1 Tectonic Framework. - 1. 1. Cratons Mobile Belts and Structural Provinces. - 1. 2. Gravity Field and Crustal Structure. - 1. 3. Evolutionary Stages in the Southern African Crust. - 1. 4. Stage 1: Archean Crustal Development. - 1. 5. Stage 2: Early Proterozoic Supracrustal Development. - 1. 6. Stage 3: Proterozoic Orogenic Activity. - 1. 7. Stage 4: The Gondwana Era. - 1. 8. Stage 5: After Gondwana. - Stage 1: Archean Crustal Evolution. - 2 Granite-Greenstone Terrane: Kaapvaal Province. - 3 Granulite-Gneiss Terrane: Limpopo Province. - Stage 2: Early Proterozoic Supracrustal Development. - 4 The Golden Proterozoic. - 5 The Transvaal Epeiric Sea. - 6 The Bushveld Complex: A Unique Layered Intrusion The Vredefort Dome: Astrobleme or Gravity-Driven Diapir?. - 7 The Earliest Red Beds. - Stage 3: Proterozoic Orogenic Activity. - 8 Namaqua-Natal Granulite-Gneiss Terranes. - 9 The Pan African Geosynclines. - Stage 4: The Gondwana Era. - 10 The Cape Trough: An Aborted Rift. - 11 The Intracratonic Karoo Basin. - Stage 5: After Gondwana. - 12 Fragmentation and Mesozoic Paleogeography. - 13 Kimberlites and Associated Alkaline Magmatism. - 14 Changing Climates and Sea Levels: The Cenozoic Record. - References. Language: English