Leon Lemmer: Die lot van Afrikaners en ander blankes in Kenia – praag.co.za
Leon Lemmer: Die lot van Afrikaners en ander blankes in Kenia
Kantoor van 'n swart politieke party in Eldoret in die vyftigerjare, voor Oehoeroe
Daar was voorheen twee groot koloniale gebiede in Oos-Afrika: Duits-Oos-Afrika en Brits-Oos-Afrika. Die Duitsers en Britte het kwaai meegeding om handel vanaf die ooskus met Sentraal-Afrika (veral Uganda, maar ook Rwanda, Burundi en die Kongo) te bedryf. In 1890 het die Duitsers en Britte ‘n wedersydse ooreenkoms gesluit. Albei het spoorlyne gebou om die binneland toeganklik te maak. Na die nederlaag van die Duitsers in die Eerste Wêreldoorlog het Duits-Oos-Afrika in 1919 (nadat dit sedert 1897 ‘n Duitse kolonie was) as Tanganjika ‘n mandaatgebied van Brittanje geword; tot onafhanklikheid in 1961. Eilande aan die ooskus, soos Zanzibar en Pemba, was sedert 1890 Britse gebiede. In 1964 is hierdie eilande by Tanganjika ingelyf en staan die land sedertdien as Tanzanië bekend, met Swahili en Engels as amptelike tale.
Brits-Oos-Afrika het in 1895 ‘n Britse protektoraat en in 1920 die kolonie Kenia geword, met ooskus-eilande, soos Zanzibar en Pemba, aanvanklik administratief deel daarvan. In 1963 het Kenia onafhanklik geword, met Swahili as enigste amptelike taal. Hoewel die land se naam en spelling nie in 1963 verander het nie, word verwag dat Kenia voortaan met ‘n kort pleks van ‘n lang e uitgespreek moet word. Dit staan in CS (Christene) Nicholls se boek, Red strangers: The white tribe of Kenya, London: Timewell Press, 2011, 332p; Amazon Kindle $11,39): “The powers in Whitehall decided that the pronunciation should have a long e, and Keenya became the pronunciation until independence in 1963 when it reverted to Kenya with a short e” (Kindle 2679). My teks is op Nicholls se boek gebaseer.* “The Kikuyu people described the white men who came to their lands in the late nineteenth century as ‘red strangers’; hence the title of this book” (94).
[* Ek het nie toegang tot Gerrit Groen se doktorale proefskrif nie: “The Afrikaners in Kenya, 1903-1969”; Michigan State University, 1974. Brian M du Toit se boek is beskikbaar maar onbetaalbaar duur: The Boers in East Africa: Ethnicity and identity, Westport: Bergin & Garvey, 1998, 224p; Amazon Kindle $142,96. Ek moet en wil nog Janet McIntosh se boek lees: Unsettled: Denial and belonging among white Kenyans (University of California Press, 2016, 307p; Amazon Kindle $23,93). Sy gebruik die frase “structural oblivion,” wat ten minste polities op Afrikaners in die nuwe Suid-Afrika van toepassing gemaak kan word.]
Nicholls se onderwerp is die tydperk van bykans sewentig jaar (1895-1963) waartydens blankes Kenia ontwikkel het. Sy vind dit nodig om hieroor te skryf omdat dit byderwets geword het om blankes en kolonialisme sonder meer te verdoem. “The truth remains that there was a great deal of good, and few people are prepared to stress this. I try to do so” (57). In die teks skemer dit egter telkens deur dat sy liberalisties gesind is. Tog stel sy die alternatiewe en meer positiewe siening van Kenia se blankes op ‘n verdienstelike manier. Die boek getuig van deeglike navorsing, wat in sowel Kenia as Engeland gedoen is.
Die outeur beklemtoon die harde werk wat dit van blankes in Kenia geverg het om die ongerepte natuur in plase te omskep. Groot ontberings moes verduur en talle gevare getrotseer word. Malaria en leeus het vir die pioniers groot probleme veroorsaak. “In Africa you can do nothing in a hurry, except it be to die” (314). Talle boeke en artikels is oor die Wanjohi of “Happy” Valley gepubliseer, bv Nicholas Best se Happy Valley: The story of the English in Kenya (2013, 235p; Amazon kindle $9,11) en Juliet Barnes se The Ghosts of Happy Valley (2013, 304p; Amazon Kindle $12,09). “The antics of this wealthy and un-representative coterie, notorious for its licentious and irresponsible behaviour, have attracted all too much attention, whereas the real creators of what became the flourishing British colony of Kenya have languished in relative obscurity. It is one of my purposes to redress that balance” (70; ook 3762).
Die Britse bedrywighede in Kenia het in 1887 begin toe die British East African Association (vanaf 1888 bekend as die Imperial British East Africa Company – IBEAC) ‘n konsessie van die sultan van Zanzibar vir handel in Oos-Afrika noord van die Umba- en suid van die Kipini-rivier ontvang het. “Most of the territory seemed empty” (400). Oor die Eldoret-omgewing, waar Afrikaners hulle sedert 1903 op die hoogland gevestig het, word gesê: “No Africans seemed to live there in any numbers” (2183). In 1895 het die Britse regering die bates van die IBEAC oorgeneem (595). ‘n Ooreenkoms soortgelyk aan die Britse een het tussen die sultan van Zanzibar en die Duitsers vir handelsbedrywighede suid van die Umba-rivier bestaan (132). Arabiere en Indiërs was toe al lank aan die kus gevestig (152) vir handel in bv slawe en ivoor (171).
Die groot probleem in handel met Uganda (sedert 1895 ‘n Britse gebied) was om die Taru-woestyn te oorbrug. Om te verhoed dat die draers van goedere uit ‘n konvooi dros en almal van dors sterf, of deur diere of swartes gedood word, is hulle vas aan mekaar geketting (184). Dit werp ‘n ietwat ander lig op hierdie saak as die een wat deesdae gewild is. Die opperhoofde deur wie se gebied gestap is, is beloon (199). Bowendien moes die handelaars hulle goedere voortdurend teen diefstal beskerm. Talle mense is in die konvooie en elders vermoor, bv ‘n konvooi van 600 mense in 1896 (500). “The continual strain and anxiety about the natives tells on one pretty heavily” (440). Lede van stamme soos die Kikoejoe en Maasai het groot probleme vir die blankes in die binneland veroorsaak (470). Aan die kus het Somaliërs ‘n oorlas van hulleself gemaak (852). Hierdie mense was “utterly different” van die blankes (666). Probleme met Somaliërs kom in die 21ste eeu steeds in Kenia en elders voor.
Toe die spoorlyn van Mombasa tot aan die Victoria-meer gebou is (1896-1903), “land for one mile on each side of the track was bought by the railway” (759) van die swart stamme wat aanspraak op eiendomsreg gemaak het. “A telegraph line was built alongside the railway as it went inland … but Africans repeatedly stole the wire to adorn their bodies, for it was the height of fashion to wind it round one’s ankles, calves and arms” (877; ook 1767). In Suid-Afrika is kabeldiefstal in die 21ste eeu steeds ‘n groot probleem. Indiese arbeiders is vir die konstruksie van die spoorlyn gebruik. Oor hierdie onderwerp is daar JH Patterson se boek, The man eaters of Tsavo (1907; Amazon Kindle $1,13). Die Britse bewind het Indiërs dikwels ook as soldate en polisiemanne aangewend; soms ook Soedanese soldate. Dit verduidelik die ontstaan van die groot Indiese bevolking in Kenia.
Sommige blankes wat die spoorlyn help bou het, het besluit om hulle in die land te vestig (1016). Blankes is aangemoedig om na Brits-Oos-Afrika te kom om die land te ontwikkel en die spoorweë lonend te maak (945). “The first settlers bought land from Africans” (704; ook 1022), “paying for it with cattle and trade goods” (725). Onder die swartes was daar nie so iets soos individuele eienaarskap van grond nie (719). “Confidence was high, the ambition to civilise seemed laudable and communications were vastly improved, with steamship and telegraph minimising the world’s distances” (962). Na die Anglo-Boere-oorlog (1899-1902) is immigrasie vanaf Suid-Afrika aangemoedig, “where many of the men who had fought in the Boer War had stayed on” (982), bv Australiërs (1022, 1252). Suid-Afrika is beskou as ‘n “reservoir of Afrophile Europeans” (989) wat tot die ontwikkeling van Oos-Afrika kon bydra.
Aanvanklik is “a chequerboard policy of settlement, intermingling whites and Africans” gevolg, “to make it easier to obtain African labour and … to civilise the native peoples more swiftly” (1022). In die 21ste eeu het die ANC ‘n soortgelyke beleid in Suid-Afrika. Blankes mag nie monokulturele enklaves vorm nie. Swart woongebiede word in of naby tradisioneel blanke woongebiede ontwikkel, glo om arbeiders nader aan hulle werkplekke te vestig. In werklikheid is die doel gedwonge rasse-integrasie, wat meebring dat blankes toenemend onveilig voel. In 1905 is in Brits-Oos-Afrika van hierdie rassebeleid afgesien en is die swartes eerder in reservate gehuisves (1022). Dié nuwe beleid het blanke immigrasie gestimuleer. In 1902 was daar net 17 blanke landbouers, 70 in 1903 en 360 in 1904 (1041). Daarna het die blanke boere vinnig meer geword. In 1918 was daar 1 195 (1162, 1239). Na sowel die Eerste as die Tweede Wêreldoorlog het baie blanke oudgediendes hulle in Kenia gevestig.
“The newcomers camped on their land in tents until they built grass huts (bandas) and rondavels of mud, wattle and grass thatch. These were whitewashed and floored with polished cowdung” (1062). Seekoeivet is vir beligting in lampe en vir die maak van kerse gebruik (1062, 2174). “The life was far from easy and most new farmers lost rather than made money” (1068). “The problem of acquiring African farm labour was perennial” (1075), want dit was in die na-slawerny era. Daarby het die Britse owerheid geredeneer: “their first loyalty was to Africans” (1081). Soos dit by geleentheid gestel is: “The natives had been licked into shape” (1363). “A hut tax was introduced by the government in 1901, mainly to persuade Africans to work for wages in order to pay it. It had limited success and by 1910, when the labour situation was critical, a poll tax was introduced to encourage into work those African males, mainly of the warrior class, who did not pay the hut tax” (1087). Sommige swartes het bv veediefstal bo werk verkies (1108); ‘n probleem wat steeds met ons is.
“In order to control a few undesirable whites, who had come up from South Africa in 1903, the Foreign Office sanctioned the creation of ten new police officer and subordinate grade posts, which could be recruited locally. The men appointed succeeded in expelling the unwanted whites. Since settlers refused to submit to the authority of African policemen, a tiny contingent of white constables was appointed in 1908 to deal with settler matters” (1181).
Hierdie “undesirable” of “unwanted whites” was moontlik Britte of ander Engelssprekende blankes, want onmiddellik hierna skryf die outeur: “The British South Africans were not the only immigrants from that part of the continent. Their former enemies, the Boers, also found their way from South Africa. To escape an economic depression in their own land, several went to German East Africa (GEA) from 1903 onwards, but finding life almost as harsh there, thirty-three of these families trekked into Kenya in 1906 … They were not quite the first Boers to arrive. One of the Van Breda brothers had come to the EAP [(British) East Africa Protectorate] in 1903; in 1904 the Arnoldi family, another Van Breda brother and John de Waal made the journey; in 1905 six families [and] in 1906 twelve more families (excluding those from GEA) appeared; and in 1907 a further seven families joined them” (1202). “W J (‘Bon’) Van Breda was murdered by two Elgeyo tribesmen on his farm in 1907” (1209). Die euwel van plaasmoorde is steeds met ons.
“After no notice was taken of this crime by the authorities, six months later ten of the neighbouring farmers got together, met at Arnoldi’s Drift with arms and ponies, and staged an expedition to intimidate the DC [District Commissioner]. The Governer hurriedly sent KAR [King’s African Rifles] reinforcements up from Nairobi, the murderers were dealt with and the incipient rebellion fizzled out” (1209). Dit toon dat verset ‘n onverskillige owerheid tot optrede kan aanspoor.
“The largest influx was yet to come. Jan Janse Van Rensburg, a prominent Transvaal farmer from the Bethal district, was a roikop [rooikop? hensopper, hanskakie], someone who had collaborated with the British in the Boer War. Such people were often ostracised in their home districts … [Van Rensburg] gathered together fifty-eight Boer families … sailed … to Mombasa, arriving on 12 July 1908. The party consisted of 247 people, forty-seven wagons and ninety horses. In Nakuru they bought oxen to pull their wagons and trekked up the other side of the Rift Valley, to Londiani and onward to the Uasin Gishu plateau, where they selected farming land near Sergoit rock. In 1911 another large group, sixty families led by CJ Cloete, a prominent farmer from the Bethlehem district of the Orange Free State, arrived on the Uasin Gishu plateau, which now housed 900 Boers, a quarter of the country’s white population. By 1916 there were 1 177” (1212). In 1913 het Charles en Edmund de la Harpe en J Bertram Steyn, “who had fought for the British in the Boer War,” op die plato plase gekoop (2181).
Ek kon verstaan waarom Afrikaners na die Anglo-Boere-oorlog na Argentinië, Angola en Duits-Oos-Afrika uitgewyk het, want hulle wou nie onder Britse bewind wees nie. Afrikaners wat na Brits-Oos-Afrika geëmigreer het, het egter nie Britse onderdanigheid ontsnap nie. Die feit dat sommige van hulle hanskakies was, verduidelik waarom hulle na ‘n Britse gebied geëmigreer het. Maar nie alle Afrikaners wat in Kenia gewoon het, was verloopte Afrikaners nie. Byvoorbeeld, dit geld in die meeste gevalle waarskynlik nie diegene wat aanvanklik in Duits-Oos-Afrika ‘n bestaan probeer maak het en hulle daarna in Brits-Oos-Afrika gevestig het nie. Hierby kom die feit dat Afrikaners die Britte in Kenia van naderby leer ken het. Dit het veroorsaak dat Afrikaners saamgestaan en baie van hulle ware Afrikaners gebly of geword het, so hier onder blyk.
Gedurende die Eerste Wêreldoorlog was daar kritiek op Afrikaners wat nie die wapen teen die Duitsers wou opneem nie. “But it was only a small minority of Afrikaners who refused to serve in the British forces. Conscription was introduced in December 1915, and in mid-1917 seven Afrikaners were brought to trial for not reporting for duty, and were given six-, nine-, and ten-month prison sentences” (2409). Na die Eerste Wêreldoorlog het talle Britse oudgediendes hulle in Brits-Oos-Afrika gevestig. “The South African influence in settler affairs was diminished, because many of the new farms were in the Uasin Gishu area” (2490).
“The attitude of the British settlers towards the Boers was mixed. Oblivious of the roikop element, Lord [Bertram] Cranworth [1877-1964] voiced his disapproval of ‘the formation in our midst of a solid mass of utterly disloyal colonists, speaking their own language and having their own church.’ He was correct in thinking the newcomers were disinclined to mix with the British, for the Boers set up separate schools for their children and worshipped in their own churches. Their isolation was enhanced by the plateau’s remoteness from the rest of the country. In the rainy season it could take six weeks to travel from Londiani along the dreadful road to Eldoret, a new settlement in the midst of the Uasin Gishu farms. But the Boers were reluctantly accepted because they were crucially useful to the British farmers of the EAP during these years before tractors became available. Since they were the only ones who could train and handle teams of oxen, they undertook all the contract ploughing for other farmers. Many of them became hired hands on non-Boer farms, and they specialised in training oxen. Others ran transport … British settlers often castigated Boers for their poverty, while turning a blind eye to hardship among those of their own nationality” (1225). Die outeur voeg later by: “The European and Boer communities did not always mix well, for the British regarded some of the Boers as lazy and indigent, while the Boers disapproved of the farming methods of the British” (2160).
Voor onafhanklikheid in 1963 was Kenia wat sosiale opset betref ‘n tipiese Britse kolonie. “The segregation of white and Indian living areas was established in these years, following the practice in India. Africans working as house servants began to live in huts beside their employers’ dwellings, and the rest lived in African areas. The three races did not mix socially. The whites considered themselves at the top of the social hierarchy” (1733). “Clubs in the EAP were an essential part of the social fabric, embracing and uniting as they did people of their own kind in an alien country” (1780). “As in India, the society created by the whites in Kenya was one in which sport and clubs played a prominent part. People wanted to socialize with others of their own kind, and clubs and hotel bars were natural meeting places for those who travelled into settlements over appalling roads to get supplies or conduct business” (3184).
“Whites very rarely sought the friendship of Africans” (3683). In sommige kerke was daar rasseskeiding, bv, wat blankes betref, “to reserve some of the church furniture for themselves for reasons of hygiene” (1868). “The hospitals were firmly racially segregated” (1943). “Not until 1957 did the first multi-racial hospital open” (4677). “There was racial segregation in death as in life” (1868) met aparte begraafplase vir die rasse. “White women never took African lovers. There was a law against this – Ordinance no 7 of 1913” (3323). “Sexual assaults on white women by Africans were extremely rare” (3346). “Members of mixed marriages and their offspring – the 1931 census recorded 205 ‘half-castes’ – were ostracised and therefore kept very much to themselves” (3675). “Social stigma and ostracism were hard to bear, and immigrant whites with liberal ideas soon began to conform to the norms of Kenya’s European society” (3689). Teen die einde van die 1930’s was daar in City Park, Nairobi, “three sets of swings – for whites and Indians and Africans” (3626).
“Private and public education systems emerged side by side in die EAP. As in India and South Africa, there was firm racial segregation. Segregation even occurred, though voluntarily, among whites, with Boer and Briton attending different schools on the Uasin Gishu plateau” (2015). Skoolonderrig het veel te wense oorgelaat. “Many people were now  having to send their children to South Africa to be educated” (1979); ook na Brittanje. “Education on the [Uasin Gishu] plateau was contentious, because many Boers wanted their children taught in Afrikaans, whereas the government thought this would be divisive. And so the farmers of the Uasin Gishu had to provide their own education for their children – between 1911 and 1912 six farm schools were opened on the plateau. Three did not last long and were closed by 1915 though the farm school system lasted till 1939. The Revd MP Loubser, a Boer pastor who united the three Dutch Reformed churches around Eldoret and established a single place of worship, would not compromise on the language of instruction and started his own school, Broederstroom, in 1911, with all lessons in Afrikaans. He also began a second school at Sergoit” (2003). Wat taal betref behoort Loubser vir ‘n hedendaagse hanskakie soos Wim de Villiers as voorbeeld te dien. Loubser het die drie Afrikaanse kerke in Kenia verenig; iets wat die hedendaagse Afrikaanse kerkleiers steeds nie kan doen nie. Pleks daarvan word onsuksesvolle pogings aangewend om die blanke NG Kerk en die oorwegend nie-wit Verenigende Gereformeerde Kerk saam te snoer.
Toe Brits-Oos-Afrika in 1920 die kolonie Kenia geword het, is die eerste algemene verkiesing gehou. Die Indiërs was meer as die blankes en hulle het hulle polities by die swartes geskaar (2517) en die swartes teen die blankes opgestook (2841). Alfred Milner (1854-1925), die Britse minister van kolonies (1919-1921), wou in geen opsig teen Indiërs diskrimineer nie. “The whites realised they would be outnumbered and overwhelmed if Indians were allowed to vote and to own land in the highlands, and their reaction to Milner’s pronouncement was to plan sedition … rebellion against the government seemed the only possible response” (2524). “The whites demanded complete segregation of Indians, no alienation of land in the highlands to Indians and the restriction of Indian representation in the Legislative Council” (2531). “The Kenya whites boycotted all Indian businesses” (2545). “It seems extraordinary that the whites engaged in sedition, but when the alternative is possible disaster, a man will gamble” (2553). “The settler force was put in a state of readiness” (2568). ‘n Afvaardiging van drie setlaars is na Londen vir samesprekings. “When the Governor and delegation reached London some weeks later, a compromise was worked out, and the rebellion died away. Essentially the settlers had got what they wanted” (2589). Dít toon: Weerstand teen politieke onreg kan die verlangde resultate lewer. Daar sonder sou die owerheid die blankes se regte al hoe meer geminag het.
Na die Eerste Wêreldoorlog “Africans expelled from the missions … began to form their own independent churches and schools, which became foci of opposition to white rule” (2856). “African discontent at white rule, increasingly evident in the 1920s through the development of African political organisations (often thought to be due to the subversive influence of the missionaries and the Indians) served to consolidate the small settlers’ benevolent feelings towards Britain, because it was obvious that Kenya’s whites could not put down a large African rising, but would be dependent on the importation of imperial troops” (2947). In Suid-Afrika het sommige kerklike ampsdraers op ‘n soortgelyke manier die blanke bewind ondermyn.
“Essentially the whites of Kenya became a society of landed gentry in the 1920s, with Africans representing the working class, and Indians comprising the lower middle class of clerks and traders. Among the whites … at the bottom of the heap were poor whites, many of them Afrikaners … Many locally educated white lads were working with Africans in the garages and railway workshops … Some of them were from Afrikaner families, but by 1931 the Afrikaners, who had formed such a large proportion of Kenya’s whites earlier in the century, had shrunk to only 7 per cent of the European population” (2952). In 1926 is twee diepwater-vasmeerplekke in Mombasa se hawe gebou en in 1929 nog twee. “The construction company imported some of the toughest of South Africa’s poor whites as workers” (3132). “Most Europeans were wary indeed of the potential appearance of ‘poor whites,’ a group much despised [?] in South Africa” (3705).
“Settlers communicated with their African employees in a simplified version of Swahili, often called ‘kitchen Swahili'” (3034). Op ‘n soortgelyke manier word daar na proto- of aanvangs-Afrikaans as ‘n kombuistaal verwys. Dit is ‘n deursigtige, polities gemotiveerde poging om die oorsprong van Afrikaans te ontwit. “Life in Kenya was very comfortable until the newcomers were hit by the hard economic fact that farming in Kenya was usually unprofitable” (3034). “Kenya had more people from [the] social elite than Southern Rhodesia, with its [white] population of 30 000 to Kenya’s 9 651 in 1921” (3046).
Teen die 1930’s het staats- en veral private skole dermate verbeter dat “very few children were now sent to Britain or South Africa for schooling” (3242; ook 3268). “The creation of schools gave the whites confidence in their future in Kenya, instilling in them a sense of permanence, however misguided” (3288). “The Central School in Eldoret, a government school, had better results than Nairobi European School. Establised in 1915, by 1916 it had fifty students, and by 1919 three-quarters of its students were from Boer families. Broederstroom, with its curriculum taught in Afrikaans, continued until 1939. During the 1930s the farm schools collapsed” (3275). My indruk is dat die hanskakies die Engelse Central School ondersteun het en die ware Afrikaners die Afrikaanse Broederstroom-skool. Maar vanaf 1940, dus na skaars meer as ‘n geslag (30 jaar), het al die Afrikanerkinders Engelse skole bygewoon. Dieselfde proses is besig om hom in die nuwe Suid-Afrika te voltrek.
Die 1930’s was moeilike jare, gekenmerk deur ‘n resessie, droogte en springkaanplae (3378). “The debts of white entrepreneurs in Kenya exceeded £8 million in 1931, causing banks to take drastic measures and limit overdrafts. The farmers’ lot was eased by the establishment of a Land Bank that year, offering loans at very low interest rates, over a repayment period of thirty years. Most farmers took advantage of this and thus hung on to their land” (3458).”By 1939 … most white landowners in Kenya were drowned in debt” (3400). Die Britte het steeds nie danig baie van die Boere gehou nie. ‘n Engelsman het in 1935 geskryf: “I note that your last list of applicants for land is composed entirely of Dutchmen [Boers]. Do we want to convert Kenya into a Dutch colony? Any whites may be better than no whites, but I think we should try to get Englishmen as much as possible” (3487). Die ontvanger van hierdie boodskap het geantwoord “that it was important to increase the white population ‘in consideration of the undoubted menace which threatens from other quarters,’ and that the right kind of Afrikaner made a good colonist. The hypothetical menace was that posed by Indians, whose number, at 36 461, was double that of the whites … White immigration expanded … very slowly in the 1930s” (3486).
Robert Brooke-Popham (1878-1953), goewerneur 1937-1939, wou nie Joodse immigrante hê nie: “With the Indians and the Goans and the Arabs and the Somalis, quite apart from the Dutch [Afrikaners], I feel that another community problem must be avoided” (3508). “Brooke-Popham found that Kenya’s white colonists did not speak with only one voice, except when it came to their dislike of Indians” (3599). Hy het ‘n brief aan sy opvolger geskryf, “stressing that the real object of white settlement was not merely the material development of the country, but the creation of a nucleus where British ideals and traditions could be preserved and whence they could spread. Kenya should look north to England for guidance and not south to the Afrikaans-speaking community, while the British element must be paramount in the highlands and not swamped by other European nations or the Jews” (4346). In 1934 het die Morris Carter Land Commission die beleid van “keeping the highlands white” herbevestig. “No African, Indian or coloured person could buy or lease land in the privileged area” (3551).
“In 1934 the East African Women’s League discovered that there were 357 white children of school age receiving no education, and most of them were Afrikaners. Afrikanerdom was resilient and determined to retain its cultural integrity in the face of British domination, and the government’s plan to lift some of its children from ‘poor white’ status was unsuccessful. The more extreme whites advocated sterilisation and repatriation to South Africa of the Afrikaners they considered undesirable. Gradually, however, the Afrikaners became more reconciled to their children being educated in government schools, with English as the language of instruction, rather than at farm schools where pupils were taught in Afrikaans. The government made a concession in 1930 when it accepted that Afrikaans could be taught in schools as a foreign language if there was sufficient demand for it” (3717). Aan die Universiteit Stellenbosch klink ‘n soortgelyke refrein deesdae op: Klasse sal in Afrikaans aangebied word mits daar voldoende aanvraag daarvoor is.
“Several Afrikaner families moved to Rumuruti and in 1932 their dominee, Revd MP Loubser, laid the foundation stone of a magnificent new Dutch Reformed church” (3782). “In 1935 there were 113 Afrikaner children in farm schools compared with 122 at the government Central School in Eldoret … When the Afrikaner Broederstroom School closed in 1939, most of its pupils transferred to the Central School. The [Afrikaans] school at Rumuruti, which had reopened, closed in 1937, and all 122 children of the district of primary-school age were forced to go to [the English] Nakuru School … The high cost of boarding … meant that many Afrikaners were denied secondary education” (3723)
“Kenya’s white population was estimated as 22 808 in 1939” (4029). “By the close of 1940 Kenya’s [war] forces numbered 75 000, of whom 25 000 were South African” (4051). “Certainly a beneficial side-effect of the war was the tarring of some roads, such as a stretch north of Nanyuki … The South African troops brought with them road construction companies made up of civilian road engineers and in a few months the roads to Wijir and Marsabit were the best in the country. The troops also bored for water all over the Northern Frontier District” (4094). ‘n “Wartime tragedy was the loss of a South African Air Force flying boat and its thirty-five passengers on Lake Victoria” (4120). Italiaanse krygsgevangenes “tarmacked the road between Nairobi and Naivasha” (4305).
Gedurende die Tweede Wêreldoorlog “the government conscripted African labour to work on farms, an enormous help to farmers … For the first time white farmers began to make substantial profits and became economically secure. The Afrikaner farmers shared in the prosperity and there is no further mention of a ‘poor white’ problem in Kenya” (4298). Pleks van ledigheid en parasitisme as onaantasbare menseregte te beskou, kan daar myns insiens ‘n sterk saak vir omsigtig ingestelde gedwonge arbeid uitgemaak word.
“Towards the end of the war a new Governor, Sir Philip Mitchell, reminded the home government that … ‘there should be a vigorous and well established British settlement in these highlands, for without it there is no hope … of creating here a permanent structure of enlightenment and civilisation” (4374). “The settler elite … looked down upon the South African Lady Mitchell, with her lack of social skills and shyness and dislike of entertaining … ‘She was … without that veneer of manner that can ease encounters between strangers'” (4398).
“In October 1944 the first African became a nominated member of the [Legislative] Council … Africans and Indians now united in opposition to European political hegemony and economic dominance” (4367). “Mitchell found it hard to hide that he considered most European elected members of the Legislative Council of low intellectual calibre, and that he wanted Indians, Africans and Arabs to join them, and on the front benches too – though he was in no doubt that colonial government would have to remain until there were far more educated Africans in the country” (4405). “Mitchell … moved towards a type of multi-racialism” (4412). Soos in Suid-Afrika was dit die begin van die einde van die blanke bewind in Kenia.
“In 1948 a census was held, the first since 1931, and the figures that emerged from it showed that the country had 29 660 whites, 5 251 120 Africans and 97 697 Indians and Goans. This made whites 0.55 per cent of the population, compared with the 19.5 per cent (513 008) of the largest tribe, the Kikuyu. In 1953 it was estimated that there were 42 200 whites and in 1956 57 700. Despite their steady increase, the Kenyan whites were not as numerous in 1948 as those in either Northern Rhodesia (50 000) or Southern Rhodesia (160 000)” (4418). Demografiese verswelging deur nie-wittes, veral swartes, was ‘n deurslaggewende faktor in die ondergang van blanke politieke mag in Kenia, Zambië, Zimbabwe, Namibië en Suid-Afrika.
“The social separation between the races was partly due to different patterns of living. Africans in villages and the countryside had ways of life and standards of hygiene so at variance with those of whites that the latter could not contemplate social intercourse. The common view of Africans by whites was described [in 1955] by a Medical Officer of Health: ‘The African labourer is regarded by the European farmer as being lazy, irresponsible and unreliable and there is certainly some excuse for this opinion as his output of work is low no matter what wages he receives. It is therefore uneconomical to pay good wages. Constant European supervision is required to maintain a reasonable standard of output of work, and so the farmer tends to employ no labour in excess of the number he can personally supervise. Consequently the available land on his farm is not fully developed'” (4571). “Even missionaries, usually the most enlightened of the whites, could be reluctant to invite Africans into their homes” (4584).
“From 1948 a movement (called Mau Mau from 1951) began to hold oathing ceremonies … [It] began a campaign of violence and intimidation against Kikuyu headmen and chiefs in 1951 … People who refused to co-operate with the taking of oaths were punished or killed” (4808). “Capital flowed into the country until the outbreak of the anti-white Mau Mau movement in 1952, when it was reduced by 90 per cent as fear mounted for Kenya’s stability” (4462). “The standard of living and privileged position of the whites was bound to engender envy and resentment among Africans in the new, post-war, egalitarian world” (4591). Blankes se standpunt “arose from a fear of being swamped by the huge African majority and what the whites considered was a very inferior, even uncivilised way of life” (4599). “Mau Mau members usually went for soft targets and good employers, whose workforces were reluctant to co-operate with Mau Mau” (4884). “The Mau Mau rebellion left whites disillusioned and bitter” (5190). Soos in Kenia is ‘n terreurveldtog in Suid-Afrika teen blankes en nie-radikale swartes gevoer. Die “bevryders” het geen gedrag van hulle as te onbeskaaf beskou nie; hoe skokkender, hoe beter. In Afrika en Amerika is geweld ‘n beproefde manier waarop swartes kry wat hulle wil hê. Desnieteenstaande word dit van blankes, en net die blankes, verwag om herhaaldelik om verskoning vir beweerde immorele gedrag te vra.
“The Kenya Regiment, previously regarded as a necessarily all-white body intended to counter black unrest, was ordered to become a multi-racial force. Only the Afrikaners put up much opposition … The Kenya Police Force … began to train large numbers of African officers towards the end of the 1950s. Many white officers left Kenya to seek their fortunes elsewhere” (4952). In die nuwe Suid-Afrika is die vertroue wat blankes tradisioneel in die weermag en polisiediens gehad het, op ‘n soortgelyke manier vernietig.
“In the Eldoret region the longstanding tensions between the Afrikaner and British settlers continued in the education field. By 1945 the Central School in Eldoret had 96 per cent of Afrikaans-speakers. The whites of British origin, particularly those from families of officials in Uganda sending their children to Kenya for their education, put pressure on the government, which had in any case to finance a new school to take the increased number of white children in the area. The Hill School was opened in Eldoret in 1945 … The Central School was renamed the Highlands School. So the predominance of Afrikaners in the Highlands School continued – in 1951, of its 214 pupils, only thirty-nine were non-Afrikaners. Two years later, all 107 pupils from Uganda went to the Hill School. In 1956 the Highlands and Hill Schools were combined … Within the new Hill School differences between Afrikaner and British pupils continued, though the staff tried to counter any bullying” (4639).
“The problem solved itself when all the Afrikaners but a handful left around the time of independence in 1963. Ten years after independence only a dozen families remained. In 1996 none but the Krugers and du Toits in Eldoret, the Steenkamps in Kitale, the Prinsloos in Nakuru and the Retiefs in Malindi were left” (4656).
“There had been an abrupt change in British policy towards the colonies when Iain Macleod [1913-1970] became Colonial Secretary [1959-1961] … His predecessor Alan Lennox-Boyd had been thinking in terms of independence for Kenya in about fifteen years’ time, whereas Macleod wanted the time reduced to three years … He pulled Harold Macmillan, the Prime Minister, with him” (5024). “The whites were dismayed and the Africans had not expected to get as much as they did … Macleod had ridden roughshod over the settlers’ views and many of them felt utterly betrayed by both Britain and their own politicians” (5037). Macleod se dogter, Diana (gebore in 1944), is blykbaar wyser as haar pa, want sy is lid van die regse UK Independence Party (UKIP – Wikipedia). In Suid-Afrika is die verraad nie deur ‘n regering in ‘n ander land gepleeg nie, maar mandaatloos deur ‘n klein groepie plaaslike, Afrikaanssprekende, blanke politici. FW de Klerk wou radikale veranderings eensklaps deurdruk terwyl die begunstigde swartes, wat ook baie meer ontvang het as waarop hulle realisties kon gehoop het, geen ondervinding van regering gehad het nie. Swartes wat aan die bestuur van plaaslike regerings tydens die blanke bewind deelgeneem het en dus ‘n bietjie ondervinding gehad het, is deur die terroriste sistematies uitgemoor.
‘n Reaksie was “one of stunned shock that a British Government could act in such an unscrupulous manner towards those whom it had done all in its power to encourage to develop the country in the belief that we and our heirs would be secure under the Union Jack” (5044). Die son sou na bewering nooit oor die Britse Ryk gesak het nie. ‘n Ander reaksie was: “Lancaster House was a disaster and its decisions madness … Kenya Africans are at present quite incapable of managing the country … At best there will be widespread corruption and incompetence” (5044). Dit was ‘n geval van “bringing the jungle to town” (5062). In die nuwe Suid-Afrika vier korrupsie en onbekwaamheid ook hoogty. Jomo Kenyatta (1894-1978) “was released in 1961, an event profoundly shocking to some whites. He became Kenya’s first Prime Minister on 1 June 1963” (5062) en president in 1964. Nelson Mandela het op ‘n soortgelyke manier ‘n president en veelgeroemde ikoon geword.
“The whites could not believe that the government refused to admit liability for their land titles, both leasehold from the Crown and freehold granted by the Crown, which they had believed to be sacrosanct. They felt they had made the highlands what they were, and that the advanced farming practised within them was a result of their investment and hard work, and they found these things very hard to give up. They reckoned they had earned a stake in the country, having put far more into it than they had taken out. They had tied up all their resources in the land, many of them commuting government pensions so to do, and were terrified of the future” (5077). “A small amount of money, £750 000, was made available to buy out farms of 240 compassionate cases” (5084). Die Britse regering het dieselfde laai na die vrystelling van die slawe uitgehaal deur minimale vergoeding aan eienaars te betaal. FW de Klerk het aan boere die versekering gegee: “Julle kaart en transport is veilig” (Louis Changuion en Bertus Steenkamp, Omstrede land, Pretoria: Protea Boekhuis, 2011, p 272). Desnieteenstaande is prosesse tans in Suid-Afrika aan die gang om die helfte van die eiendomsreg van blanke plase aan die werkers oor te dra en selfs om plase en ander eiendom van blankes sonder vergoeding te onteien.
“The administrators were ordered to instruct Africans in methods of government and push forward as many of them as possible into positions of responsibility” (5084). In die nuwe Suid-Afrika is dit algemene praktyk om van blankes te verwag om swartes op te lei sodat swartes daardie poste kan beklee. Voor die 1992-referendum was een van De Klerk se plegtige beloftes egter dat geen blanke sy werk sou verloor nie.
“Thousands of white settlers decided to leave. Some stayed and took Kenyan nationality, though by 1966 only 750 had done so. Those who stayed and did not take Kenyan nationality were gradually denied work permits over the course of the next fifteen years, and had to leave if they wanted to earn their living. Australia and South Africa welcomed whites who left Kenya. South Africa allowed them to import furniture, cars, farm machinery and household effects free from customs duties, and advanced money on generous terms to enable them to buy farms. It also gave those who needed them old-age pensions … the lowering of the British flag … ruined scores of lives. It left whites cynical and disillusioned, saddened and betrayed. Promises made had not been kept, land legally theirs had been compulsorily purchased, work contracts had been abrogated … Yet they could take comfort in the fact that much of what they had done was good” (5105). ‘n Blanke setlaar het gesê: “What we were doing was good and constructive and would last, and then our bitter disillusion when the evil in others broke out and swamped our efforts” (5153).
“Almost all the Afrikaner farmers and most of the civil servants quit. A few white professionals remained in Kenya, though many travelled to South Africa or Australia to pursue their professions there” (5122). “The new position was that non-farming whites could stay in Kenya, despite retaining their passports from other countries, as long as there were no Africans capable of doing their jobs. Thus some whites managed to stay on for five, ten or even fifteen more years, while suffient numbers of Africans were trained to take up their positions” (5128). Daar was “no trouble between the Africans and whites” (5128). Soos in die nuwe Suid-Afrika was die blankes in Kenia tot apatie geneig. “The friction was between black and Asian, and large numbers of the latter left to go to England” (5135). In hierdie opsig het sowel die Asiate as die Britte hulle verdiende loon gekry.
Die blankes in Kenia “built towns where only mud huts had existed before, constructed roads and bridges and hospitals and schools where all had been plain and bush, and had taught farmers how to improve stock and crops and introduce irrigation” (5166). “The whites made an enormous contribution to the economic development and wellbeing of Kenya” (5190). “They had been discriminated against because of the colour of their skin” (5184). Daar was nie apartheidswetgewing in Kenia nie, maar die swart bewind duld nie nie-Keniane as permanente inwoners nie. Blankes het destyds eiendom, bv plase, gekoop. Die Britse regering het baie geld aan infrastruktuur, bv die spoorstelsel, bestee en grond hiervoor van swartes gekoop, hoewel swartes nooit self grond gekoop het nie. In Kenia het alles in 1963 in die skoot van die swartes geval. In 1994 het dieselfde in Suid-Afrika gebeur. Bevrydingsteoloë noem dit regstellende geregtigheid.
Skrywer Leon LemmerGepubliseer op 4 Maart 2017 6 Maart 2017 Kategorieë Leon Lemmer, RubriekeSleutelwoord Afrikaners, blankes, CS Nicholls, Eldoret, Kenia
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