ISSN (Print) 0018-229X - ISSN (Online) 2309-8392
From South Africa to Salt Lake City: Eli Wiggill, the Latter-day Saints,
and the world of religion, 1810-1883
Abstract: This article is a distillation of the autobiography of Eli Wiggill written in 1883. Born in Gloucestershire, England, 1810, his father Isaac Wiggill and mother Elizabeth Grimes, were among the first group of British settlers who arrived in the Cape Colony in 1820 with Eli. This article highlights Wiggill's wide-ranging experiences in southern Africa until his departure to Salt Lake City in 1861. Wiggill vividly describes three decades which include several years as a Wesleyan Methodist missionary in Bechuanaland, mention of the extinction of slavery (1834), the Xhosa wars, as well as his conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1858) and his ecclesiastical service as a church leader in Port Elizabeth (1860). Wiggill's narrative also provides an account of his immigration to Utah (1861) as well as his experiences when he lived in Salt Lake City and Kaysville, Utah, during the decade of the 1860s. It further records his return to South Africa as a missionary "to see his friends" in late 1869 until his return in 1873. Wiggill provides an authentic voice which deserves to be heard. His autobiography provides a vivid description of life among the earliest British settlers in the Cape as well as the early beginnings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Southern Africa just over two decades after the Church was organised in upstate New York.Hierdie artikel is 'n distillering van die outobiografie van Eli Wiggill wat in 1883 geskryf is. Hy is in 1820 in Gloucestershire, Engeland gebore and sy vader, Isaac Wiggill, en moeder, Elizabeth Grimes, was onder die eerste groep Briste setlaars wat in in 1820 saam met Eli in die Kaap geland het. Hierdie artikel gaan oor die wye verskeidenheid van Wiggill se ondervindinge in suidelike Afrika na tot sy vertrek na Salt Lake City in 1861. Op 'n aanskoulike manier beskryf Wiggill drie dekades waaronder etlike jare as 'n sending van die Weslyaans-Metodiste kerk in Betsjoeanaland, die einde van slawerny (1834), die Xhosa-oorloë, asook sy bekering na die Kerk van Jesus Christus van die Heiliges van die Laaste Dae (1858) en sy diens as kerkleier in Port Elizabeth. Wiggill se verhaal verskaf ook 'n oorsig van sy immigrasie na Utah (1861) asook sy ervaringe in Salt Lake City en Kaysville, Utah, gedurende die 1860s. Verder vertel hyvan sy terugkeer na Suid-Afrika as 'n sendeling "to see his friends" vanaf laat 1869 tot sy terugkeer in 1873. Wiggill verskaf 'n outentieke stem wat verdien om gehoor te word. Sy outobiografie verskaf 'n aanskoulike beskrywing van die vroegste Britse settlaars se lewe in die Kaap asook die begin van die Kerk van Jesus Christus van die Heiliges van die Laaste Dae in suidelike Afrika, ná slegs twee dekades nadat die kerk ontstaan het in die noordelike dele van New York staat.
The small matter of £3: Dynamite, human folly and the Braamfontein
explosion, 19 February 1896
Abstract: This article discusses the Braamfontein explosion of 1896 and the chain of mistakes that led up to the blast. The explosion took place on 19 February 1896, when several trucks of dynamite exploded at Johannesburg Station after being left there for three days and following a collision with a shunting train. The force of the explosion left a massive crater and practically destroyed every home and structure in the vicinity, leaving between 1 500 and 3 000 residents homeless. Between 80 and 100 people lost their lives but the exact number of fatalities remains unknown because many simply "disappeared". The key question here is how did the actions of those involved with the transport, delivery and sale of the dynamite lead to the explosion' The exact cause of the blast became a mystery as the Commission of Inquiry could not reach a solid conclusion. Instead it concluded that "facts and testimonies indicate the blast occurred through the negligence - jointly or severally - by the parties involved This article dissects this negligence and in so doing sheds new light on the causes of the explosion and the dispute over the £3 that set off a domino effect.Hierdie artikel bespreek die Braamfontein-ontploffing van 1896 en die reeks foute wat tot die ontploffing gelei het. Die ontploffing het op 19 Februarie 1896 plaasgevind toe verskeie waens gevul met dinamiet by die Johannesburgse stasie ontplof het weens 'n botsing met 'n trein. Dit was nadat hulle drie dae in the son gestaan het. Die krag van die ontploffing het 'n massiewe gat gelaat en elke huis en struktuur in die omgewing vernietig. Tussen 1 500 en 3 000 mense is haweloos gelaat en tussen 80 en 100 het hul lewens verloor, maar die presiese getal bly onbepaald, omdat hulle baie eenvoudig "verdwyn" het. Die sleutelvraag is hoe die optrede van diegene wat betrokke was by die vervoer, lewering en verkoop van die dinamiet tot die ontploffing gelei het. Die presies oorsaak van die ontploffing bly 'n raaisel omdat die Kommissie van Ondersoek tot geen gevolgtrekking kon kom nie. Die kommissie het bepaal dat die "feite en getuienisse aandui dat die ontploffing plaasgevind het deur die nalatigheid -gesamentlik of afsonderlik - van die betrokke partye Die artikel ontleed hierdie nalatigheid ten einde sodoende nuwe lig op die oorsake van die ontploffing werp, veral die dispuut oor £3 wat 'n domino-effek gehad het.
Water, settlement and food provision in Natal Colony: The Winterton
Irrigation Settlement, 1902-1904
Abstract: Irrigation settlements formed a vital part of infrastructural history in the former Natal Colony. Projects implemented in the late nineteenth century had a specific socio-political impetus, which shifted to a more economic strategy after the South African War. The Tugela irrigation schemes were intended as an official long term investment in food security and to diversify the potential of crop production. After 1902, the Upper Tugela Irrigation Scheme at Winterton and the Lower Tugela Irrigation Scheme at Muden were planned: both aimed at creating small, irrigated farms on which to settle "a different class of farmer", in the case of the former, medium to low income white settlers; and the latter, African farmers. Using an interface of the social and the physical, this article will discuss the Winterton Irrigation Settlement contextualised with environmental and social issues affecting food production in the 1890s. It will begin with the schematic master-plan allowing for the settlement, and discuss the identification of lands, physical construction of the water infrastructure and the surveys of the plots. It then discusses the social engineering that allowed for the allocation of lands, before commenting on the invisible role function of the furrows as ongoing infrastructure and a means of underpinning social sustainability.In die voormalige Natalkolonie het besproeiingsnedersettings 'n noodsaaklike rol in die geskiedenis van infrastruktuur gespeel. Die spesifieke sosiopolitiese impetus vir Projekte in die laat-negentiende eeu het verskuif na 'n meer ekonomiese strategie na afloop van die Suid-Afrikaanse Oorlog. Die Tugela-besproeiingskemas is amptelik beoog as 'n langtermyn belegging in voedselsekerheid en om gewasproduksie te diversifiseer: die Hoer Tugela Besproeiingskema te Winterton; en die Laer Tugela Besproeiingskeme by Muden is ná 1902 beplan. Beide het beoog om klein plase, onder besproeiing, vir 'n nuwe klas boer te vestig. Lae- tot middelinkomste wit boere by Winterton en swart boere by Muden. Hierdie artikel ontgin die koppelvlak tussen die sosiale en die fisiese ten einde die Winterton Besproeiingsnedersetting te bespreek; dit kontekstualiseer die omgewings- en sosiale kwessies wat voedselproduksie in die 1890's geraak het. Dit word ingelei deur 'n bespreking van die skematiese meestersplan vir die nedersetting wat die identifisering van grond, die fisiese bou van infrastruktuur, en die opname van erwe bepaal het. Daarna word die sosiale ontwikkeling wat die toekenning van grond beïnvloed het, bespreek. Laastens word kommentaar gelewer op die onsigbare rol van waterslote as deurlopende infrastruktuur wat sosiale volhoubaarheid onderlê.
Poor whitism: The fictional volksmoeder in South African novels,
Abstract: The phenomenon of the "poor white" social class dominated much of the academic, media and entertainment spheres for the first half of the twentieth century. This article examines poor white women as depicted in both fiction and non-fiction in South African literature and demonstrates that there is a certain overlap in their depiction. By combining the two types of literature it shows that selected novels, specifically those written during the first half of the twentieth century by authors from the Realist genre, may be considered cultural historical sources in their own right - in terms of portraying the daily lives and struggles of poor white women trying to fit into a male-constructed ideology. As a rather marginalised sector, poor-white women, are examined in terms of the volksmoeder concept and attention is given to how the novels redefined this term.Die verskynsel van die "armblanke" onderwerp het die akademiese-, vermaaklikheids-en mediasfere, veral gedurende die eerste deel van die twintigste eeu, gedomineer het. In hierdie artikel word die uitbeelding van armblanke vroue in Suid-Afrikaanse fiksie en nie-fiksie ondersoek om vas te stel hoe hierdie twee skryfvorme oorvleuel het. Deur hierdie twee tipes literatuurstyle te kombineer, word daar gepoog word om te wys dat realistiese romans van die eerste helfte van die twintigste eeu as kultuurhistoriese bronne in hulle eie reg beskou kan word. In hierdie artikel word die gemarginaliseerde armblanke vrou ondersoek in terme van die "volksmoeder"-konsep deur te bespreek hoe die betrokke romans hierdie nie-akademiese literatuur vorm herdefinieer.
Contested allegiances: Indian South Africans, passive resistance, and the
1947 royal visitto South Africa
Abstract: This article examines the responses of the Indian South African community towards the 1947 British royal visit to South Africa. Following World War II, the African and Indian populations of South Africa were engaging in increasingly militant or "radical" political agendas. The Natal Indian Congress (NIC) encouraged a boycott of the royal visit as early as September 1946, citing its current participation in a passive resistance campaign targeting racist and discriminatory legislation recently passed against the Indian communities of South Africa. The NIC argued that while they respected the royal family, they could not celebrate their visit because it would be counter to the objectives of the campaign. However, despite the NIC's constant calls for boycott, the Indian community came out in mass to celebrate the royal family's visit to Durban in March 1947. As a result, this article places the royal visit at the centre of the discussion about the divisions within the Indian community; divisions which led to the failure of Indian resistance movements in the late 1940s and early 1950s. I argue that this moment exemplifies the various ways individual South African Indians prioritised particular layers of their identity that were determinant in their decision to support or defy the political objectives of their leadership at the height of a mass resistance campaign.Hierdie artikel gaan die reaksies na van die Suid-Afrikaanse Indiese gemeenskap op die Britse koningsgesin se besoek aan Suid-Afrika in 1947. Ná afloop van die Tweede Wêreldoorlog het die Afrika- en Indiese bevolkings van Suid-Afrika toenemend betrokke begin raak by militante of "radikale" politieke agendas. Die Natal Indian Congress (NIC) het so vroeg as September 1946 'n boikot van die koninklike besoek aangemoedig, op grond van hul destydse deelname aan 'n passiewe weerstandsveldtog gemik op die rassistiese en diskrimenerende wetgewing wat kort vantevore teen die Indiese gemeenskappe van Suid-Afrika aangeneem is. Die NIC het betoog dat, alhoewel hulle die koningsgesin eerbiedig, hulle nie hul besoek kon vier nie aangesien dit in teenstelling met die doel van hul veldtog sou wees. Desnieteenstaande, ten spyte van die NIC se voortdurende oproepe tot 'n boikot, het die Indiese gemeenskap in groot getalle opgeruk om die koningsgesin se besoek aan Durban in Maart 1947 te vier. Gevolglik plaas hierdie artikel die koninklike besoek in die middel van 'n bespreking oor die verdelings binne die Indiese gemeenskap wat gelei het tot die mislukking van Indiese weerstandbewegings in die laat 1940's en vroeë 19S0's. Ek betoog dat hierdie oomblik as voorbeeld dien van die onderskeie maniere waarop individuele Suid-Afrikaanse Indiërs sekere lae van hul identiteit geprioritiseer het, wat bepalend was in hul besluit om die politieke doelwitte van hul leierskap gedurende die hoogtepunt van 'n massaweerstandsveldtog te ondersteun of uit te daag.
Land and agrarian policy in colonial Zimbabwe: Re-ordering of African
society and development in Sanyati, 1950-1966
Abstract: In 1950, Africans residing on the Rhodesdale Estate were forcibly evicted from designated Crown Land under the Native Land Husbandry Act by the Rhodesian state and were resettled in the Sanyati communal lands, then known as "native reserves". Eviction and resettlement were part of the re-ordering of African agricultural settlement and development to pave the way for white settler farmers in the Rhodesdale Estate following white migration to Rhodesia in the aftermath of the First World War. This reorganisation was premised on modernisation theory. This article challenges the white-dominated state's notion of modernisation by arguing that far from uplifting the lives of rural Africans, the state, using its racially-oriented legislative machinery, was not altruistic but aimed to turn Rhodesia into a "white man's country" intolerant of African economic competition. Discriminatory legislation led to scuttling socio-economic differentiation and obstructing the emergence of an entrepreneurial class in Sanyati. By investigating the evictions and resettlement of people from 1950 to 1966, this article argues that alongside the grand theme of separate development adopted by the Rhodesian settler state, there was an equally significant theme of African economic struggle to resist their marginalisation and impoverishment. The article provides historical data on livelihoods, migration and the impact of legislation, and demonstrates that colonial legislation in Southern Rhodesia stimulated the white-dominated economy through state support. It further argues that the intersection between state-promoted agricultural development, land allocation and the legislative requirements directing or prescribing standards for the separate development of Africans and whites, not only illustrates the generic growth of Sanyati, but also the historic evolution of a largely cotton-based economy which stimulated significant forms of rural differentiation in this region.In 1950 het die Rhodesiese Staat Afrikane wat op kroongrond in die Rhodesdale Estate gewoon het, gedwing om te trek na gemene grond in Sanyati, tóé bekend as "naturelle reservate". Dit het in terme van die Native Land Husbandry Act" plaasgevind. Uitsetting en hervestiging het deel gevorm van die herorganisering van Afrikane se landbounedersetting ten einde plek te maakvir blanke setlaarboere in die Rhodesdale Estate ná die emigrasie van blankes na Rhodesië in die naloop van die Tweede Wêreldoorlog. Hierdie herorganisasie het berus op moderniseringsteorie. Dié artikel daag die blank-gedomineerde staat se opvatting van modernisering uit deur te argumenteer dat, in plaas van die lewe van plattelandse Afrikane op te hef, dit nie altruïsties was nie, maar eerder daarop gemik was om Rhodesië te verander in 'n "witmansland" wat onverdraagsaam was vir die ekonomiese kompetisie van Afrikane. Dit is bereik deur die gebruik van die rassig-georiënteerde wetgewing. Diskrimenerende wetgewing het gelei tot wegloop sosio-ekonomiese differensiëring en die belemmering van die ontstaan van 'n ondernemersklas in Sanyati. Deur 'n ondersoek na die uitsetting en hervestiging van mense tussen 1950 en 1966, argumenteer hierdie artikel dat tesame met die oorhoofse tema van aparte ontwikkeling wat die Rhodesiese setlaarstaat aangeneem het, daar ook 'n ewe belangrike tema was in die ekonomiese stryd van Afrikane teen hul marginalisasie en verarmering. Dié artikel verskaf historiese data oor lewensonderhoud, migrasie en die impak van wetgewing; en demonstreer dat koloniale wetgeweing in suidelike Rhodesië die blank-gedomineerde ekonomie gestimuleer het deur staatsondersteuning. Verder word daar geargumenteer dat die wisselwerking tussen staatsgepromoveerde landbou-ontwikkeling, grondtoekenning en die wetlike vereistes wat die aparte ontwikkeling van Afrikane en blankes gerig het, nie slegs die algemene groei van Sanyati illustreer nie, maar ook die historiese evolusie van die hoofsaaklik-katoengebaseerde ekonomie wat beduidende vorme van plattelandse differensiëring in hierdie streek gestimuleer het.
Considering YouTube's value as a historical source, with reference to the
2015-2017 drought in the Vaal Triangle
Abstract: The 20th to 21st century has seen dramatic changes in the amount of available information from which researchers can obtain insights into people's past experiences. Traditionally, historical insights were derived mainly from archival and physical sources. Oral interviews also offered new perspectives as well as challenges for the interpretation of histories. Increasingly, social media provide researchers not only audio and/or visual material, but also unique combinations of these two mediums. The wave of technological innovation affords the ordinary person the opportunity to record, store and share his or her life experiences. The extent to which this is occurring is also testimony of the information age. For historians this not only provides a rich array of sources, but also requires them to take new responsibility regarding internal and external source criticism, along with a keen sense of knowledge of the available technologies. As one such platform YouTube is being used increasingly to capture and share life experiences. One such example the 2015-2017 drought in the Vaal Triangle. For contemporary historians, social media provides unique opportunities to investigate, with the appropriate analytical mind-set, such 21st century historical phenomena.Die 20ste tot 21ste eeu het dramatiese veranderinge teweeggebring in die hoeveelheid beskikbare inligtingsbronne waaruit navorsers insigte kan verkry oor sekere historiese menslike ervarings. Tradisioneel is argiewe en/of fisiese historiese bronne ondersoek vir historiese insigte. Mondelinge onderhoude het ook nuwe perspektiewe, asook uitdagings, vir die interpretasie van geskiedenis ingehou. Sosiale media bied aan navorsers nie net al hoe meer oudio- en/of visuele materiaal nie, maar ook unieke kombinasies van hierdie twee mediums. Die uitbreiding van tegnologiese innovasie bied die alledaagse persoon die geleentheid om sy of haar lewenservarings op te teken, te stoor en te deel. Die skaal waarop dit plaasvind is ook 'n weerspieëling van die inligtingsera. Vir historici bied dit nie net 'n magdom bronne nie, maar vereis ook 'n nuwe verantwoordelikheid in terme van interne en eksterne bronnekritiek met bygaande kennisname van die beskikbare tegnologieë in gebruik. YouTube, as sosiale media bron, is een van die platforms wat toenemend gebruik word om lewenservarings oudiovisueel vas te vang en te deel. Een so 'n ervaring is die belewenis van die 2015-2017 droogte in die Vaaldriehoek. Vir kontemporêre historiei bied dit unieke geleenthede om historiese momente, wat deur 21ste-eeuse samelewings vasgevang word, steeds krities te ondersoek.
Microsoft Power BI Desktop: A free and user-friendly software programme
for data visualisations in the Social Sciences