Abstract The middle Precambrian Matsap/Kheis/Namaqua sequences in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa were deposited in an intracratonic geosynclinal-like basin. During the first stage of rifting and subsidence the mature sandstones of the Matsap sequence were deposited. During a second stage of rifting and more rapid subsidence, the more immature sediments of the Kheis sequence were laid down in the miogeosynclinal part of the basin and the Namaqua sequence in the geosynclinal part. During the early part of the later subsidence, basalt-andesite volcanism, with a calc-alkaline affinity, as well as chemical sedimentary precipitation took place near the hinge zone of the two basins. The entire sedimentary cycle is dated between 1800 and 2100 Ma. The Namaqua tectono-thermal event occurred in Late Precambrian times and is characterized by polyphase deformation and low- to high-grade metamorphism. Sedimentary, structural and metamorphic features indicate that there was no separation of micro-continental blocks and that the orogeny cannot be interpreted in terms of plate tectonics, but rather as a sequence of graben to aulacogen to mobile belt caused by mantle plumes of different sizes and duration. The tectono-thermal event closes with the emplacement of basalt-andesite-rhyolite lavas and sediments, which rest with a sharp, angular unconformity on previously metamorphosed and deformed Namaqua rocks. These lavas have a strong calc-alkaline character, suggesting that plate tectonics could have played a minor role during the last stages of the Namaqua event. The Namaqua tectono-thermal event is currently dated between 950 and 1200 Ma but possibly as early as 1400 Ma.