<P> Following the defeat of the Boers in the Anglo - Boer or South African War ( 1899 -- 1902 ) , the Union of South Africa was created as a dominion of the British Empire in terms of the South Africa Act 1909 , which amalgamated the four previously separate British colonies : Cape Colony , Natal Colony , Transvaal Colony and Orange River Colony . The country became a self - governing nation state within the British Empire , in 1934 following enactment of the Status of the Union Act . The dominion came to an end on 31 May 1961 as the consequence of a 1960 referendum , which legitimised the country becoming a sovereign state named Republic of South Africa . A republican constitution was adopted . </P>
<P> Following the defeat of the Boers in the Anglo - Boer or South African War ( 1899 -- 1902 ) , the Union of South Africa was created as a dominion of the British Empire in terms of the South Africa Act 1909 , which amalgamated the four previously separate British colonies : Cape Colony , Natal Colony , Transvaal Colony and Orange River Colony . The country became a self - governing nation state within the British Empire , in 1934 following enactment of the Status of the Union Act . The dominion came to an end on 31 May 1961 as the consequence of a 1960 referendum , which legitimised the country becoming a sovereign state named Republic of South Africa . A republican constitution was adopted . </P>
what was south africa called before it became a republic
what was south africa called before it became a republic
the Union of South Africa
the Union of South Africa