A Profile of South Africa

History prior to 1948 The Dutch East India Company (VOC) established a settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652 (modern day Cape Town). Refreshment Post—restock fresh fruit/veggies to VOC ships traveling to spice islands. As the settlement grew it spread eastward—some settlers were trying to escape restrictive company rules and set up independent farms. These settlers were called the Trekboars. Skirmishes between the Trekboars and the Xhosa (one of the groups that was migrating southwest from central Africa) were the first in a series of frontier wars that started shaping relations between the races.

Arrival of the British With British power growing in India, the southern tip of Africa was strategically vital on the sea route to the east. Dutch power on the wane, the British used the Napoleonic wars and French occupation of Holland to seize the Cape. Sovereignty was ceded by the Dutch in 1806. In the 1820’s the British established Port Elizabeth, East London, and Grahamstown in the eastern part of South Africa. Boer farmers were unhappy with the arrival of the British—resented what they felt was undue bureaucratic interference in their way of life.

The Great Trek The British abolished slavery across its empire in 1833--this was the last straw for the Boers. In 1835, thousands of Boers packed up and, unable to move east because of the Xhosa, travelled into the more arid subcontinental interior. Regions later to be called the Orange Free State, the Transvaal, and Natal. This became known as the Great Trek. Boers who took part became known as the Voortrekkers. Voortrekkers encountered little resistance because a chain reaction of warfare initiated by the Zulu nation had resulted in the depopulation of much of the interior by the 1820s.

Battle of Blood River When they did encounter resistance the Boers had an overwhelming advantage in weaponry. In the wake of victory in the Battle of Blood River against the Zulu in 1838, Boers established the independent Republic of Natalia. The British, recognizing the importance of controlling the entire coastline, annexed Natal in 1843. However, they agreed to recognize Afrikaner sovereignty in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State in conventions signed in 1852 and 1854. Afrikaner: Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers British attempts to federate South Africa by force in 1877 eventually led to defeat in the First Anglo-Boer War in 1881.

Mineral Revolution When large deposits of gold were discovered in the Transvaal in 1886 labor and capital quickly flooded the region. This marked the real beginning of the mass migration of Africans into the cities, a phenomenon which subsequent segregationist laws tried to control and apartheid laws would try to reverse. The flow of Whites into Johannesburg sparked a political tension between these groups and helped spark the South African War. Randlords: mainly English-speaking, very wealthy, mining magnates Wanted cheap labor Uitlander (outsider): English-speaking, white, working class living in the Transvaal, denied citizenship by the Boers Wanted labor protection against Black competition Afrikaner government Main issue that led to war—issue of extending right to vote to all White people in the republic

South African War(Anglo-Boer War) The British fought the two Boer Republics between 1899 and 1902. In the final two years the Boers waged a prolonged guerilla campaign but were brought to the negotiating table by scorched earth tactics by the British and the internment of hundreds of thousands of Boer women and children in concentration camps.

The Act of Union 1908—South African National Convention Contained representatives from each region Resulted in the Act of Union (or South African Act) in 1909 The new Union of South Africa was given full dominion status in the British Empire—effectively a fully independent state. South African Party won the first general election. Prime Minister Botha and his deputy Jan Smuts were both Afrikaners. With some minor exceptions, only Whites could vote. Segregation laws and discrimination increased throughout the 1920’s as the two white populations vied for power.

Political Parties In 1924 the National Party took control with JBM Herzog (Afrikaner) as Prime Minister. With the onset of the Great Depression, Herzog and Smuts unified their parties to form the new United Party (UP). DF Malan broke away from this group to form the Purified National Party (GNP), a more radical Afrikaans party. Smuts, as leader of the ruling UP, decided to back the British in WWII reaffirming his party as moderate because of earlier efforts under the SAP to reconcile the two white populations in South Africa. Herzog left the UP and joined the GNP, which was now renamed the Reunified National Party or simply National Party (NP). The war radicalized politics and in response to wartime economic demands more and more Africans moved to the cities to fill jobs.