history and History

I was realizing today that although we here in South Africa have had the benefit of the history of the country most if not everyone who is reading these blogs will not have had that chance. I have therefore decided to bring a little explanation if you will to what the History is and why we even bothered to come here in the first place.
South Africa’s history began in 1652 with the Dutch. Wait, no the name arrived with the Dutch the History began with the San people when the Dutch were still leaving Africa. As our Lecturer Van Hynigen told us the San were most likely the first people in the area and the oldest recognizable group in the world. They would later be pushed out by the Khoi Khoi people who were cattle raisers. Cattle are extremely important to the different Ethnic groups in South Africa and indeed the Whole of Southern Africa. The Khoi Khoi were the people the Dutch encountered when they setup the way station at the Cape of Good Hope.
From the start the Dutch tried to extract labour from the native population the idea was foreign to them as they did not have to do such things as the Dutch wanted them to do. To rectify this situation the Dutch brought in slaves from the East Indies and these people sharing a common language group would eventually be known as the Cape Malays. These are the people that live in Bo Kaap in Cape Town and they have a very rich culture and History that includes the first mosque in South Africa and beautiful colonial architecture.
The Afrikaners (Dutch for African) are the descendants of the original settlers. The language they speak is a melting pot of words from several different idioms, which is in contrast to how the Afrikaners viewed themselves during the 20th century and very different to what such radicals as the AWB espouse. The Afrikaners did not want British rule when it arrived due to the discovery of mineral wealth in the area. They went north and founded two republics the Orange Free State and the Boer Republic. This was fine until diamonds and more importantly gold were discovered in Boer (meaning farmer, I use Boer and Afrikaner together as they are similar but not the same) held lands. This led to the Anglo Boer (the 2nd Boer war) which saw 20000 Boers try to fight 250000 British soldiers.
The conflict was long considering the staggering odds however it is important to note two very interesting terms come from this time. First we have Commandos as the Boers were known and from which the tactics come. Second we have the biggest cleave of the Afrikaans speaker “Concentration Camps” I have them here in quotes because they are not like the camps of WWII. The concentration camps used by the British were the only way that they could think to fight the commandos as they received huge support from their families and comrades. However the camps were poorly planned and as was often the case of the times a small disease spread like wildfire. Many people died in the camps both White and Black as there were camps for both groups.
To end the conflict the British signed a treaty which eventually ended in the Union of South Africa in 1910 but which placed the paving stones for Apartheid firmly in place. The right for blacks to vote was removed under the 1902 treaty. This did not set well with educated blacks who had previously had a say in what happened in their country. In 1912 the African National Congress was formed and in 1918 at the end of the First World War they went along with the Zionists and many others to air their claims however unlike Israel they like Afghanistan would be passed over.
In the years between the Wars the far right Afrikaner movement began to take a firm hold and eventually in 1948 they came to power and were able to institute there vicious plan which came under the title Apartheid (separate but equal). Anyone who grew up in this time or has even briefly looked at it can tell you that Apartheid was not separate and equal only separate. For Americans imagine the Jim Crow laws and what they meant for Blacks in the US now imagine that 100 fold and a government who is actually perpetrating the injustice not just turning a blind eye. That doesn’t even begin to explain what it was like but it gets a little close. The National Party (the Afrikaans party) under Dr. Voorword instituted many a despicable law that worked to oppress and marginalize anyone that was not white.
This was what Ghandi and Later J.C. Smuts had feared and the cause would later be taken to its fullest by those with the most vested interests the people themselves. The ANC and other organizations would soon begin to actively work against the system and bring some light into the dark.


Hamba Kahle! Until we meet again Ryan E. Hardman
P.S. more is coming for this post please be patient