia and Egypt.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Map_of_Africa_1867_FH281157.jpg?h=9d370722&itok=dQfTYu2q)
Mazisi Kunene
Mazisi Kunene (1930-2006), a South African poet, educator and activist, was an active supporter and organizer of the anti-apartheid movement in Europe and Africa. He later became South Africa’s poet laureate.
![Mazisi Kunene (1930-2006), a South African poet.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2018_MazisiKunene_FH281933.jpg?h=63ec7df1&itok=w1QGoxBz)
Nelson Mandela, 1937
A young Nelson Mandela poses for a photograph in Umtata shortly before moving to Fort Beaufort to attend Healdtown Comprehensive School.
!["A young Nelson Mandela poses for a photograph in Umtata shortly before moving to Fort Beaufort to attend Healdtown Comprehensive School. "](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Nelson_Mandela_Medium_res.jpg?h=623540e1&itok=0V950_BY)
Nomonde Calata Reads Newspaper
Nomonde Calata, widow of Fort Calata, reads the newspaper to learn the fate of the seven policemen who applied for amnesty for their involvement in the death of Fort Calata at the TRC hearing.
![Nomonde Calata reads the newspaper.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/1997_NomondeCalataReadsNewspaper_FH281934.jpg?h=ad518777&itok=ZP4SrHg4)
Ntsiki Biko Consoles her Mother-in-Law Alice Biko
Nontsikelelo 'Ntsikie' Biko (L), widow of South African civil rights activist Steve Biko, consoles his mother Alice (R) during the investigation into his death from beatings administered by the South African Security Police.
![Two black South African women. Younger woman is standing, wearing a blue dress and black shawl and hat, and is consoling the sitting older woman who is crying into a handkerchief](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Ntsiki_Biko_Consoles_Her_Mother-in-Law_Alice_Biko_Medium_res.jpg?h=9e68b9fd&itok=rZcEIwBd)
Signing of the South African Constitution
The signing of the Republic of South Africa's Constitution in May 1996 ushered in a new era of democracy two years after the country’s historic first election and the installation of President Nelson Mandela.
![The signing of the Republic of South Africa's Constitution in May 1996.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/1996_SigningoftheSouthAfricanConstitution_FH281937.jpg?h=c4482f5d&itok=pkPRL5nQ)
Sol Plaatje, ca. 1911
Sol Plaatje was the co-founder of the African National Congress (ANC). As an activist and politician, he spent much of his life fighting for the enfranchisement and liberation of the South African people.
![Black and white image of Sol Plaatje writing](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Sol_Plaatje.png?h=133ff0fb&itok=KuJIRhow)
South African Scooter Drivers Union
Spurred by the strikes in Durban in 1973, the formation of trade unions, like the South African Scooter Drivers Union in Johannesburg (1984), provided labor protection to black South Africans.
![Illusration on poster depicts men on motorcyles with shirts reading "SASDU" and gold wings.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-08/South_African_Scooter_Drivers_Union_teaser.jpeg?h=def8f538&itok=JVshKpJE)
Southern Africa Frontline States
The collapse of apartheid and the implementation of a democratic government in South Africa was regionally supported by a group of southern African states called the Frontline States. (The Democratic Republic of Congo, pictured here, was not supportive of the liberation.)
![Southern region of Africa, with visible countries in different colors (Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Republic of Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland)](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Southern_Africa_Frontline_States.png?h=23305f7f&itok=fLDOAQm2)