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Volume 64 Number 2, November 2019
Land, labour, war and displacement : a history of four black concentration camps in the South African War (1899‐1902)
Author Garth Conan Benneyworth
Source: Historia 64, pp 1 –20 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/23098392/2019/v64n2a1
From the outset of the South African War both the British and Boer forces deliberately and directly targeted civilians during their military operations, thus heralding a harbinger of twentieth century “total war”. Well established in the historiography are the camps established by the British for internment of the Boers, later known as concentration camps. Less known are the so‐called “native” refugee camps, which functioned as forced wartime labour camps, and are today known as black concentration camps. Although civilian internment was not genocidal by design and purpose, the high loss of life and bitterness among the Boer descendants shaped the political narrative of twentieth century South Africa. Yet the black forced labour camps were far more lethal and designed along a completely different model to those where the Boers were interned. The memory of this experience has only in the last two decades entered historical discourse about the conflict, however. This article examines those camps which interned black civilians at Orange River Station, Taung, Vryburg and Brussels Siding. Situated approximately 300 kms apart at their southern and most northerly points, the sites of these camps were first identified by the author in the period from 2001 to 2008.
Satyagraha prisoners on Natal’s coal mines
Author Kalpana Hiralal
Source: Historia 64, pp 21 –46 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/23098392/2019/v64n2a2
In 1913 under the leadership of Gandhi, the first “mass” political resistance was launched in South Africa. The key sites of resistance were in Natal and the Transvaal. This resistance was popularly known as the Satyagraha campaign or the Indian Strike. Well over 20 000 men, women and children engaged in protest action against discriminatory legislation that restricted their economic, social and political mobility. The historiography of the 1913 Satyagraha Campaign is substantial, but there are gaps of coverage on the incarceration and treatment of prisoners. The coal mines in the Natal Midlands became another site of resistance in the aftermath of the campaign. This article documents prisoner/captor relations in the aftermath of the campaign on the coal mines. Indian prisoners were subjected to flogging, poor rations and at times, ringleaders were assaulted severely. These lesser known narratives add to the current historiography by highlighting mine authorities’ attitudes and policy towards prisoners in the context of control, repression and coercion as well as the nature of the prisoner and captor relationship in the Satyagraha campaign of 1913.
Die eerste massa‐politiese verset in Suid‐Afrika is in 1913 onder Gandhi se leiding van stapel gestuur. Die belangrikste liggings van hierdie verset was in Natal en Transvaal. Hierdie verset staan algemeen bekend as die satyagraha‐veldtog oftewel die “Indiese Staking”. Méér as 20 000 mans, vroue en kinders was betrokke by die protesaksie teen diskriminerende wetgewing wat hul ekonomiese, sosiale en politiese mobiliteit beperk het. Die historiese literatuur oor die satyagraha‐veldtog van 1913 is omvangryk: daar is egter gapings in die dekking van gevangenskap en die behandeling van gevangenes. Die steenkoolmyne op die Natalse Middelland het nóg ’n ruimte vir verset geword na afloop van die veldtog. Hierdie artikel dokumenteer gevangene‐merverhoudings op hierdie steenkoolmyne na afloop van die satyagraha‐veldtog. Indiese gevangenes het deurgeloop onder geseling, swak rantsoene en, met tye, die swaar aanranding van die belhamels. Hierdie minder‐bekende narratiewe dra by tot die bestaande historiografie deur die mynowerhede se houding en beleid teenoor gevangenes binne ’n konteks van beheer, onderdrukking en dwang uit te lig; asook die aard van die gevangenegevangenemerverhouding gedurende die satyagraha‐veldtog van 1913.
“A hygienic Native township shall be developed” : the founding and development of Batho as Bloemfontein’s “model location” (c. 1918‐1939)
Authors: D. du Bruyn and M. Oelofse
Source: Historia 64, pp 47 –81 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/23098392/2019/v64n2a3
Batho, Bloemfontein’s oldest existing historically black township or “location”, celebrated its centennial in 2018. This “model location” was established in 1918 by the Municipality of Bloemfontein after it decided to demolish the old Waaihoek location. The model location ideology, partly rooted in the image of the Orange Free State “model republic” of the late 1800s, must be seen within the context of the discriminatory segregationist policies of the 1920s and 1930s. The main reasons for Batho’s founding and Waaihoek’s demolition were: i) prejudiced and troubled race relations and racial attitudes; ii) Waaihoek’s close proximity to white Bloemfontein; iii) the growing urbanisation of black and coloured people; iv) the Spanish Influenza epidemic; and v) the building of a new power station for Bloemfontein. Batho became nationally renowned as a model location and an example for others to follow due, in part, to the municipality’s unique housing scheme, namely the Bloemfontein system. The model location ideology influenced Batho’s general layout, size of individual plots, provisioning of public amenities, sound financial administration and limited participative governance in the form of advisory boards. The main thesis is that the municipality’s ideal of a model location was not simply a theoretical and ideological construct, but that it was also materialised in practice.
In 2018 het Batho, Bloemfontein se oudste bestaande histories‐swart township of “lokasie”, sy eeufees gevier. Hierdie “modellokasie” is in 1918 deur die munisipaliteit van Bloemfontein gestig nadat besluit is om die ou Waaihoek‐lokasie te sloop. Die modellokasie‐ideologie, wat deels uit die tyd van die “model republiek” Oranje‐ Vrystaat van die laat 1800’s dateer, moet binne die konteks van die diskriminerende segregasionistiese beleide van die 1920’s en 1930’s beskou word. Die hoofredes vir Batho se stigting en Waaihoek se sloping was: i) bevooroordeelde en vertroebelde rasseverhoudinge en rassehoudinge; ii) Waaihoek se nabyheid aan wit Bloemfontein; iii) die groeiende verstedeliking van swart en bruin mense; iv) die Spaanse griepepidemie; en v) die bou van ’n nuwe kragstasie vir Bloemfontein. Batho het nasionaal as ’n modellokasie bekend geword en as ’n voorbeeld vir ander lokasies gedien, deels vanweë die munisipaliteit se unieke behuisingskema, naamlik die Bloemfonteinsisteem. Die modellokasie‐ideologie het Batho se algemene uitleg, grootte van individuele standplase, voorsiening van openbare geriewe, behoorlike finansiële administrasie en beperkte deelnemende bestuur in die vorm van adviesrade, beïnvloed. Die hoofargument is dat die munisipaliteit se ideaal van ’n modellokasie nie bloot ’n teoretiese en ideologiese konstruk was nie, maar ook in die praktyk gerealiseer het.
Civil Defence and Protective Services in South Africa during World War Two, 1939–1945
Source: Historia 64, pp 82 –108 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/23098392/2019/v64n2a4
During World War Two, South Africa inaugurated the Civilian Protective Services organisation as a civil defence effort to deal with, inter alia, the preventive and protective measures in defence of the civilian population against attack from the air and the sea, and against the dangers arising from sabotage and sudden emergency. Between 1940 and 1945, about 80 000 civilians volunteered for service in the air raid precautions and the civilian guard sections of the Civilian Protective Services, to contribute towards a national defence effort of the Union of South Africa. This article examines the origin of the Civilian Protective Services and its development during World War Two, within the context of South Africa’s political and internal security challenges. It contends that the institution of the Civilian Protective Services was a vital element in South Africa’s effort to enhance internal security, to assuage public anxieties and to sustain morale as well as to maintain public support for its war policy.
Tydens die Tweede Wêreldoorlog, het Suid‐Afrika die Burgerlike Beskermingsdienste‐organisasie ingestel as deel van ’n breër burgerlike beskermings poging om, onder meer, die voorkomende en beskermings maatreëls ter verdediging van die bevolking teen anvalle vanuit die lug en die see te hanteer, asook teen die gevare van sabotasie en skielike noodgevalle. Tussen 1940 en 1945, het ongeveer 80 000 burgerlike vrywilligers aangemeld vir diens by die Burgerlike Beskermingsdienste, as deel van die nasionale verdedigingspoging van die Unie van Suid‐Afrika. Talle vrywilligers het diens gedoen in die burgerlike veiligheids afdeling, asook die afdeling wat verantwoordelik was vir die implimentering van voorsorgmaatreëls teen moontlike lugaanvalle. Hierdie artikel ondersoek die oorsprong van die Burgerlike Beskermingsdienste, en die ontwikkeling daarvan, tydens die Tweede Wêreldoorlog, veral binne die konteks van Suid‐Afrika se politieke‐ en interne veiligheidsuitdagings. Die artikel bevind dat die instelling van die Burgerlike Beskermingsdienste ŉ belangrike element van Suid‐Afrika se poging was om die interne veiligheid situasie te verbeter, om bevolkingsangs te sus, om moraal te hep onderhou, asook om openbare steun vir sy oorlogsbeleid te handhaaf.
After the deluge : appraising the 1970 Mufulira mine disaster in Zambia
Author Alfred Tembo
Source: Historia 64, pp 109 –131 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/23098392/2019/v64n2a5
This article endeavours to position the Mufulira mine disaster in the wider historiography of mining in post‐colonial Zambia. In the early hours of 25 September 1970, about two million tonnes of water, and slimes cascaded into the main working area of the Mufulira copper mine on the Zambian Copperbelt. It choked the mine’s main and intermediate haulages, and put three incline shafts, an ancillary crusher, and pumping stations out of action. This deluge, the worst mine disaster in the country’s mining history, resulted in the death of 89 miners and had the subsequent socio‐economic effect of having to resettle their widows and orphans. The cataclysm also led to a cut, by as much as 50 per cent, of the nation’s copper production, its main foreign exchange earner. The resultant reduction in government revenue generation due to a decline in copper production had a severe impact on the nation’s fiscus. But most importantly, this tragedy occurred at a time of serious socio‐political challenges in the newly independent state of Zambia. While the incident at Mufulira was costly to shareholders, the state, and the affected families, it also became a blessing in disguise because its aftermath set new standards in mine safety on the Copperbelt as well as in the rest of the mining industry.
Hierdie artikel poog om die plek van die Mufulira‐mynramp binne die breëre mynbouhistoriografie van post‐koloniale Zambië te bepaal. In die vroeë oggendure van 25 September 1970 het ongeveer twee miljoen ton water en slik die hoofwerkgebied van die Mufulira‐kopermyn in die Zambiese Koperstreek oorstroom. Die slik het die hoof‐ en tussenvervoerstelsel van die myn verstop en het drie skuinsskagte, ‘n bystandklipbreker en pompstasies buite werking gelaat. Hierdie vloed, die ergste mynramp in die land se myngeskiedenis, het die dood van 89 mynwerkers veroorsaak en bykomende sosio‐ekonomiese gevolge gehad met die hervestiging van hulle weduwees en weeskinders. Die ramp het ook tot ’n afname van tot soveel as 50 persent in die koperproduksie, die belangrikste buitelandse valutaverdiener, van die land gelei. Die gevolglike daling in die generering van owerheidsinkomste as gevolg van ’n afname in koperproduksie, het ’n invloed op die fiskus van die land gehad. Van groter belang is dat hierdie tragedie in ’n tyd van ernstige sosiopolitieke uitdagings in die nuut‐onafhanklike Zambiëstaat plaasgevind het. Terwyl die Mufulira‐mynramp die aandeelhouers, die staat en die gesinne van die gestorwe mynwerkers negatief beïnvloed het, het dit ook positiewe veranderinge tot gevolg gehad deurdat nuwe mynveiligheidstandaarde in die Koperstreek en die res van die mynbedryf ingestel is.
Resolving P.W. Botha’s 1985 Rubicon riddle
Source: Historia 64, pp 132 –155 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/23098392/2019/v64n2a6
President P.W. Botha’s notorious “Rubicon” speech on 15 August 1985 at the National Party Congress in Durban was probably one of the most significant speeches in the history of South Africa. It was supposed to break the political and military deadlock between the apartheid government and the banned liberation movements, notably the ANC. Botha was widely expected to announce new policies that could possibly have ended the political conflict in the country. However, that did not happen. Instead the speech was a total fiasco. Until now, one could only speculate why this was so. Original correspondence between P.W. Botha and ministers Pik Botha and Chris Heunis and a secret, verbatim transcript of the notorious preparatory 'Sterrewag' (Pretoria Astronomical Observatory) meeting of 2 August 1985, now confirm that the South African government and P.W. Botha were not ready for such policy breakthrough announcements and had never planned to make them.
President P.W. Botha se berugte Rubicon toespraak op 15 Augustus 1985 by die Nasionale Partykongres in Durban, was seker een van die mees verreikende toesprake in die Suid‐Afrikaanse geskiedenis. Dit was veronderstel om die politieke en militêre dooiepunt wat op daardie stadium tussen die apartheidsregering en die verbanne ANC bestaan het, te deurbreek deur nuwe beleidsrigtings aan te kondig wat potensieel tot die einde van die politieke konflik in die land sou kon lei. Dit het egter nie gebeur nie. Die toespraak was inteendeel ’n totale fiasko. Sover kon net gespekuleer word waarom nie. Oorspronklike korrespondensie tussen P.W. Botha en ministers Pik Botha en Chris Heunis, en ’n geheime, ongeredigeerde verbatim transkripsie van die netso berugte voorbereidende Sterrewagvergadering in Pretoria, bevestig dat die Suid‐Afrikaanse regering en die president nie gereed was vir sulke deurbraakgewende beleidsaankondigings nie, en dit nooit beplan het nie.
Koos Kombuis : Ikonoklas na ikoon
Source: Historia 64, pp 156 –177 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/23098392/2019/v64n2a7
Die Afrikaanse skrywer en musikant Koos Kombuis word vandag wyd as ’n ikoon beskou. In die 1980’s was hy egter ’n randfiguur van die Afrikaner‐establishment. Hoe het hierdie transformasie van ikonoklas na ikoon oor tyd plaasgevind? Kombuis het sy loopbaan as digter en skrywer in die 1980’s begin. Hy het homself aan die spits van die sogenaamde Tagtigerbeweging in die letterkunde bevind, en in 1989 het hy aan die berugte Voëlvry‐toer deelgeneem wat sy status as dwarstrekker verskans het. Sy letterkunde en musiek van dié dekade het gepoog om die waardes en norme van die heersende Afrikaner‐establishment omver te gooi. Die vroeë 1990’s het bepaalde veranderinge in sowel die breër sosio‐politieke konteks van Suid‐Afrika as Kombuis persoonlik gesien. Sy beeld onder Afrikaners het stelselmatig begin verander, en soos sy loopbaan in die jare sedertdien ontwikkel het, het hy algaande ikoonstatus bekom. Hierdie artikel stel ondersoek in na Koos Kombuis se transformasie van ikonoklas na ikoon binne Afrikaner geledere. The Afrikaans author and musician, Koos Kombuis, is widely regarded as an icon today. In the 1980s, however, he was a fringe figure, arguably even an iconoclast of the Afrikaner establishment. How did this transformation from iconoclast to icon happen over time? Kombuis began his career as poet and author in the 1980s. He found himself as a leading figure of the so‐called Tagtiger movement in Afrikaans literature, and in 1989 he participated in the Voëlvry tour which entrenched his image as an Afrikaner iconoclast. His literature and music of this particular decade attempted to overthrow the accepted norms and values of the reigning Afrikaner establishment. The early 1990s saw certain changes in the broader South African socio‐political context as well as in Kombuis personally. His image among Afrikaners started changing and as his career developed in the years since, he gradually obtained icon status. This article investigates Koos Kombuis’s transformation from iconoclast to icon within Afrikaner society.
Intercultural Dynamics in the Production of British Expeditionary Literature, Adrian S. Wisnicki
Source: Historia 64, pp 178 –180 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/23098392/2019/v64n2a10
As noted in the Acknowledgements to Fieldwork of Empire, 1840–1900: Intercultural Dynamics in the Production of British Expeditionary Literature, this work has been long in the making. The original ideas behind it first emerged in the early 2000s. This passage of time has allowed for the ideas on offer to be explored in‐depth and detail; to brew and mature into a substantive, convincing piece of scholarship. The publication is a valuable contribution to the field of Victorian colonial literature, though its impact will resonate more widely. The work will appeal to scholars from a broad spectrum of disciplines working on the nineteenth‐century history of British colonialism in Africa. In particular, the book delivers a path‐breaking contribution to the history of the production of “knowledge” of Africa via Victorian expeditionary literature.
The Assassination of King Shaka, John Laband
Author Philemon Matloga
Source: Historia 64, pp 181 –183 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/23098392/2019/v64n2a10
John Laband ranks as one of the best known historians writing on the history of the Zulu people, and here, despite the apparent paucity of the source material, he has managed to write a remarkable book on the assassination of King Shaka by combing a wealth of documentary and oral evidence to construct a gripping narrative. The book is not written from a strict academic perspective, but is nevertheless substantiated by a wealth of primary archival research conducted at, among other archival repositories, the James Stuart Archives (JSA) and the British Parliamentary Papers (BPP). Laband’s intimate knowledge of Zulu history (gained over some 45 years) ensures that the manuscript provides a riveting read, during which, he is able to provide his own point of view of how and why King Shaka was assassinated.
Guerrilla Warfare : Kings of Revolution, Peter Polack
Author Trudy Lucia Van Wyk
Source: Historia 64, pp 183 –185 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/23098392/2019/v64n2a10
"The only certain thing is that history will repeat itself” (p 13), is argued by Peter Polack in his book titled Guerrilla Warfare: Kings of Revolution. This publication provides a collection of biographies of ten notable guerrilla leaders who could serve as an inspiration to modern‐day strategists, military personnel and politicians. The term guerrilla is often associated with hardy, bearded men in groups that are ungovernable and marginalised, or often with disgruntled minorities. Polack, however, establishes that the use of the term guerrilla only surfaced during the nineteenth century, because it was used by British forces during the Peninsular War. The British soldiers used the term guerrilla to describe the actual operational deployment of local Spanish forces during their encounter with Napoleon’s French armies. The local Spanish guerrilla forces employed unconventional combat methods, such as hit‐and‐run tactics, during the protracted conflict with the French army that still fought conventionally.
The House of Tshatshu : Power, politics and chiefs north-west of the Great Kei River c 1818–2018, Jeff P. Velelo & Anne Mager
Author T.K. Pooe
Source: Historia 64, pp 186 –188 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/23098392/2019/v64n2a10
The current debates concerning land reform with or without compensation; the role of royalty in leadership; curriculum review in South Africa’s basic and higher education fields and the continued search for personal, regional and national identity are all discussed in this new publication by Jeff Phiko Velelo and Anne Mager. This book focuses on the region now known as the Eastern Cape Province and encompasses various indigenous peoples like the amaTshatshu, Khoesan, AmaThembu and non‐indigenous/colonialist groups such as the British and Afrikaners. It also looks at some of the early religious institutions that established themselves in the region, including the Anglican and Moravian mission stations.
The Eight Zulu Kings : From Shaka to Goodwill Zwelithini, John Laband
Author Thobile Netshivhazwaulu
Source: Historia 64, pp 188 –190 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/23098392/2019/v64n2a10
Most of South African history which is documented coincides with the arrival of Europeans, specifically the Dutch and their first contact with the Khoi‐Khoi. The history of the British in South Africa, however, coincides largely with that of the Zulus, especially from the period when Shaka was the Zulu king. In this publication, John Laband provides a succinct narrative of the history of the Zulu from the period of Shaka until the reign of Goodwill Zwelithini. In this period, there were no fewer than eight Zulu kings: Shaka, Dingane, Mpande, Cetshwayo, Dinuzulu, Solomon, Cyprian and Goodwill Zwelithini. Laband highlights the changes in the social structure, customs, and political circumstances during the reign of each of these monarchs, and elaborates on how they used their powers to achieve certain social and political objectives within the Zulu kingdom.
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela, Sahm Venter (Ed.)
Author Abdul Samed Bemath
Source: Historia 64, pp 191 –192 (2019) http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/23098392/2019/v64n2a10
As a library consultant and bibliographer, this reviewer was commissioned in 2012 by the Nelson Mandela Foundation to create an inventory of the images and video recordings featuring Nelson Mandela, many of which were taken or recorded worldwide. The collection includes framed photographs of Mandela with Bill Clinton; some with other dignitaries; several of Mandela’s wife, Winnie, and many others. During my Financial Times of London newspaper days, I attended a conference at the Nelson Mandela Foundation. As Mr Mandela neared the exit door, he called out to me, saying: “Are you not coming to greet me?” The “shy me” went up to greet him, as he is my elder (p iii). Edited by Sahm Venter, a senior researcher at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, this remarkable book is organised chronologically and divided into the periods when Mandela was held in the following four prisons, namely, Pretoria Local Prison from November 1962 to May 1963; Robben Island Maximum Security Prison from June 1964 to March 1982; Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison from March 1982 to August 1988; Tygerberg Hospital and Constantiaberg MediClinic, in August to December 1988; and finally, the Victor Verster Prison from December, 1988 to February 1990.