In 1860, the city was proclaimed the capital of the new ZAR, the result of tireless efforts by Stephanus Schoeman to unite the squabbling statelets of the Transvaal. From this base, the settlers continued their campaigns against local African peoples, bringing thousands into service, particularly on farms. Infighting also continued amongst the settlers, and violent skirmishes between faction leaders were common. These leaders bought most of the best land, resulting in the dispossession and embitterment of many white trekkers, and also in the large-scale massacre of the wild animals of the region, particularly its elephants.

The British annexed Pretoria in 1877, and investment followed in their wake. Although the town prospered and grew, farmer Paul Kruger , who was determined not to be subjugated by the British again, mobilized commandos of Afrikaner farmers to drive them out. This resulted in the first Anglo-Boer War (1877-81). After defeat at Majuba on the Natal border, the colonial government abandoned the war and ceded independence in 1884. Paul Kruger became ZAR president, and ruled until 1903. However, his mission to keep the ZAR Boer was confounded by the discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand, which precipitated an unstoppable flood of foreigners. Kruger's policy of taxing the newcomers, while retaining the Boer monopoly on political power, worked for a while. Most of the elegant buildings of Church Square were built with mining revenues, while the Raadsaal (parliament) remained firmly in Boer hands. At the same time, the ZAR's military arsenal grew, largely thanks to imported German weapons.

ZAR independence ended with the second Anglo-Boer War (1899-02), but despite the brutality of the conflict, Pretoria remained unscathed. With the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the city became the administrative capital of the entire country. In 1913, Sir Herbert Baker built the epic Union Buildings to house the civil service, and some ministries, including the office of the president, are still there today.

In 1928, the government laid the foundations of Pretoria's industry by establishing the Iron and Steel Industrial Corporation (Iscor), which rapidly generated a whole series of related and service industries. These, together with the civil service, ensured white Pretoria's quiet, insular prosperity. Meanwhile, increasing landlessness amongst blacks drove many of them into the city's burgeoning townships . Marabastad and Atteridgeville are the oldest, and Mamelodi is the biggest and poorest.

After the introduction of apartheid by the National Party in 1948, Pretoria acquired a hated reputation amongst the country's black population. Its supreme court and central prison were notorious, as the source of the laws and regulations that made their lives a nightmare.

Mandela's inauguration at the Union Buildings in 1994 was the symbolic new beginning for Pretoria's political redemption. Through the 1990s, the stages of South Africa's revolution could be seen as clearly in Pretoria as anywhere else: the gradual replacement of the diehards from institutions like the army and civil service, new faces in almost all the old government offices, the return of foreign representation, aid agencies and NGOs, the influx of students and the change in demographics of the city-centre suburbs. While the newcomers have absorbed a good deal of the sense of decorum which was always a hallmark of Pretoria, even in the apartheid years, the capital city is these days quite clearly livening up with the creativity and vibrancy they also bring