This study examined the impact of the cold war on struggle against apartheid in South Africa. The study argued that the cold war and apartheid went hand-in-hand. Both officially began after the World War II (1945) and ended in the 1990s. However, this broad area is not the focus of this study. Rather, the period covered is from 1980 to 1990, an era signifying the height of struggle against apartheid and eventual end of the apartheid in South Africa. Main actors in this study were, first, the Republic of South Africa under the whites, second, the blacks under the umbrella of revolutionaries, third, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics abbreviated to USSR or shortened to the Soviet Union, and lastly, the United States or simply US. The actions, reactions and inactions of these actors during the struggle against apartheid were analysed using historical research methodology. Primary and secondary source materials were employed to enrich the analysis. The main contribution of this study to knowledge lie in its analysis of the interplay between the US and USSR over the events that occurred in apartheid South Africa during the transformative years (1980-1990). It reveals that apartheid ended not just because of the activities of the ANC but due to the collapse of communism and the triumph of anti-apartheid movements in the US and as well as in Africa against the apartheid regime.