This essay comprises 8 parts, as follows
South African Apartheid I: The British-Boer Wars, 1899-1902
South African Apartheid II: The Rise of Afrikaner Nationalism, 1908-1945
South-African Apartheid III: The intensification of Afrikaner Nationalism, 1945-1948
South-African Apartheid IV: Reaction to Apartheid, 1951 - 1961
South African Apartheid V: The Darkening Plain, 1961-1985
South African Apartheid VI: The Last Act, 1986-1993
Annexes: Legislative Acts related to Apartheid
Introduction
The political system of governance known world-wide as apartheid came into formal existence through the election of the National Party (NP) over the United Party in South Africa in May 1948 by a mere eight votes. Properly defined, apartheid means “aparthood” or the apartness of races. Elizabeth S. Landis opines that it is perhaps fitting that it is pronounced “apart-hate” (‘South African Legislation I' 1961, 1). Some of the other names under which it is known are: baasskap (domination), “white leadership”, and “co-operative co-existence”. Opponents of the policy have defined it as “institutionalised racism” that seeks to preserve and enhance white political and economic supremacy at the expense of the majority population of South Africa. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, apartheid is a policy whose view is to promote and maintain white ascendancy. In maintaining such ascendancy, the minority population is thus assured of unimpeded economic growth. Prior to the first democratic elections of 1994, this policy had made the country a pariah state. These elections effectively ended the 342 years of white supremacy in this southern tip of Africa since the first European invaders landed on what would become the Cape Colony and, later, the state of South Africa.
South African Apartheid I: The British-Boer Wars, 1899-1902
In order to understand the nature of apartheid, it is important to link it back to colonial government legislation, and the very real ill will between the English and the Boers/Afrikaners which had resulted in what the latter called freedom wars (“vryheidsoorloë”), of which the South African War (October 11, 1899 – May 31, 1902) was probably the most destructive. Early antagonisms between the Dutch settlers and the British soured when Britain took permanent occupancy of the Cape in 1806. This led to the north-eastward migration in the 1830s and 1840s of semi-nomad Boers (Dutch/Afrikaans for farmers known as “trekboere”), artisans and settled farmers known as Border farmers (“grensboere”). This migration, a result of discontent with British rule, is commonly known as The Great Trek by the Pioneers (“Voortrekkers”) to parts of what would later be called Natal, Orange Free State and the Transvaal. While Natal was annexed by Britain in 1843, the remaining areas of Transvaal (also known at this point as the South African Republic) and the Orange Free State emerged as independent Boer Republics recognised by Britain in 1854 and 1856 respectively. However, the British annexed Transvaal in 1877, leading to the first Anglo-Boer war from 1880 to 1881. The war led to the restoration of an independent Transvaal, but relations remained tense, a state of affairs exacerbated by the discovery of gold and diamonds in 1886, after which scores of British citizens poured into the Transvaal in search of fortune. When the foreigners (“uitlanders”), many of them of British origin, began to outnumber the Boers/Afrikaners in that state, the stage was set for further conflict. As tensions escalated from local to national level, there were political manoeuvrings and lengthy negotiations to reach a compromise – ostensibly over the issue of “uitlander rights”, but ultimately over control of the gold mining industry and the British desire to incorporate the Transvaal and the Orange Free State in a federation under British control. Given the number of British foreigners already resident in the Transvaal, and the ongoing inflow, the Boers recognised that the franchise policy demanded by the British would inevitably result in Transvaal's loss of independence. The negotiations failed, and in September 1899 Joseph Chamberlain (the British Colonial Secretary) sent an ultimatum to the Boers, demanding full equality for the foreigners resident in the Transvaal. President Paul Kruger, seeing no other option than war, issued his own ultimatum, giving the British 48 hours to withdraw all their troops from the border of the Transvaal, failing which the Transvaal, allied with the Orange Free State, would declare war against the British. The ultimatum was rejected and war was declared. The four states, Transvaal, Orange Free State, Natal and the Cape Colony were equally divided in this war, and commanders for the British were Lords Kitchener, Milner, Roberts and Sir Redvers Buller. The Transvaal forces were commanded by Paul Kruger, Louis Botha, and Koos de la Rey, while the Orange Free State forces had Martinus Steyn and Christiaan de Wet.
While the two main forces in the Anglo-Boer War were white, it was not an exclusively white war. At least 15 000 blacks were used as combatants by the British, especially as scouts to track down Boer commandoes and armed block house guards, but also in non-combatant roles by both British and Boer forces as, among others, wagon drivers. They suffered severely as a result of the British “scorched earth policy” during which those who lived on White farms were removed to concentration camps, as were the women and children of their white employers. The rural economy was destroyed as crops were ravaged and livestock butchered. Displaced and captured civilians were forced into “refugee camps”, which soon became known as “concentration camps”. Field-Marshal Lord Roberts had an ulterior motive in creating these camps, namely to make Blacks work for the British, either to grow crops for the troops, dig trenches, or work as miners once the gold mines became partly operational again. They did not receive rations, hardly any medical support or shelter, and were expected to grow their own crops. The British also separated the white and black camps along racial lines. The inmates of the black camps, situated along railway lines and on the border, formed an early warning system against Boer attacks and acted as scouts for British forces. This strategy alienated Whites and Blacks from each other by furthering distrust between the two population groups and was detrimental to racial harmony in South Africa after the war (“Concentration Camps” http://www.sahistory.org.za). Although official figures place the death from the black camps at 14 154, unofficially the figure stands well over 20 000 if account is taken of those who died of medical neglect and hunger who were not, however, part of the camps themselves.
The Anglo-Boer War left a legacy of painful memories and mutual hatred. The British incarceration of Boer women and children in concentration camps left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Boers and lessened respect for the British Empire abroad. Though the intent of the British to halt the Boer guerrilla fighters who lived off the land and used their farmsteads as bases was militarily sound, the concentration camp conditions were so poor that almost 28 000 Boers, almost 10 per cent of the total Boer population, died from starvation and disease – at the time, many Afrikaners believed that the British were embarking on a deliberate policy of genocide. The camps were a national tragedy resulting in an enduring animosity and bitterness that lasted well beyond the war itself (“Concentration Camps” http://www.victoriastation.com/boerwar.htm). While certain Afrikaners have recently been calling for an apology from the Queen, Sussex University lecturer Dr. Saul Dubow, an expert in modern South African history, told BBC News Online that their demands were “specious”. For Dubow,
Overall, the British were the aggressors, but the primary blame for the deaths in the concentration camps has much more to do with incompetence and lack of medical care than a deliberate attempt to kill. It seems specious to demand an apology 100 years on. It cheapens and reduces history to a morality tale and an apology in this context does not serve any purpose. (“Imperialism in the dock” http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/51344.stm).
With the conclusion of the war in the Treaty of Vereeniging, the conditions that led to a reconciliatory compromise resulted in the amalgamation of Boer and British interests in the proclamation of the Union of South Africa in 1910.
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Citation: Raditlhalo, Sam. "Apartheid: Part I". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 March 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=66, accessed 21 November 2024.]
