[41] The Auckland area was an early location visited by many of the Māori migration canoes, including the Matahourua, Aotea, Mātaatua, Tainui, Tākitimu, Tokomaru, Te Wakatūwhenua and Moekākara waka.

In South Auckland, the Waokauri and Pūkaki portages at Papatoetoe was used to avoid Te Tō Waka, controlled by the people who lived at Ōtāhuhu / Mount Richmond.

[55] In the 15th century, Tāmaki Māori people created extensive garden sites at Ihumātao, Wiri and the slopes of Māngere Mountain.

[56][57][58][52] These garden sites used Polynesian agricultural techniques and traditions, with the stone walls acting acted as boundaries, windbreaks and drainage systems for the crops grown in the area, which included kūmara (sweet potato), hue (calabash gourds), taro, uwhi (ube yam), tī pore (Pacific cabbage tree) and aute (the paper mulberry tree).

[59] The environment-modifying techniques used in the Ōtuataua Stonefields allowed early Tāmaki Māori to propagate crops which were not suited to a cooler climate.

Ngā Oho was used as a unifying name for Tāmaki Māori who descended from the Tainui and Te Arawa migratory waka.

[62][63][44] Descendants of Tāhuhunui-o-te-rangi, captain of the Moekākara waka, settled around Ōtāhuhu and adopted the name Ngāi Tāhuhu,[64][43] while descendants of Tāiki, a Tainui ancestor of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, named the Tāmaki River after himself (Te Wai ō Tāiki) and settled on the eastern shores of the river alongside the descendants of Huiārangi (of the early iwi Te Tini ō Maruiwi), including the shores of Te Waiōtara (the Ōtara Creek).

[44][66] Many of the volcanic features of South Auckland became fortified pā sites for Tāmaki Māori, notably Māngere Mountain, Matukutūruru, Matukutūreia and Pukekiwiriki.

[74]: 63  Paramount chief Kiwi Tāmaki stayed at Māngere seasonally, when it was the time of year to hunt sharks in the Manukau Harbour.

[44][55] Ngāti Whātua was significantly smaller than the Waiohua confederation and chose to focus life at Onehunga, Māngere and Ōrākei.

[55] By the 19th century, most Tāmaki Māori peoples moved away from fortified pā and favoured kāinga closer to resources and transport routes.

[82] During the 1840s, Waiohua descendant tribes returned to their papakāinga (settlements) at Ihumātao, Pūkaki, Papahīnau, Waimāhia and Te Aparangi.

[84] On 20 March 1840, Ngāti Whātua chief Apihai Te Kawau signed the Treaty of Waitangi at Orua Bay on the Manukau Harbour,[86] inviting Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson to settle in Auckland, hoping this would protect the land and people living in Tāmaki Makaurau.

The village was created as a way to protect the township of Auckland, and was settled by retired British soldiers of the Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps.

[54] Grey also asked Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (then known as a powerful chief and negotiator, but later the first Māori King) to settle at Māngere Bridge as a second defensive site, which developed into a Ngāti Mahuta village.

[90]: 3 [93][47] Ōtāhuhu developed as an agricultural centre and trade hub, with the Tāmaki River becoming one of the busiest waterways in New Zealand by the late 1850s.

Small numbers of people remained, in order to tend to their farms and for ahi kā (land rights through continued occupation).

[74]: 68 [90]: 4  Most Māori occupants of the area felt they had no choice due to their strong ties to Tainui and Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, and were forced to flee to the south.

[101] This included St John's Redoubt on Great South Road, constructed in order to secure the supply line for troops and in operation until 1864.

[108]: 2  The township of Woodside in modern-day Wiri dwindled in importance after the railway opened, slowly being overtaken by neighbouring Manurewa.

The flight was piloted by Vivian Walsh and was carried out in a Howard Wright 1910 Biplane, the parts for which were imported from England in 1910 and assembled by members of the Auckland Aeroplane Syndicate.

[132] The new city decided to create a new commercial and administrative centre, leading to the development of Manukau in a previously rural area between Manurewa and Papatoetoe.

The partially constructed bridge was picketed for a period of two and a half years, becoming the longest continuous labour strike in the history of New Zealand.

[140] Between 2016 and 2020, Ihumātao was occupied by protesters, who were concerned at the construction of a housing development on the archaeological site, and called for the land to be returned to mana whenua.

[163] Between 1912 and 1955, seven areas of South Auckland split from the Manukau, Franklin or Eden Counties to form independent boroughs: Pukekohe and Ōtāhuhu in 1912, Manurewa in 1937, Papakura in 1938, Papatoetoe in 1946 and Waiuku and Tuakau in 1955.

[139] Within the new system, South Auckland was primarily split into five areas which elect a local board: Māngere-Ōtāhuhu, Manurewa, Ōtara-Papatoetoe, Papakura and Franklin.

Ōtāhuhu, previously administered by the Auckland City to the north, was again a part of a South Auckland local government body, and a number of southern and eastern townships within the former Franklin District became part of the Waikato and the Hauraki districts in the Waikato Region, including Tuakau, Pōkeno, Pukekawa, Whakatīwai and Pūkorokoro / Miranda.

[166] People who hail from South Auckland include Olympic champion John Walker, mountaineer Edmund Hillary, and former Prime Minister David Lange.

Many successful sportspeople are South Aucklanders, including rugby players Jonah Lomu and Eric Rush, rugby league player Ruben Wiki, heavyweight boxers David Tua and Joseph Parker, cricketer Daryl Tuffey, kickboxer Mark Hunt, indycar racer Scott Dixon, and shot-putter Valerie Adams.

Prominent entertainers from South Auckland include musicians Young Sid, Savage, Pauly Fuemana, and P-Money.