<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Cape of Good Hope, also known as the Cape Colony (Dutch: Kaapkolonie), was a British colony in present - day South Africa, named after the Cape of Good Hope . The British colony was preceded by an earlier Dutch colony of the same name, the Kaap de Goede Hoop, established in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company . The Cape was under Dutch rule from 1652 to 1795 and again from 1803 to 1806 . The Dutch lost the colony to Great Britain following the 1795 Battle of Muizenberg, but had it returned following the 1802 Peace of Amiens . It was re-occupied by the UK following the Battle of Blaauwberg in 1806, and British possession affirmed with the Anglo - Dutch Treaty of 1814 . </P> <P> The Cape of Good Hope then remained in the British Empire, becoming self - governing in 1872, and uniting with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa in 1910 . It then was renamed the Province of the Cape of Good Hope . South Africa became a sovereign state in 1931 by the Statute of Westminster . In 1961 it became the Republic of South Africa and obtained its own monetary unit called the Rand . Following the 1994 creation of the present - day South African provinces, the Cape Province was partitioned into the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, and Western Cape, with smaller parts in North West province . </P>

When did the british take over cape colony