Watersheds in South African History - The development of Racism throughout centuries

  Economic Development Problems of South Africa and Africa Seminar  

Table of Contents

  Introduction  1

  Terminology  2

  The Pre-British Era  2

  British Colonialism until 1948  4

  British rule and Evangelist humanitarian movement  4

  The discovery of Diamonds and Gold  5

  Afrikaner Nationalism  8

  Conflicts of the 1920s  10

  The Great Depression and World War II  12

  The Elections of 1948  15

  First Years of Apartheid  15

  Conclusion  16

  References  18

Economic & Development Problems of South Africa and Africa - Seminar

Introduction

Drop a frog into boiling or near boiling water. He jumps out. Then put one in cold water with a slow flame. He likes the warmth. He gets comfortable and sleepy. He eventually gets cooked.

History is often seen as pre-determined. Developments occur rather slowly so that, like a frog in warm water, it might not be possible to see what is happening in the long run.

The following text will deal with the question of possible turning points in South African racism history. It will try to figure out when things could have changed in another, possibly better way, and what events prevented that from happening. It will therefore describe the colonisation by the mainly Dutch-speaking Boers in the 17 ^th and 18 ^th century and the early relations between colonialists and indigenous population with special reference to the creeping development of racist attitudes. In the second part the systemic period of British colonialism will be investigated. The introduction of a capitalistic system and the influences of the Evangelist Humanitarian Movement will be described first. In the second part the impacts of British capitalism and the discovery of gold and diamonds will be major topics to be analyzed with respects to a development of a racist ideology.

Thirdly I will describe the rise of Afrikaner Nationalism mainly in the first five decades of the 20 ^th century and what root causes underlie this development.

The main questions I will deal with are:

• Was the development of South African racism unavoidable?

• Why did racism develop?

• When had been crucial points in history that could made a different development possible?

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Terminology

As a simplification I will use Afrikaners and Boers synonymously in the following although it is not precisely correct. Whenever the term “Whites” is used I refer to either the British or Afrikaner populations. If not specialized the term “Blacks” refers to the indigenous population.

There are two definitions of Racism to be used in this article, first the older definition that defines racism as the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races, and secondly the newer and perhaps more appropiate definition that describes racism as discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race. I will refer mostly to the second definition as it is currently the more common one.

On the other hand class is to be defined as people having the same social or economic status.

The Pre-British Era

Started in 1652 the Dutch Colony was never an official colony but corporate property of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). In 1657 the first former employees were released as freeburghers so that they could begin their own farming in the Cape. The economy of the white settlers in the Cape was dependent on farming. Starting from 1657 through 1703 the farming was mainly concentrated in the cape region under the authority of the VOC. From 1703 onwards Willem Adrian van der Steel permitted the pastoral farming, land-owning and free-trading with the KhoiKhoi in regions further inland as well.

Although this is not one of the major turning points in South African history it was nevertheless important for the further developments. If it not had been for van der Steel’s decision the Cape might have remained merely a trading post which would have severely affected the later history.

Since the beginning of the settlement there was a lack of labour force in the Cape. Because they could not (Dutch Law) and did not want to (the Khoisan were regarded as Enno Dreier Page 2 out of 19

Economic & Development Problems of South Africa and Africa - Seminar

too wild for working in civilized ways) enslave the native Khoikhoi population, slaves were first imported from Angola in 1658. Another cheap labour force was provided by the import of mostly German “Knechts” after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Throughout the first 65 years of settlement slaves and Knechts were used as parallel labour forces (Terreblanche 2001, p. 156 f.). Normally the high prices of slaves could only be afforded by the VOC or the rich patriarchal farmers in the cape region. Slavery was direct forced labour abolished in 1838 by the British government.

In the first decades of farming the white farmers were dependent on the Khoikhoi and their farming knowledge. The second indigenous population at the Cape, the San, were regarded as “Wild Bushmen”. The growing population of farmers at the Cape caused increased struggle between the Dutch and the San at the end of the 17 ^th century. On the other hand Khoikhoi and white settlers often lived together rather peacefully and economically dependent on each other.

Due to the steady lack of labour forces on the frontier and the high prices of slaves the system of inboekelinge was invented at the end of the 17 ^th century. Through this new form of directly forced labour women and especially children of the defeated San (and also the non-cooperative Khoikhoi) were illegally bound into the household of the white settlers as de facto slaves (Ross 1999, p. 23). The practice to keep them after they grew up as de-facto slaves was justified with the costs of raising the children. Khoikhoi and San parents were often killed to get hold of the children (Ross 1999, p. 25; Terreblanche 2001, p. 163 ff.).

The system of (illegal) inboekelinge was very important for the economic development of the farms and for the wealth of the trekboere and lasted until the beginning of the 19 ^th century.

Also very important for the development of economy and society was the establishment of the commando system in order to fight the “wild” Khoikhoi and the San. The “tame” Khoikhoi often served in the commando fighting their own people. In the second half of the 18 ^th century the trekboere did not need the Khoikhois’ farming knowledge anymore. On the contrary the Whites deprived them of more and

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Economic & Development Problems of South Africa and Africa - Seminar

more land and continued enserfing more and more Khoikhoi with the inboekelinge system. This led to tensions between the tame Khoikhoi and the settlers culminating in the Khoisan rebellion 1799 – 1803.

During this period of South African history one cannot speak of open racism within the Afrikaner society. However, a growing racist attitude towards the indigenous population and the slaves combined with the steady lack of cheap labour force can be described as the very first origins of the racism dominated Apartheid regime of the 20 ^th century (Ross 1993, pp. 72 – 74).

British Colonialism until 1948

British rule and Evangelist humanitarian movement

Britain took over power at the Cape in 1795 with a short break of Batavian rule from 1803-1806. With the arrival of the British colonialists the former system of mercantilist feudalistic economy was deeply changed into a Smithian system of free trade and (colonial) capitalism, i.e. the incorporation of the Cape Colony into the dynamic system of British colonies. In fact, the arrival of the British stimulated the growth and diversification of the Cape economy.

One of the first important events during British rule was the “Hottentot Proclamation” in 1809 which officially allowed the inboekelinge of Khoikhoi women and children (The Library of Congress Country Studies 2001).

From 1814 to 1840 the British colony manifested its economical and especially military presence in the Cape colony. All British governors of this period had been former military officers. During the ongoing expansion of the colony into the territory of Xhosa people the only way for them to deal with the Xhosa was by military means. This led to the four bloody Xhosa wars from 1818-1852.

Another important development in labour patterns was the evangelical humanitarian movement which launched a campaign to abolish Khoisan serfdom which succeeded in 1828 and 1838 with the abolishment of serfdom and slavery. The main ideas of the

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