The Zulus, hard pressed between British and Boers after the British annexation of Natal (1845), held out fiercely until war with the British (1879-81) when their country was defeated and annexed. Transvaal was annexed by England in 1877 and then restored to independance in 1881.

But the discovery of diamonds at Kimberley and gold on the Witwatersrand (1886) sealed their fate. The entry of foreign speculators (Uitlanders) sparked Boer hostility, and when an attempt by the Cape Colony under Prime Minister Cecil Rhodes to takeover the Transvaal failed dismally in the 'Jamison Raid' (1895), the incriminations and hosility led inexorably to the Boer War (1899-1902).

After initial Boer successes, ruthless British suppression eventually forced the Boers to capitulate, and at the 'Peace of Vereeniging' the Africaners secured favourable terms, including the use of their own language and the exclusion of blacks from the franchise. This compromise made possible the formation of the Union of South Africa and inclusion as a Dominion in the British Commonwealth in 1910. Nevertheless it was yet another betrayal of black Africans by England which led to many future conflicts and to the South African govt policy of Apartheid by 1948.