Alrighty then.
POD: 1960. South Africa officially annexes South West Africa, and begins using its weight to ensure the white leadership of Southern Africa. Britain loathes their actions and the United States isn't pleased about it either.
South Africa takes over the Bechuanaland territory in 1965, under the pretense of terrorist operations being launched form the territory. It's BS, but Britain has no wish to land troops in Africa to stop the South Africans. A March 1970 terrorist attack by ZANLA manages to successfuly kill both Rhodesian Defense Minister PK van der Byl and two South African helicopter pilots, and the SADF takes over the duties of defending Rhodesia. Rhodesia is formally integrated into South Africa in 1980.
The South Africans, wealthier but seriously overstretched due to the much greater natural reserves of the apartheid state, begin clandestinely negotiating with several black leaders, including several moderate factions of the ANC and the Black Consciousness Movement led by Steve Biko. Both groups hold fast on the idea that the future of South Africa need to be determined by all races. The early 1980s see South Africa rocked by one big riot after another, tying up most of the SADF in simply holding back the rioting.
Finally relenting in 1983, Pretoria releases all of the Rivonia Trial prisoners except Mandela, and Mandela is released in April 1984. The ANC is legalized on the condition that it's armed wing disarms. MK ends its violent campaign in September 1984, and negotiations begin over the future of the country. Violent ANC factions, along with other tribes, fight viciously through 1984 and 1985, even as the government tries to negotiate an end.
The death of President Pieter Botha from a stroke on July 18, 1985, sees a hard-right faction take command in Pretoria, touching off a very bitter fight between the various races. The SADF is ordered to eliminate the Cuban forces in Angola, but this fails badly. Backed by the USSR, Cuban forces launch from Zambia and Angola and storm into South Africa itself in March 1986, with the Communist forces reaching all the way to Gweru, Windhoek and Maun before being stopped by a determined SADF defense.
Realizing the mess in South Africa, American, British and Commonwealth forces land in South Africa in November 1986, and quickly destroy the out-of-control regime in Pretoria, as well as ordering the Cubans out. They leave but very grudgingly, finally getting entirely out in September 1987.
The new Federal Republic of South Africa is born on paper on March 1, 1988, and has its first all-race elections on July 18, 1988. The ANC, to nobody's surprise, wins these - but they only get 35% of the vote. The blocs of other black parties all unite, leaving the whites with the balance of power in South Africa's government. This parliament sits in Cape Town on July 27, 1988, and Nelson Mandela takes the Oath of Office as the South African President on August 4, 1988.
South Africa, staunchly against communism as a result of the bloody violence of the war of 1986-87, develops rapidly in the late 1980s and 1990s. Investment, with the majority of it coming from America, Britain, Canada, Australia and Japan, sees the country rake in an astonishing $225 Billion in foreign direct investment between 1988 and 1998, and home-grown industries also play a role. The Federal Republic's GDP per capita roars from $3,500 in 1988 to $6,000 in 1998, and soars past $10,000 in 2009. Unemployment plummets from 27% in 1988 to 15% in 1998, sinking below 10% in 2004. The "African Lion" becomes not only the cornerstone of Africa's efforts to develop itself, but rapidly becomes a major player in international politics. Mandela serves only one term, departing to wide applause in August 1993, handing power to Steve Biko, whose Congress of South Africa (COSA) coalition wins power in the 1993 elections - which again leave the whites holding the balance of power.
South Africa's nuclear wepaons program is dismantled by President Mandela in 1989-90, but in most other ways the SADF is modernized, including the integration of many former independence militias, though the SADF's structure is mostly kept and many of the most senior commanders come from the SADF. The Federal Republic's governmental structure allows all voices a voice, and its 1989 constitution forbids laws being discriminatory based on race, gender, sexual orientation or ethnic background. This also leads to a landmark 2003 case which legalizes gay marriage.