Memory struggles : remembering the apartheid era by University of Natal medical alumni, 1990s to the early 2000s
Historia 60, pp 1 –21 (2015)
The University of Natal&apos;s Medical School opened in the city of Durban in 1951 and was one of the first in the country to train black students from diverse backgrounds as doctors in apartheid South Africa. This article, however, steps back from trying to capture this school&apos;s social history, to reflect on the issue of memory, especially the constructed nature of memories produced by alumni who studied at this institution during the apartheid period. The first part of this article considers the common memory narratives produced in written and oral accounts in the 1990s. In this period, celebratory narratives that stressed students&apos; "unity in adversity" and anti-apartheid "struggle" activities were publicly privileged and commonly remembered. However, as the second part shows, in more recent years, critical memories have surfaced in public to challenge these triumphant narratives. In the early 2000s, memories highlighting issues of controversy and division amongst students have burst into the public domain. Reasons for these memory shifts as well as the changing historical contexts influencing their production are considered in this article. There is also an analysis of how memory production adds another critical approach for the researcher exploring institutional histories.
Historia 60, pp 22 –46 (2015)
By exploring the significant role played by the medical superintendents of lunatic asylums, there is a possibility of enriching our understanding and appreciation of the varieties of asylum culture. Said differently, by investigating the tenure of a superintendent, it is possible to highlight how the individual constructed an asylum to embody a set of goals and principles. Along these lines, the study aims to explore and investigate the Grahamstown Lunatic Asylum, under the medical superintendence of Dr Thomas Duncan Greenlees from 1890 to 1907. In order to explore Greenlees&apos;s priorities and primary topics, the asylum&apos;s annual reports provide a valuable resource. From the close examination of the annual reports several key topics emerge. The examination of the topics is informed by recent scholarship on moral therapy and Michel Foucault&apos;s analysis of power.
Die bestudering van die beduidende rol wat mediese superintendente speel in sielsiekegestige kan ons begrip van en waardering vir die verskillende vorms van inrigtingkultuur verryk. Deur die ampstermyn van &apos;n superintendent te ondersoek, kan vasgestel word hoe dié persoon &apos;n inrigting opbou om &apos;n stel oogmerke en beginsels te beliggaam. Op hierdie grondslag beoog die studie &apos;n verkenning van en ondersoek na die Grahamstown Lunatic Asylum onder dr Thomas Duncan Greenlees as mediese superintendent van 1890 tot 1907. Die inrigting se jaarverslae bied &apos;n waardevolle bron vir die verkenning van Greenlees se prioriteite en primêre onderwerpe. By nadere ondersoek van die jaarverslae kom verskeie belangrike onderwerpe na vore. Die bestudering van hierdie onderwerpe geskied aan die hand van onlangse navorsing oor morele terapie en Michel Foucault se ontleding van mag.
Guttmann&apos;s ingenuity : The Paralympic Games as legacy of the Second World War
Historia 60, pp 47 –59 (2015)
In Februarie 1944 het die Britse regering die Joods-gebore Duitse neurochirurg Dr Ludwig Guttmann gevra om die National Spinal Injuries Unit by Stoke Mandeville hospitaal naby Aylesbury in Engeland te bestuur. Die vernaamste taak van die eenheid was om na die talle soldate en burgerlikes wat rugmurgbeserings opgedoen het (parapleë en tetrapleë) as gevolg van die Tweede Wêreldoorlog om te sien. Guttmann het die eenheid van nuuts af opgebou en het &apos;n revolusionêre nuwe program van behandeling en rehabilitasie gebruik as &apos;n vorm van regstellende oefening en &apos;n middel van sosiale integrasie en erkenning vir sy pasiënte. Die gebruik van sport as deel van die behandeling was so suksesvol dat dit gelei het tot die ontstaan van die Stoke Mandeville Spele in 1948. Vier jaar later het die Spele internasionale status verwerf toe &apos;n span Nederlandse oorlogsveterane teen hul Britse eweknieë kom kompeteer het. Die Internasionale Stoke Mandeville Spele is daarna jaarliks aangebied. In 1960 is dit net na die Olimpiese Spele, ook in Rome, aangebied, en het bekend geword as die eerste Paralimpiese Spele. Die Paralimpiese Spele het toegeneem in statuur en na die 2012 Spele in Londen was dit gevestig as die derde grootste toeskouersport ter wêreld. Vir menigte sport entoesiaste is die Paralimpiese Spele opwindend, dog baie emosioneel om te volg. Baie min van hierdie entoesiaste besef egter dat die Paralimpiese Spele &apos;n direkte uitvloeisel is van die wreedhede van die Tweede Wêreldoorlog.
Historia 60, pp 60 –74 (2015)
eMatsheni : the central beer hall as social and municipal infrastructure in twentieth century Pietermaritzburg
Historia 60, pp 75 –91 (2015)
Suid-Afrikaanse stede het gaandeweg ontwikkel deur die toevoeging van nuwe stedelike infrastrukture wat hul werksaamhede in die stads-omgewing ondersteun het dikwels deur ad hoc besluitneming met gevolglike publieke reaksie. Wetgewende opdragte het nou en dan gely tot daadwerklike protes aksie in besonder die implementering van vroeëre weergawes van die Wet op Groeps Gebiede. Die Pietermaritzburg munisipale bestuurders was verdeeld in die vroeë jare van die twintigste eeu oor die noodsaakliheid om voorsiening te maak vir akkommodasie van swart arbeid in die stad en tegelykertyd die toepassing van wetgewing wat dit beperk het. Om die werkers te akkommodeer, was die sleutel element van die Durban-sisteem terwyl die geoorloofde verbruik van Afrika-bier voorsiening gemaak het vir noodsaakliheid munisipale inkomste. Die betrokke geboue vorm dus &apos;n belangrike aspek van die stedelike infrastruktuur. Die oorspronlike sentraal biersaal was naby die stadsaal en ander belangrike munisipale en burgerlike sentrums. In die vroeë dertiger jare was dit geoormerk vir sluiting en vir herontwikkeling in &apos;n gedeelte van die stad waar gemeenskappe, meestal van gemengde en Indiër oorsprong woonagtig was, hewig protes aangeteken het teen die ontwikkeking daarvan. Hierdie artikel bespreek bogenoemde gebeure, die deelname van die publieke protes aksie en die ontwikkeling van die biersaal op die buiterand van die stad as die kern van Afrikagesentreerde ontwikkeling. Ter afsluitung sal die artikel kommentaar lewer op huidige strukture in Pietermaritzburg en die potentiaal daarvan op toekomstige sinvolle ontwikkeling.
Collusion and conspiracy in colonial Natal : a case study of Reynolds Bros and indentured abuses 1884-1908
Historia 60, pp 92 –109 (2015)
Ten spyte van die uitsprake van die sogenaamde Coolie Commission van 1872 ten opsigte van die mishandeling van die inboekstelsel arbeiders in die Natalse Kolonie, asook die aanstelling van &apos;n Beskermer van Indiese Immigrante, het dit egter steeds nie sekere werkgewers daarvan weerhou om hulle ingeboekte arbeiders uit te buit nie. Oor &apos;n tydperk van bykans 25 jaar het berigte van aanrandings, drostery, sterftes en selfmoorde steeds voortgespruit uit die Reynolds suiker landgoed in die Umzinto distrik. Maar &apos;n skyn van onverskilligheid, wat mettertyd ontwikkel het in &apos;n sameswering van verswyging aan die kant van die amptenary asook die burgerlike samelewing, het egter gedien om die beeld van die Reynold broers te beskerm teen sensuur. Daarbenewens het winste voorrang geniet bo menseregte in die geledere van die "sugarocracy". Hierdie toedrag van sake was deur die heersende etnosentrisme van die tydperk vergemaklik. Danksy die volharding van James Polkinghorne, as Beskermer van die Indiese Immigrante, was die omvang van die skending van menseregte deur die Reynolds broers uiteindelik blootgestel en gevolglik was toepaslike regstellende aksie geneem.
Kruger&apos;s lost voice : nation and race in pre-World War 1 Afrikaans music records
Historia 60, pp 110 –128 (2015)
Op &apos;n teoretiese vlak funksioneer populêre musiek albums as artefakte van die sosiale en kulturele netwerke waaraan die kunstenaars gekoppel is. Gesien van uit hierdie perspektief, val die eerste Afrikaanse grammofoonplate saam met &apos;n belangrike stadium in die ontwikkeling van Afrikaner identiteite, asook die ontwikkeling van Afrikaans as taal. Hierdie artikel is &apos;n forensiese ondersoek wat fokus op die sosio-politieke kontekste waarin die eerste Afrikaanse grammofoonplate gemaak is. Bronne sluit in opgedateerde diskografiese katalogusse wat gelei het tot die ontdekking van lyste van opnames wat ouer is as die vroegste bekendste Africana en Afrikaanse plate. Die meeste van die eerste Africana opnames was van die nasionale volksliedere van die twee Boere republieke tydens, en kort na, die Anglo-Boereoorlog (1899-1902) en is gesing deur Hollandse sangers. Die eerste Afrikaanse opnames deur mense wat begin het omhulself te definieer as Afrikaners dateer uit 1906, terwyl plaaslike advertensies vir Afrikaanse plate begin verskyn in 1910. Hierdie artikel beoog om die verhouding tussen hierdie opnames en eise tot nasieskap, gebaseer op die linguistiese identiteit van &apos;n sleutelgroep Afrikaners, te verken.
Historia 60, pp 129 –155 (2015)
Based largely on a study of official archives and private papers held in South Africa and the United Kingdom, this article sketches the political-strategic landscape on which the armed forces of South Africa operated between 1900 and 1940 and analyses the organisational and extraneous factors that affected their functioning and influenced their preparation during peacetime. It explores the doctrinal framework, including an assessment of the services&apos; commitment to the problem of doctrine and of their rigour in drawing, learning and implementing the so-called "lessons" of the First World War. The South African reaction to the &apos;total war&apos; experience of industrialised warfare is discussed and the attempts, apparently always feeble, by the South African state to adapt to the changing face of modern warfare are explained. It comes with little surprise that the Union Defence Force, after the experiences of the Western Front (1916-1918), was still so unprepared for European warfare in 1941.
Hierdie artikel is gebaseer op primêre navorsing uit amptelike argiewe en privaat versamelings in beide die Verenigde Koninkryk en Suid-Afrika, en skets die polities-strategiese landskap waarin die Suid Afrikaanse verdedigingsmagte ontplooi het tussen 1900 en 1940. Verder bied die artikel &apos;n analise van die samestelling van die Unieverdedigingsmag, hul unieke organisasie en ander faktore wat &apos;n uitwerking gehad het op die verdedigingsmag se voorbereiding gedurende vredestydperke. Die sogenaamde &apos;lesse&apos; wat geleer is tydens Suid-Afrika se deelname aan die Eerste Wêreldoorlog, sowel as die gewilligheid om dié lesse in amptelike doktrine te implementeer, word ondersoek. Die Suid-Afrikaanse begrip van &apos;totale oorlogvoering&apos;, en Suid-Afrika se eerste ervaring van oorlogvoering op &apos;n industriële skaal word ook bespreek. Die halfhartige manier waarop die Suid-Afrikaanse staat aangepas het by moderne oorlogvoering gedurende dié typerk word ook bespreek. Dus is dit geen wonder dat die Unieverdedigingsmag gedurende 1941, veral na die ervaringe op die Westelike Front (1916-1918), steeds grootendeels onvoorbereid was vir Europese oorlogvoering nie.
Southern African Christianities and Mission Effort under Review : review article
Historia 60, pp 156 –166 (2015)
In this article I review three books which cover, from different directions, aspects of the history of missions and Christianity in southern Africa. These include debates about the indigenisation of evangelical effort, the role of gender in shaping missions, and the political force represented by Christianity. African Teachers on the Colonial Frontier: Tswana Evangelists and their Communities during the Nineteenth Century, by Stephen Volz, is a detailed study of the spread of Christianity in Tswana communities, and the role played by Tswana evangelists, in a broad swathe from what is now the Free State province of South Africa, across North-West Province and into northern Botswana. The Farmerfield Mission: A Christian Community in South Africa, 1838-2008, by Fiona Vernal, examines the operation of a residential mission for Africans and Khoe in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Vernal&apos;s work covers the period from the establishment of the mission, through the difficulties experienced during the early twentieth century and subsequent forced removals, as well as the resettlement of the descendants of former tenants through land restitution efforts in the early twenty-first century. Richard Elphick&apos;s The Equality of Believers: Protestant Missionaries and the Racial Politics of South Africa, discusses the role played by protestant Christian forces in the making and challenging of racial ascription and discrimination in South Africa from the late nineteenth century through to roughly the 1960s.
Working as the editor-in-chief of Historia, circa 2011-2015 : a self-study : reminiscences
Historia 60, pp 167 –176 (2015)
A neglected era in Cape history brought to light
Twee Kaapse Lewens: Henricus en Aletta Beck en die Samelewing van hul Tyd, 1702-1755, Karel Schoeman : book review
Historia 60, pp 177 –179 (2015)
This book is the sixth of an eight part series entitled Kolonie aan die Kaap, which according to the publisher will cover the entire history of the Cape settlement during the time it was ruled by the Dutch East India Company (VOC). This volume is about the first half of the eighteenth century. In his foreword, Schoeman notes that he had wanted to write a book about siblings Henricus and Aletta Beck for a long time, not because they were outstanding or important, but mainly because there is so much fragmentary information available about them that one is able to reconstruct their lives rather as one would a puzzle. Schoeman does this well and a good idea emerges of who the Becks were. It seems that Aletta was the more interesting of the two. She appears as an intelligent and strong woman; had she lived in a time when women were not as subordinate, she would probably have achieved more for herself. Brother Henricus took the easy route in life. He lived and travelled on his mother&apos;s pocket for a long time before deciding to study. And as a Dutch Reformed minister in the Cape settlement he was not known for his engaging sermons; nor was he eager to become involved with the members of his congregation. Despite the title, this book is not a biography. Schoeman uses the lives of the Becks as a means to an end, namely to describe the Cape settlement, its society, and its place in the wider Dutch colonial world.
Valuable as a history and a history teaching resource
The Taking of the Slaver Meermin, 1766, Dan Sleigh and Piet Westra : book review
Historia 60, pp 180 –181 (2015)
In The Taking of the Slaver Meermin Dan Sleigh and Piet Westra, two leading scholars on Dutch settlement at the Cape, have delivered a detailed account of a surprisingly rare event in the history of Cape slavery: a slave revolt. Unlike the other two documented slave revolts which occurred in the Cape Colony - the first in the Swartland in 1808; the second in the Koue Bokkeveld in 1825 - the uprising that is explored in this text took place at sea.
A gripping account although lacking in fresh insights
The Return of Makhanda: Exploring the Legend, Julia C. Wells : book review
Historia 60, pp 182 –185 (2015)
Many people who stand at the front gate of Rhodes University in Grahamstown notice the striking view of Makana&apos;s Kop on the other side of town. The hill is named after a Xhosa man, also known as Lynx, Nxele, and now Makhanda, who led an ambitious, but disastrous attack by some 10 000 Xhosa on Grahamstown in 1819. Although Makhanda was imprisoned on the infamous Robben Island shortly after the battle and drowned trying to escape, many Xhosa people believed for a long time that he would someday return to lead continued resistance against colonisation. By the late twentieth century this hope had turned to cynicism and it became popular among Xhosa people of the Eastern Cape to refer to something that is promised but will never happen as "when Nxele returns".
The last of the frontiersmen who lived between empire and kingdom
Cetywayo and the Three Generals, 1861-1879, John Dunn : book review
Historia 60, pp 185 –188 (2015)
John Dunn&apos;s autobiography forms part of a historiography that offers us a fascinating perspective of a witness to his times. His account is certainly not that of a bystander or spectator because he had a vested interest in the outcome of the events he writes about. It is entirely possible that on occasion, as a key player, he even had a hand in shaping some of these events. Therefore Dunn&apos;s treatise is best read together with the other evidence in our possession, made up of official documents; further witness reports; and the oral histories of the Zulu nation, in order to arrive closer to the historical "truth" via triangulation. When reading this autobiography one has to constantly keep in mind the self serving nature of the work, which is in reality Dunn&apos;s attempt to legitimise his status as a civilising force on, and intermediary with, the Zulu nation.
An important contribution to the early history of the Transvaal Republic
Serpa Pinto amongst Boer and Brit: His Travels through the Transvaal and Natal, 1879, O.J.O. Ferreira : book review
Historia 60, pp 188 –191 (2015)
The First Transvaal War of Independence (1880-1881) and the Anglo Boer War (1899-1902) amazingly continue to ignite a steady stream of publications. It seems that the interest in the two wars in South Africa over the last two decades of the nineteenth century remains high. The interesting aspect is that there has also been an apparent shift from more detailed, comprehensive accounts of the two southern African wars to publications dealing with specific or individual aspects of these wars. Such individual experiences or accounts were oftentimes made by incidental observers on the periphery of the conflict and they offer intriguing, fresh perspectives on the events themselves or the developments leading up to the conflicts.
A complex study of the history and politics of the Transkei
Mandela&apos;s Kinsmen: Nationalist Elites and Apartheid&apos;s First Bantustan, Timothy Gibbs : book review
Historia 60, pp 191 –194 (2015)
This new study of the history and politics of the Transkei is a fascinating and complex one. Its contribution is not only to our understanding of the sometimes obscure political dynamics of elites in South Africa&apos;s "first Bantustan", but to the broader fields of development history and political economy. While at one level this is a revisionist history of the story of the inclusive nationalism of the liberation movement versus the divide and rule history of the apartheid Bantustan strategy, at another level it provides a subtle exploration of development politics and the development (or underdevelopment) of one of South Africa&apos;s poorest rural areas.
A rollicking tale of bravado and derring-do Forged in Battle: The Birth and Growth of 32 Battalion from former Enemies and Terrorists into Decorated Soldiers, Jan Breytenbach : book review
Historia 60, pp 194 –196 (2015)
Colonel (retired) Jan Breytenbach is the author of a number of books about his role in the Border War. Forged in Battle is an account of how (the then commandant) Breytenbach transformed a motley crew of erstwhile MPLA and subsequently FNLA combatants into a disciplined fighting unit known as Bravo Company. In the process these soldiers switched their allegiance from Daniel Chipenda to Breytenbach and his fellow white South African Defence Force officers who trained and led them through a series of battles against FAPLA and Cuban forces from August to December 1975. This is the story of Battalion 32 before the unit adopted the symbol of the Buffalo and the motto "forged in battle". The metaphor of the blacksmith&apos;s forge might refer to the fashioning of Bravo Company&apos;s fighting prowess, but it could equally refer to its transition from bandits with shifting allegiances to soldiers loyal to the unit and its commanding officers.
A dialogue opened up between past, present and future
491 Days: Prisoner Number 1323/69, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela : book review
Historia 60, pp 197 –198 (2015)
She is one of South Africa&apos;s most controversial public figures, often leaving observers at odds as to the merits of her struggle credentials and legacy. Now, new light has been cast on Winnie Madikizela Mandela&apos;s experiences as a prisoner under the apartheid state during the 1960s.
Exploring the African home in KwaZulu-Natal
Ekhaya: The Politics of Home in KwaZulu-Natal, Meghan Healy-Clancy and Jason Hickel (Eds.) : book review
Historia 60, pp 198 –200 (2015)
This book includes contributions by some of the finest academics in the field. The expertise of each author is reflected in the individual essays, each of which tells a story of paramount importance within the context of KwaZulu-Natal. The use of photographic evidence and narratives increases the value of this work for both academics and students alike. Aptly entitled Ekhaya, the book&apos;s highly rated contributors make an important and empirically sound contribution to furthering our understanding of the African home as a key site of struggle and its role in the making of contemporary KwaZulu-Natal. The authors systematically unpack the unique nature and composition of the province and the remnants of colonialism that exist therein.
Spotlighting young activists in South Africa&apos;s liberation struggle
War in Worcester: Youth and the Apartheid State, Pamela Reynolds : book review
Historia 60, pp 200 –203 (2015)
Pamela Reynolds describes her book War in Worcester as being about:
... youth fighting for freedom and a state&apos;s retaliation ... the young not consenting to the kind of adulthood on offer ... the character of revolt under ... tight surveillance ... negative forms of governance of children ... the violence of the state ... government sanctioned cruelty ... the labor of youth in the work of war ... [and] their reach for ethics despite experiences of pain and betrayal (p i).