- 1990: Mandela, leader of the African National Congress (ANC), is released after 27 years in captivity after President F.W. de Klerk rescinded a ban on his party as well as the Pan African Congress (PAC) and the Communist party (SACP).
- 1990: De Klerk and Mandela begin negotiations which will culminate in the end of the white-supremacist apartheid system.
- 1990: Lifting of a state of emergency. The ANC suspends its armed struggle.
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- 1991: Apartheid is formally abolished on June 30.
- 1993: SACP leader Chris Hani is assassinated by a white extremist.
- 1993: Mandela and de Klerk are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
- 1994: The ANC wins the country's first multi-racial elections in April. Mandela is then sworn in as the country's first black president at the head of a national unity government which includes de Klerk.
- 1995: Abolition of the death penalty.
- 1996: A new multi-party and non-racial constitution is ratified. The National Party leaves government for the first time since 1948.
- 1999: Mandela stands down as president after the ANC, with Thabo Mbeki as its leader, is overwhelmingly re-elected.
- 2004: The ANC wins its third landslide election since the end of apartheid.
- 2007: Mbeki is toppled by his arch rival Jacob Zuma as president of the ANC at a special conference in December.
- 2008: Wave of xenophobic violence in townships leaves more than 60 dead and hundreds wounded.
- 2008: In September, Mbeki is forced out of office.
- 2009: ANC triumphs in fourth multi-racial elections on April 22, winning 65.9 percent of votes. Zuma is installed as president the following month.
