The Public Life of Erika Theron (1907-1990)
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WITH HER SHOULDER TO THE WHEEL: THE PUBLIC LIFE OF ERIKA THERON (1907-1990) By JUDITH ANNE TAYLER Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY in the subject HISTORY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA Promoter: PROFESSOR J.P. BRITS Co-Promoter: PROFESSOR J. T. DU BRUYN NOVEMBER 2010 WITH HER SHOULDER TO THE WHEEL: THE PUBLIC LIFE OF ERIKA THERON (1907-1990) CONTENTS Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................ i Summary .......................................................................................................................................... ii Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................. iii INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER ONE CHILD, STUDENT AND YOUNG NATIONALIST: LEARNING TO SERVE .................. 32 Childhood and Family ......................................................................................................... 32 Student Years ...................................................................................................................... 36 The Berlin Experience and the Ossewabrandwag .............................................................. 46 Doctorate and the Verwoerd Connection ........................................................................... 70 CHAPTER TWO DISCIPLE OF VERWOERD: SERVING POOR WHITES ..................................................... 80 The Poor White Problem and the Carnegie Commission .................................................... 81 The National Conference, 1934 (The Volkskongres) ........................................................... 95 The Campaign for Scientific Welfare ................................................................................. 100 The Railway Welfare Project ............................................................................................. 113 CHAPTER THREE ACADEMIC: SERVING HER PROFESSION ........................................................................ 137 The Lecturer and Her Department ..................................................................................... 138 Interpersonal Relations ...................................................................................................... 157 Academic Citizen ................................................................................................................ 162 Organisation and Division in the Social Work Profession ................................................ 177 Doyen of Social Work......................................................................................................... 186 CHAPTER FOUR COUNCILLOR AND MAYOR: SERVING WHITE STELLENBOSCH ............................. 189 Entry into Local Politics .................................................................................................... 190 Reversing Black Influx ....................................................................................................... 195 Group Areas and the Coloured Community....................................................................... 231 Cultural and Environmental Conservation ........................................................................ 251 CHAPTER FIVE CHAIRMAN OF THE THERON COMMISSION: SERVING COLOURED COMMUNITIES .............................................................................. 276 The ‗Coloured Question‘, 1948-1973 .............................................................................. 277 The Theron Commission: The Team and its Task .............................................................. 305 The Theron Commission: The Final Report ....................................................................... 334 CHAPTER SIX AFRIKANER DISSIDENT: SERVING THE CAUSE OF REFORM ................................... 349 Campaigning for Change ................................................................................................... 351 Last Years ........................................................................................................................... 373 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 377 SOURCES ................................................................................................................................... 385 i Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge with appreciation and sincere thanks, the assistance and support I have received from many individuals and institutions during the process of researching and writing this thesis. I am fortunate to have enjoyed an exceptional level of encouraging and constructive guidance from my supervisors Professor J.P. Brits and Professor J.T. du Bruyn. Both were more than generous with their time, expertise and meticulous supervision. My completion of this thesis owes a great deal to their motivation and the faith that they showed in me. Many other former Unisa colleagues also contributed to this project through the interest that they showed in my work, their moral support and practical advice. Some have retired or moved on to other institutions, but I remain grateful to all for the many ways in which they assisted me over the years. Thanks are due to all those individuals who kindly shared their recollections of Erika Theron with me, in correspondence and in interviews. Their evidence forms a vital component of this study and their co-operation and courtesy are greatly appreciated. I am also grateful for the kind assistance that I received from staff at the many archival repositories where I conducted research, especially the Institute for Contemporary History, University of the Free State, the Document Centre: Special Collections, J.S. Gericke Library, University of Stellenbosch and the Unisa Archives, University of South Africa, who were particularly helpful. I wish to record my appreciation for the funding assistance provided by way of the H. Bradlow Bursary for Doctoral Research. Lastly, I thank my friends and my family – above all David, Jessica and Graeme, Christine and Virginia – for their unfailing and invaluable support. ii Summary This thesis is a biographical study of Erika Theron (1907-1990), an Afrikaner woman who played a significant role in many aspects of public life in South Africa in a critical time in the country‘s history. The study seeks to give recognition to her achievements, which have received scant attention in a historiography with a masculine bias. At the same time it examines her changing role from collaborator to critic of the apartheid system. Certain defining features of Theron‘s life have been highlighted. First, Theron grew up in a staunchly Afrikaner nationalist, service-oriented family which encouraged loyalty to her own people and civic responsibility. Second, she was unusual among Afrikaner women of her generation, in that she was highly educated, independent and ready to assume leadership roles. She became a pioneer in a number of fields, attaining high professional rank and holding important public offices – frequently as the first woman to do so in the country. The thesis focuses on five areas of Theron‘s public life. After returning from post-graduate studies abroad, she worked with Hendrik Verwoerd in the campaign to uplift poor whites, particularly the rehabilitation and re-integration of the Afrikaner poor. She thereafter commenced a long career as a social work academic, which included a number of milestones for her new discipline, for the profession of social work and for the advancement of women in academia. From the 1950s she served on the town council of Stellenbosch, including terms as deputy mayor and mayor. She played an important role in historic conservation but was also instrumental in the rigorous institution of apartheid structures in the town during the early days of National Party rule. In the early 1970s she served as chairman of the Commission of Enquiry into Coloured Affairs which influenced her personal views on the country‘s race policies. She became a public critic of many aspects of the apartheid system and vocal advocate for coloured rights. Key Terms: Biography; Afrikaner nationalism; Afrikaner dissidents; Afrikaner women (twentieth century); welfare; social work education; poor white rehabilitation; apartheid and local government; policy relating to the coloured population; architectural conservation (Stellenbosch). Abbreviations iii Archives and Manuscript Repositories: INCH Institute for Contemporary History (University of the Free State, Bloemfontein) NA National Archive of South Africa (Pretoria) Unisa University of South Africa Archives, Manuscripts Collection (Pretoria) UWC University of the Western Cape Archive (Belville) US University of Stellenbosch, University Records (Stellenbosch) US, Doc. Centre University of Stellenbosch, J.S. Gericke Library, Document Centre: Special Collections (Stellenbosch) WCA Western Cape Archives (Cape Town) Other: AB Afrikaner Broederbond ACVV Afrikaanse Christelike Vrouevereniging AHI Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut ANC African National Congress ANS Afrikaanse Nasionale Studentebond ATKV Afrikaanse Taal en Kultuurvereniging BCM Black Consciousness Movement CCA Council for Coloured Affairs (formerly UCCA) CPRC Coloured