In 1910, the Cape became part of the newly formed Union of South Africa, which brought together the former Cape Colony, Natal, the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal into a single political entity under British authority.

 

This marked a decisive shift from separate colonial administrations to a centralised national state. Political power increasingly resided at the national level, while the provinces, including the Cape, exercised limited administrative authority rather than independent sovereignty.

 

The Union was established primarily to unify white-controlled territories following the Anglo-Boer Wars and to stabilise British influence in southern Africa. While it introduced a national parliament and unified legal framework, political participation was heavily restricted along racial lines.

 

Key features of the Union period included -

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•    consolidation of national authority;

•    entrenchment of racial segregation in law and policy;

•    limited franchise rights, gradually eroded over time; and

•    expansion of mining, agriculture, and industrial development.

 

Economic growth during this era was uneven. While certain sectors and regions prospered, large portions of the population remained excluded from political power and economic opportunity.

 

The Cape, which had previously maintained a limited non-racial franchise under British rule, saw these rights steadily dismantled as national policies imposed uniform racial exclusion.

 

The Union period laid the foundations for a highly centralised state and institutionalised inequality. It also established many of the administrative and legal structures that would later be expanded under apartheid.

 

In 1961, following a whites-only referendum, South Africa formally became a republic, ending its status as a dominion of the British Crown.

This transition marked the beginning of a new political phase under full National Party control.