Ranging in date from ~3 mya to ~250 kya, this chapter examines the palaeontological and archaeological evidence for hominin evolution from the late Pliocene to the late Middle Pleistocene. It discusses southern Africa’s main fossil hominin sites, emphasising discoveries from the Cradle of Humankind since 2000, including Australopithecus prometheus, Australopithecus sediba, and Homo naledi. Further afield, attention is directed to the significance of work at sites like Wonderwerk and its expansion into long-neglected areas like the Eastern Cape. Key issues discussed include the problems created by continuing to use Linnaean taxonomy; identifying which hominin(s) made stone tools at any one time; the ecology and diet of individual hominin taxa; the role of tools (including fire) in hominin adaptations; the importance of understanding formation processes at both site and landscape scales; and transformations in material culture, including more sophisticated approaches for analysing lithic assemblages and new work on the transition to the Middle Stone Age. For all these topics, comparisons are drawn where relevant with East Africa and other parts of the world.

The post-apartheid ANC government took pride in repurposing the country as a modern, democratic state and promoted a vision of science and technology for the common good. Astronomy was a particular beneficiary of the new dispensation. The Southern African Large Telescope at Sutherland was part of the dividend resulting from the country’s transition to democracy and the decommissioning of nuclear weaponry. Mandela’s successor, Thabo Mbeki, advocated national renewal through an ‘African Renaissance’ that promoted both indigenous knowledge and scientific ambition. Mbeki’s suspicion of the authority of Western science and his Africanist affinities impelled him to intervene in the controversy surrounding HIV/AIDS and to support AIDs denialism. It has often been alleged that Mbeki was caught between ‘indigenous’ and ‘Western’ knowledge, yet his scientific legacy was more complex. In fields such as ethno-botany, for instance, there is evidence of complementary research in post-apartheid South Africa between scientists and carriers of African knowledge of plant medicines. The process of developing a new spirit of ‘South Africanism’ in the post-apartheid rainbow nation meant greater openness to South Africa’s position as an African nation, while also inviting bids leadership of Africa through ‘big science’ initiatives like astronomy and Antarctic research.