Volume 54, Issue 2, 2009
Historia - Volume 54, Issue 2, November 2009
Volume 54, Issue 2, November 2009
Professor Tienie van Schoor
(24 November 1920 - 25 Julie 2009) : in memoriam
Authors: Andre Wessels, Fransjohan Pretorius and Nicol Stassen
Source: Historia 54, pp 1 –11 (2009)
Professor Tienie van Schoor , (24 November 1920 - 25 Julie 2009)
Professor Tienie van Schoor - Die Einde van &apos;n Era
Professor Tienie van Schoor en Protea Boekhuis
Professor Leo Barnard
(1 Maart 1947 - 31 Maart 2009) : in memoriam
Source: Historia 54, pp 11 –13 (2009)
Schalk Leopold (Leo) Barnard is op 1 Maart 1947 te Otjiwarongo in die destydse Suidwes-Afrika (vandag Namibië) gebore. Nadat hy aan die Hoërskool Otjiwarongo gematrikuleer het, het hy in 1968 &apos;n B.A.-graad aan die Universiteit van die Oranje-Vrystaat (UOVS) verwerf, en die daaropvolgende jaar &apos;n nagraadse Hoër Onderwysdiploma. In 1972 het hy &apos;n Honneursgraad in Geskiedenis aan die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika verwerf. As deeltydse student aan die UOVS, het hy in 1976 &apos;n M.A.-graad in Geskiedenis behaal, met &apos;n verhandeling getiteld "Interne wrywing in die Verenigde Party in die jare vyftig", en in 1979 het hy sy doktorale proefskrif oor "Politieke oriëntasie in die Suid-Afrikaanse opposisie sedert 1958" aan die UOVS voltooi.
(12 November 1916 - 15 Maart 2009) : in memoriam
Author Paul Zietsman
Source: Historia 54, pp 14 –20 (2009)
Professor Theo van Wijk, die oud-rektor van die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika (Unisa), is op 15 Maart 2009 in sy drie-en-negentigste lewensjaar oorlede. Mense wat met professor Van Wijk saamgewerk, of direk onder hom as rektor gewerk het, het groot lof gehad vir sy versiende leierskap, sy toeganklikheid en sy wye kennis aangaande ontwikkelings op die diverse terreine van die universiteit - die dosente, administrasie en die biblioteek. Dié kennis het Van Wijk in staat gestel om heersende ontwikkelings aan Unisa binne &apos;n geheelbeeld te plaas en dienooreenkomstig leiding te gee. In vergaderings wat Van Wijk gelei het, het hy die feite van die voorgelegde saak altyd op die punte van sy vingers gehad.
Archetypal hero or living saint? The veneration of Nelson Mandela
Source: Historia 54, pp 21 –36 (2009)
It is now a commonplace that Nelson Mandela - Madiba - has become the most venerated, iconic political figure of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. Accolades and awards have been heaped upon him. In the words of Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General, "To this day, Madiba remains probably the single most admired, most respected international figure in the entire world". "In these times of global warfare and strife," remarks Desmond Tutu, "... Nelson Mandela stands out as a global icon for peace, love, reconciliation and magnanimity." In the international media, Mandela has been variously described as the only living saint, and as "a moral colossus" towering over the world. Nadine Gordimer views Gandhi and Mandela as "the two indisputably magnificent great people of the last millennium." The former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, was determined, when still in office, that a statue of Mandela be built in Trafalgar Square "so Nelson on his column and Nelson Mandela on his pedestal would in a sense encapsulate the beginning and the end of the British Empire." There are actual plans afoot to construct a massive statue of Mandela, along the lines of the Statue of Liberty, overlooking the harbour in Port Elizabeth.
Argetipe held of lewende heilige? Die verering van Nelson Mandela
Hierdie artikel poog om deur middel van twee invalshoeke te verduidelik waarom dit in die onlangse dekades gebeur het dat Nelson Mandela tot so &apos;n mate eerbiedig en vereer word. Volgens die eerste benadering, kan Mandela beskou word as &apos;n argetipe held. Ongeveer sestig jaar gelede, het Joseph Campbell die tipiese verloop van die reise wat deur mitiese helde soos Odusseus en Aeneas onderneem is, omskryf. So &apos;n reis het &apos;n vaste patroon van skeiding, inisiasie en terugkeer gevolg: skeiding van die samelewing; gevolg deur &apos;n gevaarlike reis of vuurproef; wat kulmineer in &apos;n seëvierende terugkeer na die samelewing. Mandela se lewe het in baie opsigte hierdie patroon gevolg: die Rivonia-verhoor het hom uit die openbare oog verwyder; hy het die ontbering van gevangenskap verduur; en hy het na die samelewing teruggekeer as &apos;n tipe messiaanse figuur. Hoewel die trajek van Mandela se lewe met Campbell se model ooreenstem, en dus die eerbied en verering wat Mandela geniet mag verklaar, kan hierdie aanslag hom ook tot &apos;n semi-mitiese figuur reduseer. Die tweede invalshoek dra meer gewig. Dit fokus veral op Mandela se menslike hoedanighede - sy nederigheid, integriteit, groothartigheid, en wysheid. Hy het sy grootsheid, vertoon en persoonlikheidskultusse afgelê en daarna gestreef om &apos;n navolgenswaardige lewensstyl te handhaaf. Daar word aangevoer dat die vernaamste redes vir sy populariteit in hierdie eienskappe te vinde is.
The influence of British traders on early Potchefstroom, 1852-1877
Author G.N. Van den Bergh
Source: Historia 54, pp 37 –54 (2009)
Fear of annexation by Britain resulted in strained economic relations between Transvaal Voortrekkers and the British colonies. At first only indispensable trade was tolerated. Andries Pretorius, however, favoured broader trade with the colonial harbours. The Sand River Convention of 1852, whereby relations between the ZAR and the colonies were normalised, facilitated this. This resulted in an immediate and extensive settlement of foreign, especially British, merchants with their families and staff in Potchefstroom. Trade boomed overnight to the advantage of all concerned, but centred on British initiative. As money was scarce in a state with no coinage of its own, much of the trade was conducted by means of bartering. The recession of the 1860s and 1870s, which could have had a disastrous effect on trade, was held in check by resourceful new entrepreneurship. Accustomed to municipal government in the Eastern Province, from where most of the new merchants came, they were instrumental in establishing a similar system in Potchefstroom from where it spread to the rest of the Transvaal. A number of the new residents were elected to the Volksraad in time. The foreign residents were also instrumental in establishing a variety of formal cultural movements, in which the Afrikaner community shared and which was emulated by them.
Die Invloed van Britse Handelaars op Vroeë Potchefstroom, 1852-1877
Vrese vir Britse anneksasie het stram verhoudinge tussen die Transvaalse Voortrekkers en die Britse kolonies veroorsaak. Aanvanklik is slegs onontbeerlike handel verdra. Andries Pretorius was egter &apos;n voorstander van nouer handelsbetrekkinge met die koloniale hawes. Die Sandrivierkonvensie van 1852, waardeur verhoudinge tussen die ZAR en die kolonies genormaliseer is, het handel vergemaklik. Dit het &apos;n onmiddellike en uitgebreide vestiging van buitelandse, en veral Britse handelaars met hulle gesinne en personeel in Potchefstroom tot gevolg gehad. Handel het oornag geblom, tot voordeel van almal, maar dit het veral om Britse inisiatiewe gewentel. Aangesien geld skaars was in &apos;n staat sonder &apos;n eie geldstelsel, het &apos;n groot deel van die transaksies die vorm van ruilhandel aangeneem. Die resessie van die 1860&apos;s en 1870&apos;s kon rampspoedige gevolge vir handel gehad het, maar dit is afgeweer deur middel van vindingryke nuwe tipes entrepreneurskap. Aangesien baie van die nuwe handelaars oorspronklik van die Oos-Kaap afkomstig was, waar hulle aan munisipale bestuur gewoond was, was hulle instrumenteel in die vestiging van &apos;n soortgelyke bestuurstelsel in Potchefstroom, vanwaar dit na die res van die ZAR uitgebrei is. Mettertyd is enkele van die nuwe aankomelinge selfs tot die Volksraad verkies. Die uitlanders het die leiding geneem om &apos;n verskeidenheid formele kulturele organisasies te stig, wat ook deur die Afrikanergemeenskap geniet en nageboots is.
Maintaining a British way of life : English-speaking South Africa&apos;s patriotic, cultural and charitable associations
Source: Historia 54, pp 55 –76 (2009)
As part of on-going research on the history of white English-speaking South Africans, this article examines the role played by a number of patriotic, cultural and charitable associations in the lives of English-speakers during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Most of the associations were transplanted to South Africa from the United Kingdom or from Canada and they were firmly grounded in the British and imperial ethos that was so marked a feature of the group. The article examines the establishment and growth of the associations and shows how they flourished during the years of British paramountcy in the sub-continent and during times of crisis such as the two World Wars. It then examines the reasons for a decline in association membership from the middle of the twentieth century.
Die behoud van &apos;n Britse lewenswyse : Engelssprekende Suid-Afrikaners se Patriotiese, Kulturele en Liefdadigheidsverenigings
As deel van voortgesette navorsing oor die geskiedenis van wit, Engelssprekende Suid-Afrikaners, ondersoek hierdie artikel die rol wat &apos;n aantal patriotiese, kulturele en liefdadigheidsverenigings in die negentiende en twintigste eeu in die lewens van Engelssprekendes gespeel het. Die meeste van hierdie verenigings is uit die Verenigde Koninkryk of Kanada na Suid-Afrika oorgeplant, en hulle fondasies was deeglik in die Britse en imperiale etos gevestig - &apos;n kenmerkende eienskap van die groep. Die artikel ondersoek die stigting en groei van die verenigings, en dui aan tot watter mate hulle gedurende die jare van Britse oppergesag oor die sub-kontinent, asook gedurende krisistye soos die twee Wêreldoorloë, gedy het. Dit ondersoek dan ook redes waarom lidmaatskap van die verenigings van die middel van die twintigste eeu afgeneem het.
Die aard van diplomatieke, politieke en kulturele betrekkinge tussen Suid-Afrika en Vlaandere (1945-1990)
Source: Historia 54, pp 77 –97 (2009)
Vlaandere, die noordelike, Nederlandstalige deelstaat van België, het nog altyd &apos;n hoë premie op die handhawing en verstewiging van taal- en kultuurbande met die Afrikaner geplaas. In hierdie artikel word die diplomatieke, politieke en kulturele betrekkinge tussen België en Suid-Afrika in die jare 1945 tot 1990 ontleed. Apartheid het egter sedert die laat 1970&apos;s sy donker skaduwee oor die bilaterale verhoudinge gewerp. Dit het nie alleen die taal- en kultuurbande onder groot spanning geplaas nie, maar ook die politieke verhoudinge. Die eerste minister van Suid-Afrika, P.W. Botha, se besoek aan België in 1984, het byvoorbeeld vele protesaksies uitgelok. Die artikel behandel ook die doelstellings en werksaamhede van pro-Suid-Afrikaanse organisasies soos die Algemeen-Nederlands Verbond, die Vrienden van Zuid-Afrika en Protea. Die mense in Vlaandere het vanweë hulle geskiedenis tradisioneel meer simpatiek teenoor Suid-Afrika en die Afrikaner gestaan.
Flanders and South Africa : Diplomatic, Political and Cultural relations, 1945-1990
Flanders, the northern, Dutch-peaking regional state of Belgium, has always regarded the preservation and strengthening of language and cultural ties with the Afrikaner as of the utmost importance. In this article, the diplomatic, political and cultural relations between Belgium and South Africa in the period 1945 to 1990 will be analysed. Apartheid however had a negative impact on bilateral relations from the late 1970s. It not only had an adverse effect on language and cultural ties, but also on political relations. The visit of South African Prime Minister P.W. Botha to Belgium in 1984 was characterised by many protest actions. This article will also deal with the aims and activities of pro-South African organisations such as the Algemeen-Nederlands Verbond, the Vrienden van Zuid-Afrika and Protea. Because of their history, the people in Flanders have traditionally been more sympathetic towards South Africa and the Afrikaner.
Environmental history : complex connections around the constancy of change
Author Jane Carruthers
Source: Historia 54, pp 98 –112 (2009)
This article has been adapted from a paper presented in the Ruth Edgecombe Environmental Challenges Lecture Series, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, on 1 October 2008. It outlines the contribution of Professor Edgecombe to the study of environmental history in South Africa. Using the title of Edgecombe&apos;s book, The Constancy of Change: A History of Hlobane Colliery, 1898-1998 (1998) as the over-arching metaphor, the article celebrates the links that Edgecombe was so adept at making and to explore the nature and challenges of environmental history. The author stresses how nexus between nature and culture - the "connections" between regions, timescales, disciplines and biota - are at the core of the subdiscipline and illuminate previously neglected aspects of human and natural history. As is explained, environmental historians have been able to engage with the changes in the urgency of environmental concerns and to address issues such as climate change, genetically modified foods, animal ethics and other challenges of the twenty-first century.
Omgewingsgeskiedenis : Ingewikkelde Ineenskakeling om Voortdurende Verandering
Hierdie artikel is &apos;n aangepaste weergawe van &apos;n lesing wat gehou is as deel van die Ruth Edgecombe Omgewingsuitdagingslesingsreeks, aangebied deur die Universiteit van KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, op 1 Oktober 2008. Dit skets die bydrae van professor Edgecombe tot die bestudering van omgewingsgeskiedenis in Suid-Afrika. Deur die titel van haar boek, The Constancy of Change: A History of Hlobane Colliery, 1898-1998 (1998) as oorkoepelende metafoor te gebruik, vier die artikel die ineenskakelings wat Edgecombe met soveel vaardigheid kon maak om die aard van en uitdagings wat omgewingsgeskiedenis bied, te ondersoek. Die skrywer beklemtoon hoe die verband tussen natuur en kultuur - die verbintenisse tussen streke, tydskale, dissiplines en biota - die kern van die sub-dissipline vorm, en werp die lig op voorheen afgeskeepte aspekte van menslike en natuurgeskiedenis. Soos verduidelik word, was omgewingsgeskiedkundiges in staat om by veranderinge in terme van die dringendheid van omgewingskwessies soos klimaatsverandering, geneties veranderde voedselsoorte, diere etiek en ander uitdagings van die een-en-twintigste eeu betrokke te raak.
"Voice and Vision" - The federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland&apos;s public relations campaign in Britain: 1960-1963
Source: Historia 54, pp 113 –123 (2009)
By the late 1950s, the future prospects of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland were increasingly portrayed in a pessimistic light in the British press. The Federal government chose to counter this coverage by undertaking a comprehensive public relations campaign in the United Kingdom. This article examines their decision to hire the London public relations company, Voice and Vision, and this company&apos;s subsequent attempts to rehabilitate the Federal image between 1960 and 1963. It will be argued that although the campaign achieved limited success in some quarters, it revealed that the Federal government had misunderstood British politics, and did not grasp the erosion of the ties that might previously have secured the Federation&apos;s future in British public sympathy only ten years earlier.
"Om die fakkel verder te dra" : die rol van die jeugvleuel van die Ossewa-Brandwag, 1939-1952
Authors: Charl Blignaut and Kobus Du Pisani
Source: Historia 54, pp 133 –157 (2009)
Die Ossewa-Brandwag (OB) was die grootste van &apos;n aantal nasionalisties-politiese bewegings wat onder Afrikaners in Suid-Afrika tydens die Tweede Wêreldoorlogtydperk bestaan het, en wat na nasionaal-sosialisme geneig het. Hierdie artikel handel oor die rol van die OB se jeugvleuel, wat aanvanklik as die Jeugfront, en later as die Boerejeug bekendgestaan het. Die oorsprong, stigting, doelstellings, organisasie en aktiwiteite daarvan word in meer besonderhede bespreek. Alles was gerig op volksdiens in belang van die Afrikanervolk. Van die middel van die 1940&apos;s af, het die Nasionale Party (toe bekend as die Herenigde Nasionale Party) die politieke steun van al meer Afrikanernasionaliste verkry, ten koste van die OB. In 1948 het dié party die parlementêre verkiesing gewen en die nuwe regering geword. Aangesien die OB sy bestaansrede verloor het, is dit (insluitend die jeugvleuel) in 1952 ontbind. Gedurende die kort bestaan van die Boerejeug, het dit, ten spyte van goeie leierskap en deeglike organisasie, nooit daarin geslaag om sy ideale op groot skaal te verwesenlik nie, aangesien veranderende omstandighede dit nie toegelaat het om die populêre volksbeweging te word wat dit gestig is om te wees nie. Daardie eer het die Nasionale Party en sy geaffilieerde organisasies te beurt geval. Die nalatenskap van die OB en sy jeugvleuel, veral die republikeinse ideaal, het egter bly voortbestaan in die ideale van die Nasionale Party en het versmelt in die breë stroom van seëvierende Afrikanernasionalisme.
The Scottish press and the Anglo-Boer War : The Edinburgh Evening News and The Scotsman (1899-1902)
Source: Historia 54, pp 158 –177 (2009)
Source: Historia 54, pp 178 –196 (2009)
From marginali(a)sed Malaboch to an annotating Mmalebôhô : reminiscences: those who inspired and influenced me
Source: Historia 54, pp 197 –207 (2009)
I do not own a copy of Colin Rae&apos;s Malaboch. Of course I do have a Xerox-copied version, ring bound in a Snoopy Dog file, which I am not sure I bought because it was cheap, or whether I was really that fond of Snoopy in my early twenties. I always thought I was rather a Garfield fan. That it happened to be Snoopy, is actually quite apt, in a way. Colin Rae recounts the episode of a little dog that had accompanied the Pretoria Commando during the 1894-campaign against the Hananwa of Mmalebôhô, got its head stuck in a kettle, was rescued by Rae - who else? - and then got the name Malaboch-in-a-Kettle. There is also a globe on my Snoopy file, which I only noticed again after years the other day. If I want to be poetic, or just downright superstitious about it, I might suggest that this was a prelude to the "transnational turn" (some) historical writing would be taking in the early twenty-first century, probably in response to the globalisation talk in so many related disciplines. In accordance with the prophecy of Snoopy, I was destined to find it attractive (it is one way to critique our profession&apos;s obsession with nations and nationalisms, not so?).
The "Malaboch" books: Kgalui in the "civilization of the written word", L. Kriel : book review
Authors: Kirsten Ruther, Alan Kirkaldy and Gerald Groenewald
Source: Historia 54, pp 208 –219 (2009)
An Interesting and Fresh Excursion into Intellectual History
Reading Missionary Sources
Liberals, Marxists, and Nationalists. Competing interpretations of South African history
Source: Historia 54, pp 220 –225 (2009)
In the course of her eight-page rejoinder [Historia, May 2009] to the five reviews of her book [Historia, November 2008], Merle Lipton writes of my "aggressive attack" on her book. It is always difficult to know whether or not to respond to such a rejoinder. Will one, in so doing, give a book that does not deserve much attention even more attention? On the other hand, not to reply will leave Lipton with the last word and readers unclear about how the reviewers would respond to what she says. For this reason I have decided that I should briefly address some of the inaccurate and misleading assertions that she makes about what I had said in my review.
Archaeological Figurines from Zimbabwe, E. Matenga
Sculptured in Clay: Iron Age Figurines, J.A. van Schalkwyk and E.O.M. Hanisch : book review
Author Jean-Marie Dederen
Source: Historia 54, pp 226 –237 (2009)
Clay, bone, ivory and stone figurines, constitute a much under-appreciated subject in History, Archaeology and Anthropology alike. Seemingly, these artefacts are considered to be too small to be recognised as sculpture, or too trivial to be included in material culture studies. Archaeological Figurines from Zimbabwe and Sculptured in Clay are two distinctive attempts at redressing the imbalance. Matenga investigates the possible meanings of a tradition of miniature clay sculpture, the florescence of which coincided with the rise of the Zimbabwe polity (900-1500 AD). The Schroda monograph, on the other hand, reveals to the public an unusual large cache of clay figurines from the wider Mapungubwe region, excavated almost thirty years ago on a site adjacent to the confluence of the Limpopo and the Shashe rivers.
Early Slavery at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652-1717, K. Schoeman : book review
Author Nigel Penn
Source: Historia 54, pp 237 –239 (2009)
In this book, Karel Schoeman has provided a richly detailed account of slaves and slavery at the Cape during the early years of the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) or the Dutch East India Company. Schoeman&apos;s approach to the subject has been to read widely in the secondary sources, and in those primary sources which have been published, to produce a narrative that is partly chronological and partly thematic. It is an impressive and valuable contribution to Cape slave studies that contains a great detail of information about the conditions under which slaves worked, as well as revealing glimpses of individual slave lives. Where possible, Schoeman has presented details concerning the origin of Cape slaves. He has also attempted to gauge their numbers and their dates of arrival at the colony. With the help of the index, historians of Cape slavery will now be able to find answers to a great many questions which might interest them. If one wants to know, for instance, what slaves wore, how they were housed or what they ate in the early eighteenth century, Schoeman&apos;s text provides many examples. As a synthesis of existing knowledge, it is invaluable. Despite its length, however, it is not complete.
&apos;n Geliefde maar omstrede figuur deur die oë van sy tydgenote
Paul Kruger se laaste jare, 1899-1904, Paul Zietsman : boekresensie
Author Jackie Fourie
Source: Historia 54, pp 239 –243 (2009)
Paul Kruger was &apos;n geliefde, maar omstrede figuur in sy leeftyd. Selfs in ons tyd maak hy opspraak. Ons lees in koerantberigte dat &apos;n straatnaam in St. Gallen, Switserland, wat na sy dood na hom vernoem is, onlangs om politieke redes verander is. Hedendaagse politici besef nie met watter helderverering Paul Kruger tydens die Anglo-Boereoorlog in Europa verwelkom is nie. Die heldeverering hou verband met die moed wat hy geopenbaar het om teen die magtige Engeland in opstand te kom. Hy was ook &apos;n onversetlike kampvegter vir onderrig in Afrikaans.
Belonging as simultaneously both a statement of identity and of political power
Belongings : Property, Family and Identity in Colonial South Africa (An Exploration of Frontiers, 1725-circa 1830), L.J. Mitchell : book review
Source: Historia 54, pp 243 –244 (2009)
This remarkable account of the colonisation of the Western Cape begins with an evocative sense of place: the source of the Olifants River in the Cedarberg Mountains. The river is the geographical, social and political frontier in relation to which Mitchell constructs her account of the colonisation of the early eighteenth century.
Author, poet, teacher, Christian thinker, activist and penal reformer - a full, but not uncontroversial life
Alan Paton Selected Letters, P.F. Alexander (Ed.) : book review
Source: Historia 54, pp 244 –246 (2009)
This is a most useful and well-presented volume. As Phillips points out in his "Foreword", Paton (1903-1988) was not only the distinguished author of Cry the Beloved Country, but a school teacher, Christian thinker, organiser, political activist and penal reformer (p vii). This volume contains 350 letters of the 2 500 which survive. Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg and as a student at Natal University College, he began to write poetry. He also was President of the Student Representative Council. He became a teacher at Ixopo, married in 1928 and, after a serious illness in 1934, became a warden at an African reformatory in Diepkloof in what was then the Transvaal. Diepkloof had been an adult prison before being turned into a borstal for African youths. Paton worked to transform it into a school and the number of absconders fell dramatically. He felt passionately that his successes here could be applied to the country as a whole.