POLITMAL POLITMAL SOUTH AND SIPUTH WEST AFRICA a new adgeatiOn41 to ite lm~ POLBACK SOUTH AND SOUTH WEST AFRICA Upited States National Studqnt Association 3457 Chestnut Street Phila4lphia, Pennsylvania - 19104 TABLE OF CONTENTS History ............. ..... page 1 The Boer War and Union ............... page 3 TheRiseofAfrikaner Nationalism .... .... .page7 The Nationalist Victory# 1948. ........... page U TheOppositioninSouthAfrica.............page15 Race Relations in South Africa..... ........page19 Education . 0 . page Z2 Student Organizations in South Africa... .... page 38 Report on South West Africa ......... .... page 43 Refugees . , ..................... page 56 Liography page 59 I. HISTORY Although for approximately twenty years both English and Dutch ships had stopped occasionally in Table Bay for water, it was not until 1649 that the Dutch East India Company decided to establish a refreshment station at the Cape of Good Hope. In 1652, Dr. Van Riebeeck, a surgeon, arrived at the Cape with three ships. His instructions were to build a fort capable of housing 80 men, to plant a garden in the best land available, and to-maintain good relations with the natives for the purpose of cattle trading. The natives were Hottentots, who had extensive herds of cattle, and Bushmen. The purpose of this post was to supply meat, fruits, vegetables and fresh water to passing ships and to serve as a hospital for sick crewmen. In 1657, the Company decided to try an experiment. They gave nine Company servants their freedom and land so that they could try their luck as free farmers. This decision was made because there had not been much success with the crops. The Company kept its monopoly by regulating prices and controlling the market. The Company also imported slaves for the settlement. The first to be brought were Angolans taken from a Portuguese slaver, but they fled soon after landing. After that India and Madagascar became the source of slaves. During the next few years occasional scuffles took place between the Europeans and the Hottentots and Bushmen; the Europeans also began to complain to the Company about the restrictions placed on land and trade. The frontiers of the colony were very much undefined. In the late 1730's, there were boundary troubles with the Bushmen primarily. Since the settlers were left to handle their own problems, they organized expeditions into the unsettled areas. They pushed further north and east; and by 1775, the Fish River had been established as the eastern frontier. The Governor, visiting the frontier in 1778, found the Boers living in close proximity to the Xosa tribesmen. The Xosa and other Bantu tribes had been pushing down from the north and east simultaneous with the Boers push to the north and east, and they met at the Fish River. The Governor made a treaty with several of the lesser Xosa chiefs, demarcating the Fish River as the boundary between the Xosa and the Cape Colony. The area just west of the Fish River was, and still is, known as the Great Karoo. This is the area to which the Dutch settlers had migrated when they became dissatisfied with the Company. The original Dutch settlers were poor, rarely literate, hard-working Calvinists who took their Bible seriously. When they came to the Karoo valley and settled there, they saw themselves as the Children of Israel in the desert. In this same frame of reference, everyone else was heathen, and people who'were Uiictvilized were agents of the darkness and of the devil. Thus, to the Boers, the Zulu and the Xosa were thedelvl. The Xosa were not a peaceful people, and they would defend what they considered to be their legitimate interests. The 'Xosa believed that all land belonged to the tribe and could not be sold or given away. Although some land was "sold" to Europeans, the Xosa believed this was only a temporary arrangement, even though they had received money or goox in "payment." In addition, both the Boers and the Xosa would attack the other, for no. apparent reason, taking cattle or other booty, and driving the opponent away from their land. When the French Republic invaded the Netherlands in 1793-95, the Prince of Orange asked Britain to protect the Cape Colony. This marked the end of the rule of the Dutch East India Company, which ceased to exist by the time the colony was restored to Dutch control in 1802. When the English took control of the Cape in 1806, with the renewal of hostilities in Europe, they made as few administrative changes as possible. The British took permanent control over the colony in 1820. They immediately encountered: a series of problems which had been left unsolved by the rapidly-changing administrations: the frontier, the slaves, the general race question and the differences between the Dutch and English settlers. The most important changes instituted by the British came about as the result of pressures from a changing English society. The radical ideals of the French Revolution combined with the zeal of the Evangelical Revival of the Church of England had produced a new liberalism in England. This was the period of the founding of the great British missionary societies. The first society founded, the London Missionary Society, was also the first to arrive at the Cape. The members of the society, often with more zeal than knowledge, attacked the situation which they found at the Cape: a society where privileges were granted solely on the basis of race. The force of these societies was reflected in the pressures which finally brought about the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, and the abolition of slavery in 1833. The work of the missionaries did not meet with much approval by the residents of the Cape Colony. The first missionary to arrive was a widowed doctor, who soon free, and subsequently married, a slave girl. The missionaries soon were out in the frontier, proselytizing to the Xosa and the Zulu. The Boers resented the intrusion of the English and their liberal religion. The fact that the British seemed to be encouraging these missionaries, or at least not restricting them, grieved the Boers very much. In 1828 the law known as Ordinance 50 was promulgated. Ordinance 50 granted full and equal rihts to persons of "Colour" without making any provisions for the problem of vagrancy. Between 1820 and 1822 about five thousand new settlers arrived at the Cape from England. They soon developed thriving farm communities without the aid of slave labor, which they were not permitted to use. The British, through immigration and administrative changes, began to Anglicize the Cape; and English was made the official language. This aggravated the differences between the Government and the Boers.' The promulgation of the Abolition of Slavery-Act in 1833 was too much for the Boers, who felt that their way of life was being destroyed. This was one of the major causes of the Great Trek of 1836. Although trekking had become a way of life for the Boers and something they did whenever they were dissatisfied, this trek had more meaning. Anna Steenkamp, sister of one of the foremost Voortrekkers, wrote: "... the shameful and unjust proceedings with reference to the slave; and yet it is not so much their freeing .which drives us to such lengths, as their being placed on an equal footing with Christians, contrary to the laws of God, and the natural distinctions of race and colour, so that it was Intolerable for any decent Christian to bow down beneath sch a yoke; wherefore we withdrew in order to preserve our doctrines in purity." The Trek decreased the population of the Cape Colony and retarded its growth. It exacerbated the differences between the English and the Dutch in South Africa, and also increased the Boer hatred of the Bantu, since they constantly encountered and fought the Bantu on their travels east. The end result of the Trek was the establishment of several independent states which were separated by great distances and which-had severely limited communication. The trekkers were isolated from all educational facilities, and spent many years roving before they settled down in isolated farms to eke out a living. They were isolated from all commerce, and produced a large "poor white" class. The poor whites were almost all of Dutch descent, while the Cape, which kept commercial and cultural ties with Europe, was mainly- English. Since this time, English South Africans have had control of the business and commercial life of South Africa. This was another major reason for Afrikaner resentment, and one which made Afrikaner nationalists in the twentieth century realize the importance of gaining political control of the country in order to maintain their separate culture. II. THE BOER WAR AND UNION Each of the different republics and states which resulted from the European balkanization of South Africa has a varied history. Their traditions of government and the cultural majorities which formed the republics have all left their marks on present day South African politics and society. The relations between the Cape and the Afrikaner states, especially the Transvaal, were quite difficult. In addition# the states often had trouble among themselves. There are a few events that merit special notice in the development of the relations between the English and African speaking populations of South Africa. The first was the development of the state of Natal. Although Natal was first settled by some British traders about twelve years before the Trek, the trekkers took the area over and asked the British to recognize their independence. The British refused for several reasons. The official reason given by Sir George Napier was: "Her Majesty has desired me to inform the emigrant farmers that she cannot acknowledge a portion of her own subjects as an independent republic." Behind this there were two other reasons.